Selflessness In Beowulf

One of the strongest men on the face of Earth was Beowulf—savior of souls, and annihilator of evil. Beowulf is an epic poem that originated in the Anglo-Saxon period, told in Anglo-Saxon English. The poem depicts the odyssey of a man, Beowulf, who comes from the land of Geats to defeat a hellish creature, Grendel, which has been spawning terror upon King Hrothgar and his men, who live in the land of the Danes. On the way to King Hrothgar’s land, Beowulf encounters many monsters, and upon his arrival to the land of Danes, Beowulf vows to destroy Grendel in order to return peace and safety to King Hrothgar and his men. The poem often characterizes Beowulf with two distinct traits: pride and selflessness. Beowulf shows several moments of motivation

Finally, after many years, Beowulf goes on to face his final opponent; the Dragon. After the Dragon has been set on a rampage against the Geats, Beowulf declares in his last boast that, selfishly, he will defeat the Dragon alone, “Beowulf spoke, made a formal boast for the last time: I risked my life often when I was young. Now I am old, but as king of the people I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning” (2510-14). Beowulf’s emphasis in his formal boast is about “the glory of winning” instead of expressing concern for his people. Beowulf, this entire time, has not been fighting monsters for the Geats or to help others. In this formal boast he directly reveals his true intentions of gaining glory. He even states right afterwards that if he were stronger he would fight the dragon without a weapon, just as he did Grendel, “I would rather not use a weapon if I knew any other way” (2518-19), but alas he has grown old and realizes he needs the help of a blade to slay the Dragon. Then he speaks to his comrades about the battle, stating that he alone will fight the Dragon and must either win the fight with courage or

In the poem Beowulf, Beowulf is the hero of the story. He is seen as an Almighty God and great warrior who can protect the people and defeat Grendel. It is clear to see that he has a sizeable ego considering his status and how respected he is among the people. As a result of that, his character comes off as arrogant. Not only the people see Beowulf as a God, he sees himself as one too.

Beowulf is humbled after fighting Grendel. Before fighting Grendel Beowulf was over confident and cocky. He believed that he was the greatest and did not realize the extent of the challenge of fighting Grendel. Although Beowulf won the battle he did not kill him in the mead hall as he had intended. Before Beowulf fought Grendel he thought that he could “alone… purge all evil from [the] hall… /[and is so great that he needed] no weapons and [feared] none.” (431-434). During the fight no matter how “hard… [Beowulf] held him he still pulled free” (928). “Grendel escaped,/ But wounded as he was he could flee to his den” (819-820). Beowulf did not have the skill set to kill Grendel as he first predicted, he seriously injured him but did not kill him in the mead hall. Beowulf learned that not everything is as easy as it may seem. The result of the fight humbled Beowulf. Fighting Grendel gave Beowulf perspective and taught him not to act egotistical, and to never underestimate your opponent. The lesson Beowulf learns is reflected in his actions throughout the rest of the story. When praised for his accomplishments, Beowulf did not boast or act superior, he accepted his loses and celebrated his wins among the rest of the Danes.

For as long as people can remember, many great warriors have fought to protect and eliminate any monsters and enemies that produce any threat to their society. Many have fought and succeeded but many have also died in the attempt to gain victory and become a hero. It takes an enormous amount of courage to go against something or someone that is stronger and scarier than an average human being. Luckily for one great hero known as Beowulf he is not intimidated by any threat and is up for any challenge that comes his way. Three of his greatest challenges or conflicts are the battle with Grendel, the battle with Grendel’s mother, and the battle with a menacing dragon.

Grendel, a malignant monster, was destroying a town. Unsurprisingly Beowulf killed him and his mother. An epic hero is an important, remembered figure in the history of

Beowulf is raised in a warrior environment. In fact, his father Ecgtheow, a very famous man, was a great warrior. Young Beowulf sees his father as a role model; furthermore, he tries to be as similar to his father as he can be. For example, as Beowulf is giving his final words to Wiglaf, the narrator says “that was the warriors’s last word” (Heaney, l 2817). When the narrator ends Beowulf’s last moments he calls Beowulf a warrior instead of a king. Proving that Beowulf belongs to a warrior status, not an elite one.Moreover, his kingdom accredits him as a warrior more than they view him as royalty as they give him a viking-style, warrior funeral. Furthermore, when Beowulf passes away, “his soul fled from his breast to its destined place among the steadfast ones” (2819). His soul goes to the warriors’ place in heaven versus going to the kings’ place in heaven. The audience sees the hero’s changes throughout the epic, but the narrator uses periodic structure in order to frame the story around Beowulf being a warrior. He is naturally inclined to act like a warrior instead of a king. According to the American Poetry Review, Beowulf “does manage to slay the dragon, but he also meets his own death and enters the legends of his people as a warrior of high renown.” A king would never fight in battle. A king would trust his warriors to defeat the enemy and come back successful. Although

The epic poem Beowulf is told throughout history, and from generation to generation Beowulf’s strengths stayed the same. Examining his super human strength, extreme bravery, and high morality, shows exactly how much of an epic hero he really is. The life of the “strongest geat” (456) Beowulf is dangerous, but his life is also a story to tell that is so interesting to hear. The darkness that lurks behind every corner, will soon be brought into the daylight. The story that is told, but never forgotten will go down in history. The power that Beowulf himself possess is unimaginable, and unbelievable, therefore

Beowulf is an epic about a hero named Beowulf who fights and kills two monsters named Grendel and Grendel’s Mother. Beowulf travels from his home land of Sweden to Denmark, the land of King Hrothgar and the Danes; to help King Hrothgar by killing Grendel, a monster that haunts Herot, Hrothgar’s famous mead-hall, nightly, killing Hrothgar’s people for 12 years. One night Grendel sneaks into Herot, kills a Geat, and then grabs a “sleeping” Beowulf. While in Grendel’s grip, Beowulf uses his strength of thirty men to tear Grendel’s arm from his body. Grendel runs back to his lair and dies a painful death. Beowulf’s victory is rewarded with a feast, gold, and treasures, which Beowulf brings home and gives to his king.

Beowulf is an epic tale that teaches us about the value of strength. This epic is the showing of Beowulf’s strength throughout the entire poem. The poet tells us that there is no single man other than Beowulf who can complete the task of defeating the Danes greatest fear, Grendel. The author states, “… blunted every mortal man’s blade” (37).

Beowulf is known as the strongest and bravest hero of the Geats in Sweden. Beowulf showed his loyalty to all as he followed and understood the King of the Danes, Hrothgar, worry. Hrothgar's mead hall was attacked by a powerful monster by the name of Grendel (Puchner 116). When Beowulf found out about this, he quickly left his homeland to slay Grendel and eventually Grendel’s mother, as well; afterwards, he then returned back to his home of Geatland (Puchner 130, 148). Beowulf showed loyalty in three main ways, as he always stays loyal to himself, doing the best possible things to help himself.

Beowulf’s heroic adventure is a reflection of the importance of heroism in dealing with challenges that negatively affected the stability of the society in the early time periods.

Beowulf is one of the most well known pieces of literature in history. Written between 700 and 1000 AD, this poem has captured the minds of scholars, historians, and readers across the globe. However, despite the fact that it has been passed down for numerous centuries, perhaps one of its most fascinating characteristics are the intriguing battles that Beowulf, the protagonist, takes on. Throughout this epic poem, Beowulf takes on many battles, all of which are practically unwinnable. Each battle presents new obstacles for Beowulf and his men as they tackle the unthinkable. Despite the fact that the odds are turned against him, he musters up all of his strength and bravery to achieve the impossible. Through this poem, he fights Grendel, a demon from the swamp. He also fights Grendel’s mother, who approaches Beowulf craving revenge from the Danes. Lastly, he fights a dragon, who becomes angry when his treasure is stolen. Each of Beowulf’s battles provide elements that define Beowulf and shape him into being a different person. Fear, courage, honor, and strength all play a large part in the battles that Beowulf fights.

The entire society benefits from the gallant attitude of just one individual. According to Hall, “For every one of us, living in this world / Means waiting for our end. Let whoever can Win glory before death” (234 – 239). That is to show how much Beowulf is willing to lose his life in the course of any worthy battle. Due to his bravery, Beowulf is able to fight a total of three monsters to become the epic hero. It is important to recognize that those whom Beowulf is engaging are not just normal combatants, but ogres possessed with spirits of wickedness. These are paranormal beings that wretchedly terrorize the nation without a drib of mercy. It is believed that even God himself seems to have banished Grendel. The environment in which these monsters exist is scary and just a mention of any of these monsters sends a chill down the entire society. But owing to Beowulf heroism, the society is finally able to live without terror.

Beowulf is not an ordinary man,he isn’t scared of anything or anyone. He is one of the bravest man , fighting anyone to protect his people.Beowulf is from a group call the Danes from Denmark. He did many magnificents things like fighting Grendel,the monster who hunted his people, and killed him ,he also took upon Grendel's mother and the dragon just so he's people would be saved.In his period of time Beowulf was praise, admire, and love by many, he was their hero.During Beowulf's time everything was different from now, back in the day everyone was scared of mostly everything so they let one person rule over them to protect them. Now it's not one person that takes control it multiple people everyone helps out ,for the most part. We would consider Beowulf a showoff in modern day because everyone has their limits and it seem as Beowulf didn’t because he liked the attention,all the victories, he was getting.