The Characters Of Beowulf And Joshua

Courage, bravery, and strength are three heroic Anglo-Saxon characteristics that tie together perfectly. Without courage, you will not have strength and bravery. Without strength and bravery, you will not have the courage to face your challenges. Anglo-Saxons believed three of these characteristics were perfectly interwoven in the ideal Anglo-Saxon hero (Garcia). Beowulf identifies to three of these Anglo-Saxon characteristics flawlessly as he fights the monstrous Grendel. Courage means fighting even if it means death; it means challenging your fate and being brave no matter the circumstance (Cascio). Beowulf shows special strength and bravery when he has the courage to renounce his use of weapons and protection when battling Grendel. “No weapons, therefore, for either this night: unarmed he [Grendel] shall face me if face

Not only is Beowulf honorable and well respected, he is brave as well. His courage is shown by not hesitating to risk his own life to pursue the Dane’s enemies. By being self-assured, Beowulf is able to successfully defeat the fiends, Grendel and his infamous mother. At the time Beowulf is planning to pursue the vindictive dragon, the epic poem states, “I’ve never known fear, as a youth I fought in endless battles. I am old now, but I will fight again, seek fame still, If the dragon hiding in his tower dares to face me.”(ll. 2511-2515). He feels no fear, is confident in fighting the dragon alone, and has no qualms in risking his life to save others. He declares his bravery by saying, “When he comes to me I mean to stand, not run from his shooting flames, stand till fate decides which of us wins... No one else could do what I mean to, here, no man but me could hope to defeat this monster.”(ll. 2525-2534). In his actions, Beowulf’s bravery is clearly shown throughout the poem.

Beowulf is a hero, and we all know a hero when we see one. There are many traits and characteristics that make someone a hero. These traits and characteristics are more expressed in ancient epics and poems. Beowulf is one of the most famous ancient Anglo-Saxon poems still taught to this day in schools and colleges all over the world. The story starts off of how a man by the name of Beowulf receives news that a neighboring land is being terrorized by a monster named Grendel. Beowulf shows several characteristics of here such as, bravery, loyalty, generosity, friendship, and showing a high level of intellect. Beowulf first shows his heroic character through his bravery while journeying on his epic quest. There are several cases where he is not afraid, and instead of being frightened, he shows great bravery. An example of from the poem is, “Instead, they inspected omens and spurred his ambitions to go, whilst he moved about like the leader he was, enlisting men, the best he could find; with fourteen others the warrior boarded the boast as captain” (Beowulf 205-210). This quote gives proof of his bravery because he was the head of the group leading his men. Beowulf proves that even he himself must be brave in order to lead the bravest of men into battle.

Courage, the ability to do something that frightens one. This is the first thing one must have to be considered noble, and Beowulf went all out. In one act of courage, he stripped himself of all of his weapons in order to face Grendel, ”He began to remove his iron breast-mail,/took off the helmet and handed his attendant/the patterned sword, a smith’s masterpiece,/ordering him to keep the equipment guarded.”, not even knowing that no weapon on Earth could damage him. He had told the Geats of his plan and they had all listened to him as he held his end of the bargain and took down the mighty beast. Grendel on the other hand, didn’t show much courage. He confronted a dragon, yes, but he just talked to it and listened, he didn’t

Beowulf is a prime example of what it means to be courageous. In his fight with Grendel, he chooses “[n]o weapons, therefore, / for either this night: unarmed he shall face me / if face me he dares” (683-84). Beowulf has never encountered Grendel before. He has only heard the stories of the beast’s evil doings, so going into a fight with no protection requires great strength and bravery. Beowulf is the only man to dive into the waters to fight Grendel’s Mother. He goes into the fight believing “life doesn’t cost him a thought” (1536). The outcome of the battle does not faze Beowulf because a warrior should

Beowulf is very courageous which is first shown when he gathers up 14 of this strongest men and heads to Denmark to defeat the horrible monster Grendel. The story says “(He) heard how Grendel filled nights with horror. (He) proclaimed that he’d sail across the sea to Hrothgar, now when help was needed.” However, there is one fatal flaw that our brave Beowulf possesses that is possibly the only flaw to his courageous ways: He puts the lives of others in danger. There are many examples to this. One specifically where Grendel comes to Denmark to ravage the village once again and he kills one of Beowulf’s men then Beowulf and Grendel start to battle.

Nobody tried to stop him, which clearly shows that nobody would dare challenge him, as he is mightier than anybody else. He also shows bravery when deciding to help Hrothgar by “like the leader he was, enlisting men, / the best he could find; with fourteen others / the warrior boarded the boat as captain,” (206-208). By choosing the mightiest and bravest men, Beowulf reflects himself as a brave man to lead his noble people. Beowulf was very persistent in choosing the brave men he did, which not only proved how much braver he was, but proved that he was an epic hero. Before Beowulf faced Grendel, “He began to remove his iron breast-mail, / took off the helmet and handed his attendant / the patterned sword,” (671-673). In doing this action, Beowulf decided that using a weapon or protection of any kind would make the battle too easy. After this action of bravery, he boasts, “When it comes to fighting, I count myself / as dangerous any day as Grendel” (677-678). Beowulf appears to be more daring and heroic after these reckless and impressive

The simple fact that Beowulf has journeyed so far from his homeland to fight the ferocious demon, Grendel, speaks volumes of his courage. Being brave enough to face a foe that has vanquished so many demonstrates that Beowulf fears nothing and that he welcomes the challenge to testy his skills. During the Middle ages the courageousness of a man is battle was an effective way of gauging his mettle. Men who could cope with such difficulties were highly regarded amongst their peers and made ruler. Secondly the theme is also represented when Beowulf’s recounts of his conquests. When he is first introduced to the King of the Danes he conveys how his elders regarded him as having awesome strength. Beowulf further explains how his elders had seen him smothered in blood after defeating five beasts, raiding a troll-nest, and killing sea beasts, Beowulf’s magnificent exploits depict his courageousness because it takes a brave and strong man to complete such feats. Other men may have faltered when faced with beasts of the land or sea that were presumably larger than them but not Beowulf. He chooses to face his conflicts head on fully aware that he may die in each of his battles. Beowulf is so courageous that he volunteers to fight Grendel with his bare hands. He is courageous in this because Grendel’s last foes were armed, but they still fell to the demon. The author has crafted Beowulf so that he fears nothing

In the beginning, Beowulf showed bravery while he sailed the sea to the land of the Danes to fight Grendel. When he was talking to the king he said, “And I think if my time will have come, there will be nothing to mourn over, nor corpse to prepare for its grave…” (48). Beowulf showed a large amount of bravery in this positon because he was not scared by death. He was not scared to die but

In addition, when Beowulf dives into Grendel’s mother’s underwater lair he demonstrates his bravery. Later on the battle, Beowulf is able to pick up a sword a typical man would not be able to pick up and he uses this to defeat the monster, displaying his

Throughout the novel there are many battles between good and evil, brave and cowardly, and hero and villain. Beowulf naturally tends to be the brave hero that fights for good. But there are other characters that show signs of bravery or being a coward. Beowulf is a very brave, prideful, and chivalrous man. This shows throughout the story, even to his death.

Sense there are two parts to Beowulf, starting with Beowulf killing Grendel and Grendel’s mom and ends with Beowulf trying to defeat a dragon but the story puts in a good un predictable twist where Beowulf is killed by the dragon. The first point is bravery, bravery is defined as “the condition or quality of being brave” and in the first point Beowulf is and should be defined as brave. In the first part of Beowulf, Beowulf is being told about the demon and he tell everyone that he will fight the demon bare handed which ends up not happening but still is brave enough to do so without arms. There is a quote that reads “keep it free of evil, fight with glory in your heart!” meaning that be strong and brave fight with glory and not fear.

In Beowulf the classic epic, Beowulf, the hero of the epic, and other major characters reflect heroic ideals and beliefs of courage, generosity, unquestioning loyalty and devotion. Courage is most evident throughout Beowulf Beowulf does not back down from any challenge that stands in his way whether it be Grendel, Grendel’s mother, or the dragon. His bravery is most evident in his preparation for his fight with Grendel, Beowulf, “took off his shirt of armour, the helmet from his head, handed his embellished sword, best of irons to an attendant,…” He chose to bravely fight his foe, man to beast without weaponery for he knew it would be “cowardly” to defeat Grendel with a sword and armor when Grendel himself had none. Even in his

The one character where courage is displayed the most is Beowulf. According to Elain Skill, Beowulf had to be courageous and an excellent Goatish King due to his abandonment as a child. Skill states that, “The abandoned youth who becomes a future hear and leader is a very old literary convention” ( Skill 38). This proves that Beowulf is constantly trying to prove his valor to others to show that he is worthy. For example, Beowulf volunteers to help Hrothgar after he heard about the monster that was terrorizing Herot. Beowulf did not know much about this beast, but he courageously volunteered to help without expecting anything in return. As Beowulf fights Grendel, the monster, he fights him with his bare hands. “Grendel is no braver, no stronger. Than I am! I could kill him with my sword; I shall not, Easy as it would be. This fiend is a bold And famous fighter, but his claws and teeth… Beating at my sword blade, would be helpless. I will

Beowulf was brave of all rivals and battled to shield his distinction and superbness. Beowulf did not have to tell anybody that he was courageous; he demonstrated to them how daring he was. Beowulf required no sword or shield to ensure him from Grendel when he murdered Grendel with his hands " And I provide for you promise, She should not in wellbeing departure to cover, to gritty natural hollow, or backwoods speed, or bay of sea, go where she might. This day with quietness persevere through the load, of each trouble, as I know you will." (903-908). Beowulf hopped in the water to battle Grendel 's grieving mother, he didn 't know where he was going yet, and he tried for radiance and notoriety demonstrating no alarm.