Retribution in Beowulf

revenge.The characters in the book, they all have their own survival skills also have their own revenge plan .Beowulf fight for his people in the country;Grendel’s mother revenge for her son; Wiglaf fight for his King and loyalty; They all did really good revenge for their own people, for their family and for their loyalty.In the epic poem Beowulf, the idea of vengeance is exemplified through the actions of Beowulf, Grendel’s mother and Wiglaf.

There was a person that stole a precious item from the dragon. Being stolen from gave the dragon the incentive to terrorize the Geats for what one of them has done. When Beowulf went to kill the dragon he was already fifty plus years old, because there was peace and prosperity for fifty years when Beowulf became the king. On page 62 in italics “Beowulf becomes king of the Geats and rules in peace and prosperity for 50 years. One day, however, a fire-breathing dragon that has been guarding a treasure for hundreds of years is disturbed by a thief, who enters the treasure tower and steals a cup. The dragon begins terrorizing the Geats, and Beowulf, now and old man takes on the challenge of fighting it.” Beowulf went to the dragon fight more prepared than he ever was because he was going to fight a mythical beast that has killed a lot of men and is capable of breathing fire. In lines 613-619 “I’d use no sword, no weapon, if this beast could be killed without it, crushed to death like Grendel, gripped in my hands and torn limb from limb. But his breath will be burning hot, poison will pour from his tongue. I feel no shame, with shield and sword and armor, against this monster.” This is the point in time when Beowulf suffers his greatest loss which is him dying. Only allowed to see the treasure that he sought for a short amount of time just before he died. Before Beowulf died he asked the

Vengeance is an important value that causes misfortune in the story of Beowulf. It brings not only Beowulf, but many others, fame and glory, plus, wealth as well. It is not a sustainable value for it brings everyone in the story only destruction. The tribes that have been bonded together by this value get destroyed but it. The value of courage is tied into the story since almost the entire story is based on vengeance.

Anglo-Saxon culture consisted of receiving fame, glory, and wealth through acts of vengeance and courage. “Beowulf” portrays these parts in great detail and shows how destabilizing it can be. Through acts of vengeance, a never ending war occurs.

In fact, vengeance plays such a pinnacle role in Beowulf that Beowulf himself states, “It is always better / to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning” (Beowulf, 1384-1385, 37). In an act of retaliation for the terrorization of Herot, Bowulf seeks out, and eventually murders, Grendel. Grendel’s mother then attacks Herot, in retaliation for the murder of her son. Beowulf then kills Grendel’s mother to avenge those she killed during her conquest of Herot. Hrothgar encourages Beowulf to seek out vengeance by saying, “My household guards / are on wane, fate sweeps them away / into Grendel’s clutches- but God can easily / halt these raids and harrowing attacks” (Beowulf,476-469, 14). In this verse Hrothgar suggest that, with God’s aide, Beowulf can easily overtake Grendel. After slaying Grendel, Beowulf’s victorious act of vengeance was celebrated with a massive feast at Herot and rewarded with an invaluable amount of

Fate has something else in store for Beowulf as the poem leads on to the infamous dragon fight. All along in the poem, Beowulf identifies the fact that he believes in fate and many of his actions are ruled by his strong belief in the fact that whatever will happen is meant to be. In the beginning of the poem, he is an invincible leader but now when it comes down to the fight with the dragon, he is old and not so sure of himself. It is at this point in the poem that the reader is clued in to the future events, which don't look very bright for this hero.

The concept of institutional revenge has existed almost as long as institutions themselves. The common saying “an eye for an eye” is, in fact, a paraphrasing of one of the first sets of written laws ever to have existed: Hammurabi's Code, a group of laws used in ancient Babylon. Societal constructs of Beowulf's time had a significant basis in this set of ideals. It was the aforementioned societal constructs that lead Beowulf to greatness, kingship, arrogance, and death.

Revenge is a Dish Best Served Now In modern society, revenge is often frowned upon and forgiveness is encouraged. However, in past times, revenge is a major part of being a respectable person. In Beowulf, a young warrior sets off on an adventure to prove himself as a hero. Beowulf first fights Grendel and then the hell-dam to rescue the Danes from the monsters’ reign of terror.

Beowulf wanted to revenge the deaths of all his men and all those whom lost their lives to the dragon. Beowulf speaks for the last time by saying, “I risked my life many times when I was young and now I am older and king I will fight for glory of winning” (93). Now here he is being boastful and full of himself as if he knows he will win the fight against the dragon. As a honorable and brave man he chooses to fight the dragon with no weapons just as he done with Grendal. Revenge is not of a hero.

Beowulf believes that it is right to avenge a death rather than mourn it. This is the concrete reasoning behind revenge ethic. However, when avenging someone, you can't avenge to a higher magnitude. For example, if someone kills one of your men, you can only kill one of theirs, not any more. In the beginning, Grendel attacks Heorot because he hates the Danes. Grendel is an example of what revenge ethic is not. Grendel kills way more people than allowed, resulting in the breaking of the honor bound rules of revenge. Grendel sets the stage for what revenge ethic is not.

Beowulfs theme is violence and hate because Grendel kills people in the town. Grendel is jealous . Grendel hates them. he liked to kill them.Also everyone hates Grendal.Everyone fears Grendel,they all try to run from him. but they despise him. Beowulf even rips Grendels arm off. When they are fighting mortal weapons do not harm Grendel becuse Grendel is a monster. Therefore, Beowulfs theme is violence and hate because Grendel kills people in the town, everyone hates Grendal, and Beowulf rips Grendels arm off.

How does the poet use the theme of revenge in the poem? There is a lot of revenge in the story of Beowulf which lead to a lot of drama. ”Hrothar can hunt here in my heart, for some way to drive this evil devil out”. The story Beowulf is a great story that held a lot of revenge. Grendel mother is seeking revenge for Beowulf killing for Beowulf killing her child.

Beowulf starts out with a monster named Grendel seeking revenge. Grendel is furious over Cain's banishment from God. Summary(ch 1). He is looking for revenge, he will settle on the Spear-Danes. He raids the great hall and kills tons of men.(ch 2). He will continue these assaults day and night. The mighty king Hrothgar can do nothing about these attacks. He sits and watches as his forces are being decimated by Grendel.Summary(ch

The concept of revenge is clear throughout the poem Beowulf. The scops who recited Beowulf in the Medieval times may not have come to the realization. The poem is constructed of many characters’ need to right the wrongs done against them. Grendel is the monstrous descendant of the first murderer, Cain. The beast loathes the mead hall where the Danish soldiers chant their songs of drinking and victory nightly. When Grendel begins to terrorize the Danes, “filling nights with horror,” (Beowulf 197) Beowulf comes to the rescue. He wants to test his skills and strength against the monster to also show how powerful the Geats are to the Danes. Once Grendel is defeated a new terror arises, his mother.

The author of Beowulf used the story to demonstrate many of the harmful aspects of retribution beyond the simple understanding that retribution’s only danger is bringing violence back to those that pursue it. This theme was present throughout the story, but it was most prevalent in the third portion involving the dragon since this is where many of the characters began to see the end results of this way of life (2214 – 3182). The main harmful aspects and dangers of retribution the author focused on in this section were that the cycle is inescapable, that no one is exempt from the resulting harm, and that societies built on retribution will experience troubles even in the absence of the possibility of retribution.