Theme Of Leadership In Beowulf

Hrothgar, the king of the Danes is faced with the issue of a horrible monster, Grendel tearing apart his soldiers and causing bloodshed. This is where Beowulf comes along, he is prepared with his men to defeat this monster and when the time comes Beowulf is more than ready to face him. Beowulf

Beowulf proclaims “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. Now Grendel and I are called together” (liens 156-160). Beowulf claims that he must go to defeat Grendel, as it was his errand, or his duty, and his fate. This speech he makes to King Hrothgar reinforces his true reason to come to the King, not for any pride. Another vow Beowulf makes is when he says “That this is one favor you should not refuse me—That I, alone and with the help of my men, many purge all evil form this hall” (lines 163-166). In this line, Beowulf is pleading for the King to do one thing, which is to give him the permission for him and his men to go and fight Grendel, what Beowulf had arrived for. The fact that Beowulf asks the king for only one thing, which is to fight Grendel, shows Beowulf’s selflessness and concern for the safety of others. At no part does he ask for a reward, but even says that if fate is in favor of Grendel to give his armor back to his family. These words help paint the image of Beowulf being concerned for others, not for his

Beowulf’s first demonstration as a leader, comes from him being a protector of his people. Hrothgar quotes this in his sermon as he quotes Beowulf as,”a protector of his people.” (McArthur). He describes Beowulf as a protector because he came to the village to fight off the monster that is Grendel (McArthur). Because of this action, the people of the village now place their trust in Beowulf, which is a common idea in the relationship between people and their leaders. Beowulf can excel at leading the village because everyone in the village thinks that he could do no wrong. Trust is a very essential skill in becoming a reliable leader. Hrothgar exclaims the importance of this by saying,”…and forts to command in his own country…” (McArthur). This means that Beowulf will look out for his people by commanding his country.

Beowulf is a model of leadership for our own times because he is very courageous and his strength is super human like. His skills and traits would not be good in our times though because a leader of a nation in our time doesn’t need to be very courageous and very strong to fight off people or go to war.

Beowulf’s strength is beyond any of human comparison and has allowed him to accomplish tasks that would have obliterated lesser men and gain renown throughout the world. Beowulf’s boasts of his strength are not to be received as prideful or egotistical but rather as a true representation of his power as Beowulf always fulfils his boasts. When Beowulf pledges to vanquish Grendel, he does not take it lightly and tells Hrothgar and his wife, Wealhtheow, that “..I shall fulfil that purpose, prove myself with a proud victory or meet my death here in the mead-hall.”(636-638), showing that he is prepared to die, if needed, to defeat this hellish creature. Later that night, in his battle with Grendel, Beowulf showed his strength. “The Captain of evil discovered himself in a handgrip harder than anything he had ever encountered in any man on the face of the earth… in all his days, he had never been clamped or cornered like this”(749-752,755-756). Beowulf’s strength surpassed that of even supernatural beings and allowed his to go on the offensive against a foe that had ravaged Heorot for years and thus allowed him to fulfill his boast. Beowulf power is brought out in his recitation of his deeds and again later actions against the mother of Grendel and a fire breathing dragon that threatens his home. In all of this fights, Beowulf is not seeking glory for himself, but

The Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf touches on the vice of pride, and is instilled in the main character, Beowulf, the great and mighty warrior. His boasting and arrogance when first dropping anchor at Heorot transitions throughout the poem, and, in contrast with his ideal kingsmanship, motivates him to accomplish and overcome the many challenges he faces as an epic hero. The contrast of his absent humility in the rise and fall of the story help promote the progression of the story, through its different purposes. Beowulf, when first landing upon Hrothgar’s kingdom, boasts, which does not go unchallenged, so that he might gain the trust of the Danes, but when knowingly facing his last battle, uses bragging to comfort and brace himself for his ultimate demise.

Beowulf, the defender of Hrothgar and Heorot, exhibits far more complicated (and less sincere) shades of revenge than the Grendel’s mother. At the end of the day, Beowulf’s goal is to become the preeminent warrior in all the land. In his society, the only way to gain such widespread celebrity is through courageous and self-endangering acts. Beowulf masks these deeds with a façade of seeking revenge; he supposedly comes to Heorot to save the Danes from Grendel’s terror, but his true motives lie in becoming a hero. His reward is not the pride of doing a good deed; Beowulf is rewarded with lavish and expensive gifts.

In the fantasy world found within the story of Beowulf; Hrothgar, the wise king of the Danes, offers Beowulf some important lessons of leadership. Hrothgar, recognizing Beowulf’s nobility and strength, talks to him about how he should act to be a good ruler when he becomes king. The characteristics of good leadership that Hrothgar mentions still hold true today, through people like politicians, and business executives. Hrothgar’s sermon not only provides an insight into what leaders like these should do, it aims to bring to light what leaders should not do.

Beowulf’s first battle is against Grendel in an attempt to help King Hrothgar of Denmark and the Danes. The king builds a great mead-hall known as Heorot, where his warriors can gather to drink, receive gifts from their lord, and listen to stories sung by the bards. All the noise and commotion angers Grendel, who is a horrible demon that lives in the swamplands of the king’s kingdom. Grendel is an outcast who desperately wants to be a part of the Danes. He is bitter about being excluded from the mead-hall festivities. As a result of his jealousy and loneliness, Grendel terrorizes the Danes every night, killing them and defeating their efforts to fight back. The Danes live in fear, danger, and suffer death from Grendel for many, many years. Eventually, word of the kingdom’s suffering at the hands of Grendel reaches Beowulf. He feels inspired by the challenge of defeating the monster and decides to help the Danes. The king holds a big feast to celebrate Beowulf’s help,

Leadership is the ability of motivating an assembly of people to act towards a common goal and has the skill to make others want to follow in their direction (Ward). The epic Beowulf, contains various scenes of how the protagonist hero, Beowulf, shows great leadership. Beowulf portrays good leadership by his confidence, his physical strength, and his loyalty, which are important qualities of the Anglo-Saxon time.

Though Hrothgar is a strong king, he lacks the courage to instill a powerful spirit into his men when leading them into battle.

Continuing, even though he did not defeat Grendel by himself, Hrothgar demonstrates the wisdom a king needs to rule his kingdom. At the arrival of Beowulf’s troops, Hrothgar knew distinctly that he needed to gain their loyalty in order to let Beowulf fight Grendel, so he generously gave plenty of drinks and he even brought out his own wife to please them, “…the Helming woman went on her rounds, / queenly and dignified, decked out in rings, / offering the goblet to all ranks,” (620-622). Hrothgar utilizes his tactful mind to gain these warriors’ trust, even though he could not fight anymore like Beowulf, the Danes’ king’s wisdom remains and makes him qualify as a king. Furthermore, Hrothgar gives advice to Beowulf, which reveals the insight Hrothgar has and the great worldview he yields. He says to Beowulf, “…beware of that trap. / Choose, dear Beowulf, the better part, / Eternal rewards. Do not give way to pride.” (1758-1760). In these lines, Hrothgar warns Beowulf about the danger pride wields, which can infiltrate the strongest warrior; he pointed out the most dangerous trap, which people in that time period ignored easily when they become a leader.

Beowulf boats on himself to the king, telling Hrothgar that his people have sent him because they knew that he was the only person that could rid Herot of the feared Grendel. Grendel terrorized Herot, taking the soldiers at night as they slept for his meals. Beowulf tells Hrothgar that his people “... 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.” (152-155). Beowulf is trying to convince Hrothgar to let him and his men get rid of Grendel by telling him about all the great things he has done for his own people in Geatland. Beowulf knows that all of his people know how astonishing his abilities and accomplishments are, but he wants others to know as well. Beowulf wants his name known so it can ultimately live on past his

Thanks to this “sermon”, the reader can understand the difference between being a wise king and a brave warrior, which is also one of the main themes of the poem. Hrothgar is the model for maturity and wisdom: before becoming king he had been a warrior like Beowulf too, so he knows what he is talking about when he compares strength and fortune to a “trap”. He is the symbol of stability and tries to share this values with Beowulf, who is exactly his opposite. The young hero embodies, on the contrary, the manners and values of the Germanic code, like loyalty and pride. But pride is presented here as a “double-edged sword”, because if it is not controlled can lead to death. Hrothgar, trying to prepare Beowulf for the ascension to the throne, becomes an inspiring model for him. However, as explained previously, Beowulf demonstrates at the end to be a brave king, but not a wise one… He becomes older and more powerful, but he seems not to have grown up mentally, because ‘till the very end he is focused on reaching glory (to the detriment of his people’s safety) even if he knows that it is inevitable for him to lose. This passage is a sort of forecast of what the reader will read next and demonstrates that heroism means nothing if it is not “blown over” by

Based on the readings, I believe that a good hero does not make a good leader. After reading through Beowulf and Hamlet I found that many of the characteristics that made certain characters’ hero’s, did not allow them to become successful leaders. Although many people might think that the words “hero” and “leader” are interchangeable, I found that not to be the case. In the first example, Beowulf suffered from an obsession with personal accomplishment and fame which prevented him from leading his people in a proper way. Hamlet, on the other hand, was a different kind of hero who possessed flaws that stopped him from becoming a good leader. Examples of good hero’s not being good leaders occur in real life as well, not just literature. Many examples of this happening occur in sports where certain players have loads of talent, but no leadership skills.