In the story of Beowulf, it starts as a town hall being attacked by a demon named Grendel. Grendel strikes at night and is feared by all with his razor claws. Beowulf is a known hero, brave, Nobel and strong. There are three different points to the story of Beowulf. The points are Beowulf’s bravery, trust in god, and being remembered. 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. So Beowulf fights with glory and kills Grendel as well as his mother.
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He just asks got for help and even after he thanks god and the time against the dragon he says thank you god for the riches and the treasures you have blessed me with and now I am ready for my death. He says before death “to the everlasting lord of all, to the king of glory, I give thanks that I behold this treasure here in front of me that I have been thus allowed to leave my people so well endowed on the day I die.” This being said it would seem that he was not as selfish as the first look at
Beowulf is an old Anglo-Saxon story of a terrifying monster Grendel, Grendel travels to the Danes mead hall Heorot and while the danes expect it least he attacks killing countless men purely for the joys of doing so. Hrothgar king of the Danes calls for a warrior to fight this unruly beast. After 12 long years of grendel attacking Hrothgar's calls are answered and the great warrior Beowulf comes to kill Grendel. Beowulf travels to the land of the Danes from across the seas and in the first night he kills Grendel. Sadly for Beowulf Grendel has a mother that now seeks revenge for her son's death and Beowulf is asked to kill Grendel’s mother as well. Beowulf goes to where Grendel’s mother is staying and battled her to the death , Beowulf wins
The portrayal of bravery as a heroic quality in Beowulf differs from that of Dan Evans’ in numerous ways. Being the traditional, valiant hero, Beowulf’s bravery is unmatched among the thanes of Heorot and he leaps at the chance to slay the terrible monster Grendel. Described as a “brave thane of the Geats” (Beowulf 2), Beowulf’s strength and daring spirit is demonstrated with his admirable feats of bravery, including “[destroying] five a family of giants” and “[slaying] monsters on the waves” (372). Beowulf’s daring exploits leads him to challenge Grendel in single combat in order to slay the terrorizing beast. He expresses his courage and confidence through his boast, stating that he considered himself “[…] no less brave than Grendel himself/
Beowulf has confidence when he battles. Beowulf announces that he will fight Grendel, the evil that has been lurking them for a long time. However; Beowulf says he will fight with his bare hands instead of using weapons (Lines 400-490). This shows how he is brave enough to challenge Grendel with a single combat with only hands and in the end, he wins. Another example is when Beowulf boasts, Unferth interrupts him and insults him. Then Beowulf replies, “The fact is, Unferth, if you were truly as keen and courageous as you claim to be Grendel would never have got away with such unchecked atrocity, attacks on your king, havoc in Heorot and horrors everywhere” (590-595). This is an example of where he shows courage because he corrects Unferth and makes him look as a fool for not stating the truth of what actually happened. Also, this explains while they were swimming he was fighting off sea creatures along their swim, which is why he lost. According to Heaney, Beowulf shows courage when he believes he can defeat the dragon. During when Beowulf fights the dragon, it states, “Yet the prince of the rings was too proud to line up with a large army against the sky-plague. He had scant regard for the dragon as a threat, no dread at all its courage and strength, for he had kept going often in the past, through perils and ordeals of every
Beowulf’s heroic journey began with his going to help the Scyldings, and it ended with his returning to Geatland. In his journey, he kills a giant named Grendel, he kills Grendel’s mother, and he kills a fiery dragon and in the process dies.
Beowulf will go confront the most dangerous monsters, without the help of anyone but a few of his soldiers. In Beowulf the author states, “I have heard/Too, that the monster’s scorn of men/Is so great that he needs no weapon and fears none /Nor will I” (Lines 261-264). Beowulf shows that he is not petrified, and will fight this menacing monster with his bare hands. People might think that Beowulf is crazy, but to Beowulf it is him honoring his King. Author Diana, M Casey states “After the monster devours a warrior, Beowulf spurns the use of a weapon and wrestles Grendel to the ground” (Pg.1). Beowulf seemed to know of some type of wrestling tactics to help him defeat Grendel. Also Beowulf says “My hands/alone shall fight for me, struggle for my life/against the monster. God must decide/Who will be given to death’s cold grip” (Lines 267-270). The hero does not care if he dies, as long as people remember him as brave, and honorable warrior. Beowulf is not terrified of death and he will show his honor till
Beowulf: A New Telling by Robert Nye is about a character named Beowulf who has to fight evil by using strength, but by also using cleverness. Beowulf’s name means “bee hunter” and Beowulf loved bees. In the story a hall is built it is called Hall Heorot. “By day it towered above men’s heads like a second sun, so bright were it’s walls and roofs”(p. 5). Once the hall is made, a monster comes and eats people at night.
To begin, Beowulf has a complex motivation for fighting the monster Grendel. His first motivation is duty which is part of the Anglo-Saxon code he’s obligated to go and kill Grendel. His people told him so go and do it so he does duty comes first and personal choice comes second. On page 47 lines 244-246 Beowulf says, “My people have said, the wisest, most knowing And best of them, that my duty was to go to the Danes’ Great king.”
Courage is certainly a trait which every hero must possess, particularly because no one wants a hero who is a coward. Thankfully, Beowulf is no coward. When Beowulf hears of Grendel’s exploits in Denmark, he travels to the “distant” land, without hesitation, to rid the Danes of that “demon…conceived by a pair of those monsters born of Cain, murderous creatures banished by God”. Beowulf’s courage is displayed even more when he chooses not to fight with weapons, despite knowing
The story of Beowulf is a heroic epic chronicling the illustrious deeds of the great Geatish warrior Beowulf, who voyages across the seas to rid the Danes of an evil monster, Grendel, who has been wreaking havoc and terrorizing the kingdom. Beowulf is glorified for his heroic deeds of ridding the land of a fiendish monster and halting its scourge of evil while the monster is portrayed as a repugnant creature who deserves to die because of its evil actions. In the epic poem, Beowulf the authors portrays Grendel as a cold-hearted beast who thrives on the pain of others. Many have disagreed with such a simplistic and biased representation of Grendel and his role in the epic poem. John Gardner in his book, Grendel set out to change the
A characteristic of Beowulf is courageous. Courage is the ability to do something that frightens you. Beowulf wasn’t necessarily frightened, but he did do something that frightened the men of Hrothgar. Beowulf does many things to show his courage to the people of Hrothgar. One way he shows his courage is when he fights Grendel, the monster who was killing and eating the men of Hrothgar, without any
To begin, one of the many ways that Beowulf was different than Grendel is that Beowulf was brave. Every night Grendel snuck into Herot Hall to destroy King Hrothgar’s men. He did this while hiding in the shadows, sneaking around in the dead of night, and attacking while the men we asleep and at there most vulnerable. These are not the characteristics the brave, these are the characteristics of a foul, loathsome, cowardly beast. Mean while, Beowulf liked to meet a problem head on, in this case the problem was Grendel himself. Determined Beowulf sailed to Denmark to defeat Grendel, telling Hrothgar that he will take Grendel’s life with his bare hands. As told in the story, “ That mighty protector of men/ Meant to hold the monster till it’s life/ leaped out” (Raffel, 1963, l. 366-368). And when Beowulf got the chance to do just that, Grendel took the cowards road, “Grendel’s one thought
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
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’s virtues of courage and strength appear throughout the poem during his life as a warrior and as a king. He begins the story with courage and “the strength of thirty / in the grip of each hand” (380-381), which are vital to his accomplishments as a warrior. His courage and strength are apparent when he fights Grendel without the use of weapons. Both virtues are crucial to his success in that battle and lead him to become a leader of wisdom and stature. As king of Heorot he uses his courage and strength in the battle against the dragon. Before the fight he has a feeling of uncertainty and it is stated “He was sad at heart / unsettled yet ready, sensing his death. / His fate hovered near, unknowing but certain: / It would soon claim his coffered soul.” (2419-2424). His sense of forthcoming death may illustrates a lack of confidence in his ability to slay the dragon; however, it also shows tremendous courage by involving himself in an unevenly matched fight. Although his physical strength may have abandoned him in his last fight against the dragon, his courage and wisdom intensified his glory beyond his death.
Beowulf was the ideal hero because of all the brave courageous things he did to put the safety and protection of his people first also he was a very fair fighter. Beowulf heard about the attacks Grendel has been committing so Beowulf and his 14 men suited up and traveled to Herot to go and take down the evil Grendel once and for all. When Beowulf and his men arrived at Herot they went into the mead hall and had a feast with the geats and danes. Once the feast was over Beowulf's warriors went to sleep but Beowulf didn't he stayed up waiting for Grendel to come because Beowulf knew that Grendel fights unfairly by attacking at night so Beowulf being the fair fighter he is did not bring a weapon to use because he said ”I have heard that the monster's scorn of men is so great that he needs no weapons and fears none nor will I”(. He isn't using a weapon because he doesn't want to fight unfairly and become a coward. So after waiting a little while Grendel comes up from his cave and goes into the mead hall and eats one of Beowulf's men so Beowulf took action