Theme Of Justice In Beowulf

Beowulf is from a time where heros never die. They would live on through stories. There would be amazing tales, poems recited, and songs sung about what the hero had done. To be a hero you had to follow the Anglo-Saxon codes. Which meant showing respect to those who had raised you and in turn helping them when they are in need. It means proving yourself and doing what was expected of you, even when it is something like dieing for your people. To live on through stories, Beowulf fought because of his duty, for glory, and as a sacrifice.

In today’s society, we see violence as a way to cope with all types problems. Humans have used violence as a way to resolve issues since ancient times. The poem “Beowulf” was written between the eighth and eleventh century by an anonymous author. The poem recounts the story of a brave warrior, named Beowulf, who battles three great monsters. Two of the monsters, Grendel and Grendel’s Mother, terrorize the people of Daneland and the third monster, the Dragon, lives in Beowulf's homeland. The epic poem “Beowulf” illustrates and normalizes the idea of violence within the Pagan Warrior Culture.

Beowulf is an epic poem that, above all, gives the reader an idea of a time long past; a time when the most important values were courage and integrity. The only factors that could bestow shower fame upon a person were heroic deeds and family lineage. Beowulf, as the paradigm of pagan heroes, exhibited his desire to amass fame and fortune; the only way to do so was to avenge the death of others. This theme of retribution that is ever present throughout the poem seems to color the identities of its characters.

Beowulf: A New Telling is a book for people that need reassurance that light will overcome darkness and that we need to accept that we have some darkness inside of us, then our weaknesses can become our strengths. Beowulf has to face many faces of evil, including Grendel, the cruel slimy creature who murders Beowulf’s friends and She, the wife of Cain and malicious monster that lives at the bottom of a pool of blood. He becomes king of Geats and is famous all throughout the land.

Beowulf is an epic poem that was written in Old English in between the 8th and 11th century. King Hrothgar who rules the Danes, is being tormented by this beast called, Grendel. For some time now, Grendel has been attacking Heorot Hall, a mead-hall, and has been killing off many of the Danish soldiers and sometimes even devouring some. The king didn’t seem able to protect the people in his village from this great demon. Until, one day, Beowulf shows up and actually offers to help King Hrothgar by volunteering to find and kill this dreaded monster.

Vengeance is an important value that causes many 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 vengeance ties courage to it since it takes courage to follow through with someone’s desire for vengeance.

The story of Beowulf is an epic story of good vs. evil, living vs. death and the epic characteristic that is portrayed in main characters in their adventure/ quest. The story demonstrates Grendel as an evil and powerful being that enjoys killing, however, the story brings up the context that good will defeat evil which is the role of Beowulf who is the hero in the story. Beowulf can be described as a leader and a human that has the strength of 30 men, as he goes on his journey he’ll faces many obstacles of living vs. death when he fight’s in battles and time to time symbolism is used to describe good vs. evil, which can be seen as Grendel symbolize as evil and Beowulf as good. Seeing that many examples in the story can be interpreted in two theme and characters showing epic characteristic, the two image in the project will be Beowulf's giving his speech which gives the theme life vs. death and good vs. evil will be the battle of Grendel mother vs. Beowulf

Though Beowulf was god-like and he was able to be successful when faced with decisions and adversity, he eventually succumbed to the destructive forces of nature and threw his nation into conflict. As aforementioned, Beowulf’s battle with the dragon depicts unpreventable death and destruction that afflicts everybody, his last battle also symbolizes that even the most seemingly perfect people are chained to hostile acts of nature and fate. Beowulf’s death is not a product of pride, it was a result of his altruistic nature to do good, however, his death forecasts war in his country as described by Wiglaf when ordering a messenger to tell the Geats of Beowulf’s death, “And this people can expect fighting, once/ The Franks, and the Frisians, have heard that our king/ Lies dead.” (Beowulf 2910-2913). Beowulf’s main purpose was to do good, and though killing the dragon was an act of goodness, he traded in his life for an act of good, however his death brought the large possibility of war to his

Beowulf was written around 800 C.E., and the exact author of the poem is unknown. The story was set in Europe during medieval times. The Danes in the story used a type of Feudal government. Simply put, the king would give his constituents things and in return they would pledge their loyalty to the king. Hrothgar is the kin g of the Danes and is described in the poem as,” noble king, our dear lord, friend of the Danes, the giver of rings” (49). This shows Hrothgar’s generosity good will towards his people. During this era, violence was commonplace and it came from every direction. Kingdoms were often at war with one another over land and resources, so societies had to deal with violence from within their own walls, just as we have to today.

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

“Beowulf spoke ,son of Ecgtheow:/ ‘Do not grieve,wise sir.It always better/to avenge ones friend than mourn too much.’ (Beowulf,11.1383-5)

To defeat the darkness and badness of the world you need to first find and acknowledge the darkness in yourself, in the book Beowulf, a New Telling readers will travel with the hero Beowulf as he fights away monsters while also ridding himself of his own, personal demons. Beowulf a new telling is a modernized remake of the original medieval epic, Beowulf. Throughout the book readers will find a theme of good versus evil, but as they look more closely will also see the theme of man versus self.

To defeat the dark and badness of the world you need to first find and adknowledge the darkness in yourself, in the book Beowulf, a New Telling readers will travel with the hero Beowulf as he fights away monsters while also ridding himself of his own, personal demons. Beowulf a new telling is modernized remake of the original medieval epic, Beowulf. Throughout the book readers will find a theme of good versus evil but as they look more closely will also see the theme of man versus self.

In stories heroes and heroines are brought face to face with their enemies, they are put in life threatening situations, and on average are given a task to complete. Without these basic elements of the plot writing a story based around heroism would be difficult, less entraining leading the reader to lose interest in the theme of the story. It’s a good thing authors know what draws a reader in, the average individual loves action and death defying tasks, people are naturally drawn to a morally driven character that fights for what’s right, and pushes through the hardship brought on by the task at hand. These elements of the story lead to similarities in theme which isn’t a bad thing it allows for expansion in the differing concepts based around the same idea. In literature whether it is Anglo Saxon or renaissance the theme of good versus evil is seemingly the most iconic amongst both the authors and the readers.

The idea of good versus evil is something that is present in many stories. Beowulf is no different and the notion that good always defeats evil is present throughout the story, with the titular character Beowulf representing the good that defeats the evils forces in Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon.