Motivations In Beowulf

In the epic Beowulf courage is an on going theme that is shown throughout the entire story. By definition courage is the state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger, fear, or vicissitudes on ones own will and determination. There are many things form the epic that could be used to prove this statement, but I chose to use the section entitled "The Final Battle." In this section there are two great speeches given by both Beowulf and Wiglaf. I believe that in both of these monologues courage is portrayed by the two warriors, and it is easy to see why.

Beowulf: A New Telling by Robert Nye is a story of horrendous monsters of legends Beowulf has to face. But, Beowulf is not your ordinary hero, and this story isn’t your ordinary hero legend of Good Vs. Evil. In Fact, the story shoes things aren’t so black and white. You will hear again and again, about light and darkness being in the same being, a kind of a yin and yang concept. That is one of many themes throughout this story, and the longer you read the more you see the deeper, overarching theme of the entire story.

There are several ways that people can get through their lives. The most obvious and simple way to see it is by waking up every morning and going about each and every day. However, the more complex way to see it is how people get through their life mentally and emotionally. Most people set goals to try and get to something they want to accomplish. These goals are connected to motivation. Motivation is a way people move themselves forward when objectives seem to be impossible to get to. For example, graduating college, or buying a house. The article, Why Motivation Is Important in Life even claims, “Without motivation, you can’t achieve anything,” (Mellema). In the story, Beowulf, a heroic character, Beowulf encounters several obstacles in which he must maneuver through. The long poem was written by authors that are still unknown. Although, it was created by stories that were orally told and one day, someone or a group of people, wrote the stories down to create one, moving story. Beowulf has to defeat three terrible and frightening monsters throughout the story. He was not, however, told to defeat any of these monsters. In the story Beowulf, the all mighty Beowulf has many motivations to help him defeat these brutal creatures; which include: his duty, becoming a hero, and being forever remembered for his actions.

Everyday in modern times, a new mystery is uncovered and an old mystery is laid to rest or declared a true mystery. A lot of the time, there is a lingering questioning around these mysteries. This question generally comes in the form of a singular word; why? Every story has a who, a what, a when, a where, and a why. The why is the most important however. There has been an infinite amount of times where I’ve personally made a mistake and immediately wondered why I did that. The reasons why we do the things we do often reflect who we, as human beings, truly are. In the epic poem Beowulf, Beowulf is motivated by three main concepts which include an elevated sense of duty, the quest for vengeance and respect, as well as a desire to cement his legacy throughout the ages.

In the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf, the stupendous hero’s many great deeds often appear to be for other’s benefit, yet Beowulf’s final conquest exposes his lust for glory and fame, thereby showing his lack of concern for anything else. This lust for immense glory and fame feeds his ego and causes his death and the imminent downfall of his great people the Geats.

Courage is a theme that is shown throughout the entire epic of Beowulf. By definition courage is the state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger, fear, or vicissitudes on ones own will and determination. There are many things form the epic that could be used to prove this statement, but I chose to use the section entitled "The Final Battle." In this section there are two great speeches given by both Beowulf and Wiglaf. I believe that in both of these monologues courage is portrayed by the two warriors, and it is easy to see why.

The Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf touches on the vice of pride, and is instilled in the main character, Beowulf, the great and mighty warrior. His boasting and arrogance when first dropping anchor at Heorot transitions throughout the poem, and, in contrast with his ideal kingsmanship, motivates him to accomplish and overcome the many challenges he faces as an epic hero. The contrast of his absent humility in the rise and fall of the story help promote the progression of the story, through its different purposes. Beowulf, when first landing upon Hrothgar’s kingdom, boasts, which does not go unchallenged, so that he might gain the trust of the Danes, but when knowingly facing his last battle, uses bragging to comfort and brace himself for his ultimate demise.

When most people do something heroic it’s usually for a certain reason. Everyone has motivations by just about every single thing they do. Some people choose to do heroic things like become a firefighter for example these men and women choose to do this is by volunteering they could get killed it’s very dangerous and they still choose to be in the line of fire literally for some reason or another. When they choose to do something heroic like this they usually have some sort of one or even various different reasons for it. Beowulf is an epic hero himself he goes to the land of the Danes and basically kills a monster named Grendel for them without any reason behind why he actually went. Some people may say well Beowulf is just a hero and that’s what he’s supposed to do without and real reasoning behind it. Although if you read the epic for each monster Beowulf fights there is a motivation behind it. For each different monster there is a different motivation behind Beowulf fighting first is Grendel, next is Grendel’s mother and finally the dragon.

Beowulf: A New Telling is a book for people that need reassurance that light will overcome darkness and that we need to accept that we have some darkness inside of us, then our weaknesses can become our strengths. Beowulf has to face many faces of evil, including Grendel, the cruel slimy creature who murders Beowulf’s friends and She, the wife of Cain and malicious monster that lives at the bottom of a pool of blood. He becomes king of Geats and is famous all throughout the land.

Beowulf strongly portrays ambition clearly. Beowulf is an epic soldier who is greater than any ordinary man. King Hrothgar has a monster that goes by the name Grendel that is torturing his kingdom and killing his people. Beowulf hears about the murders and terror Grendel is causing and instantly knows this is something he has to deal with because he knows no ordinary man can kill this fearful monster. Beowulf sets out on the journey to find Grendel and kill him. When Grendel arrives at the kingdom to dine on the sleeping guards Beowulf awakes and gets into an epic battle with him. After he kills Grendel, he hears of another monster roaming the swamp which makes his ambition kick back into play causing him to jump into the dark and rough waters after the beast which is Grendel’s mother who is later defeated in the battle. After the death of the two

Do you know someone who is greedy? Who is willing to do what it takes to get what they want. Greed can ruin people’s lives as someone can be too greedy. There is more than just one type of greed you can be greedy for money, greedy for power, or greedy for fame. The Universal theme of greed is represented in different ways in the poems Beowulf as he would rather die to have fame then not have fame at all, The Pardoners Tale as the rioters fight over money, and Macbeth when his wife Lady Macbeth and Macbeth want to be known as higher power.

Out With a Bang (An Analysis of Beowulf’s Motivations) From the Anglo-Saxon epic, the poem “Beowulf” is known to be the first written story in English history. The Anglo-Saxon era was the time of the vikings and Norse people. There is little to nothing known of this era except for the written language and a bit of the religion and lifestyle. However, the Anglo-Saxon era was the beginning of the written English language that we know today. It all starts with the poem “Beowulf”.

Beowulf is an epic poem that expresses great strength and bravery between both good and evil. There are many ways people can be represented as evil and there are many ways they can be represented as good, it just all depends on what they do it for and why they do it. Those who act evil do it because they decide to be that way or that is just how they were born to be. Those who are good do it because they have to, but sometimes they do it just to be a good person. In the poem, Grendel is the perfect example of the evil and Beowulf is the perfect example for the good.

The Anglo-Saxons believed that they must be loyal to their leader, willing to do anything to help or please him. In Beowulf, Beowulf comes to the aid of Hrothgar and his people because of a conflict with Grendel, “... A powerful monster, living down In the darkness…” (Raffel, 21) that has been killing the people for twelve years. This conflict is man vs. man, or monster, an inevitable part of life and the human condition.

The movie Beowulf was focus on three main values, the value of LOVE, BRAVERY, and LOYALTY.