Theme Of Heroism In Beowulf

Beowulf, like many modern heroes such as the ones we see in movies and read about in comic books has an unnatural amount of strength. Take superman for example, he has superhuman strength. Although Beowulf does not have the same amount of strength as superman he still has more than the average human. This gives him a typical “hero” trait that many people are familiar with today.

Beowulf was a hero not only because of his physical strength, but also for his concern for other people. “The hero must move beyond human limits in order to have the capacity to combat the monstrous forces that threaten the social order;” (Sharma 264) Beowulf has been deemed by most to have superhuman strength, but his superhuman strength alone does not make Beowulf any more a hero than Grendel’s strength makes him a hero. Beowulf rises above the limits of a regular human being

Grendel of course only knew revenge for what God did to him so it’s ironic and coincidental that his mother seeked revenge for him also. Whether she won or not she stood up and battled like any mother would do. She didn't care how popular Beowulf was she did what it it took to feel some sense of happiness for her son.

Part of the reason Beowulf is very well-known is that he has larger-than-life strength, more than that of any man. When he talks to King Hrothgar, he boasts: “They have seen my strength for themselves, have watched me rise from the darkness of war, dripping with my enemies’ blood. I drove five great giants into chains, chased all of that race from the earth. I swam in the blackness of night, hunting monsters out of the ocean, and killing them one by one; death was my errand and the fate they had earned.” (Unknown, 246-254) This shows that Beowulf has overcome many trials with his strength, and that unlike any other man, he has proven to be able to overcome the impossible. While Beowulf is fighting with Grendel the story says that Grendel “Twisted in

In the epic poem, Beowulf holds a trait of being strong. There are many ways Beowulf shows he is strong on this poem. Grendel is harming people, so Beowulf is out to kill him. It states on line 468-472 “In the darkness, the horrible shrieks of pain and defeat, the tears torn out of Grendel’s taut throat, he’ll captive caught in the arms of him who of all the men on earth was the strongest.” Grendel is fighting the strongest man on earth, there will be no way to defeat him. Grendel had not been able to be defeated in 12 years, and Beowulf is able to defeat him with his bare hands in a night, showing how strong he actually is in comparison to other people. In lines 151-155 it tells you “They have seen my strength for themselves, have watched me rise from the darkness of war, dripping with my enemies’ blood. I drove five great giants into chains, chased all of that race from the earth.” We can assume that Beowulf was in battle with the five great giants, and he defeated them. Beowulf was able to drive five giants into chains, that is not something

The hero does not use his magnificent weapons to fight his fight. In fact, the true hero uses his heart instead. Clearly, this proverb talks about how a hero does not fight with all of the powerful weapons he may be provided with, but with his heart and sense of justice. Similarly, Beowulf shows that he uses his heart to fight and also many other characteristics. For example, he shows the characteristics that an anglo-saxon hero shows. Furthermore, In his battles with the sea monsters, Grendel’s mother and the dragon, Beowulf clearly exemplifies that he has courage and bravery, a sense of justice, and superhuman strength.

Grendel’s mother cannot be killed by just any ordinary weapon: “But her guest / Discovered that no sword could slice her evil / Skin, that Hrunting could not hurt her, was useless / Now when he needed it” (lines 495 – 498). Beowulf wants to end the fight rapidly by trying to slice her up but it does not work. He realizes that in order to defeat her he must kill her with his own two hands or with something out of the ordinary. Beowulf, after he gets back up off his feet, he notices a sword that was made by giants and then: “He drew it / From its scabbard, broke the chain on its hilt, /

The first thing that Beowulf is known for his almighty strength against the foul beast named, Grendel. Grendel can not be defeated with any one man’s weapon, so Beowulf decides to fight him with his bare hands. In the battle he fights the beast, holding on to his arm with all his might. He will eventually rip Grendel's arm off ,which no man has ever done, and forces Grendel into submission. Beowulf would show great strength against Grendel’s mom killing her with a giant's sword which no other man could even lift, not to mention a swift blow to her neck.

Beowulf possesses all the characteristics of an epic hero like, courage, pride, and enormous strength. Beowulf showed enormous strength throughout the whole story. He first displayed his strength when he battled Grendel in the mead hall. Beowulf tore the mighty Grendel's arm off as stated in the story, "He twisted in pain/ and the bleeding sinews deep in his shoulders snapped/ muscle and bone split and broke/ The battles was over/Beowulf had been granted new glory" (line 338-342).

Epic poems, are about epic and big journeys. The story i will be talking about is ‘Beowulf’ Throughout his journeys, he has shown to great lengths to show his heroism, with or without his weapons. The kingdom of Wulfgar is in great danger, and word spreads quickly that they need a hero. Beowulf's heroicness and strengths clearly proves that the theme of the this story is heroism.

Till we meet Grendel’s mother. In the text Beowulf goes to the mother’s lair. The journey was a four hour swim to the bottom of the swamp to Grendel’s mothers’ lair. There Beowulf battled the monster; Grendel’s mother was quite revolting in looks and powerful. But however, Beowulf managed to beat her and kill her. In the movie, it was way divergent. In the movie Grendel’s mother was actually quite breath taking. Also in the movie Beowulf never fought Grendel’s mother. She played into Beowulf’s inner desires, letting him become a king of his greatest desires if he would provide the seed for her to make another child. It was also revealed in the movie that Grendel’s mother had made the same promise to king Hrothgar, which was how Grendel was

According to his definition of a hero and the characteristics of Beowulf, he would consider Beowulf a hero. In Heroism, Emerson claims, “Towards external evil, man within his breast assumes a warlike attitude.” Beowulf assumes a warlike attitude pre battle when he outsmarts the monster, catching him off guard and striking him:

From my own perception Beowulf is about constantly over estimating yourself such as our main hero Beowulf. As strong and heroic as he may have been he never seemed to pick his own battles Cleary he handled Grendel well. But Grendel’s mother was a turning point where Beowulf should have noticed that his skills were maybe not as keen as he may have led us to believe. For he did win but with a good put up struggle knowing towards the end of the story Beowulf was getting weak choose to be ignorant and go on and fight the dragon anyways

Not everyone could be a hero. Heroes were supposed to possess great deal of bravery and chivalry, but also justice and honor was of significant importance for all of those combined would make an ideal leader. Every society needed a leader, someone strong and confident enough to guide and defend them even in the darkest of times. From that it follows the conclusion that being a courageous and capable warrior was the most desired quality in a hero. And precisely that was Beowulf’s greatest virtue.

The theme of Beowulf is heroism. Beowulf himself represents the heroic ideal because of his features, strength, and courage, but also because of his intelligence and honor. Beowulf is proud of his strength and great his honor. When Beowulf goes to Heorot, waiting for Grendel, he refuses to keep a weapon. He believes in himself that he can defeat the monster who has devoured many men without using any weapons. It turns out that Beowulf's intelligent approach was right. Glory is also one of the themes in Beowulf. In the beginning, Beowulf comes to Hrothgar's rescue, not just out of generosity but out of a desire to win glory for himself in battle. Beowulf's quest for glory never ends and drives him, in his old age, to face a foe he cannot