Themes In Beowulf

The concept of an epic hero ordains in most capacities to be born into their position, subsequently having to prove themselves worthy of said position, eventually excelling their birth circumstances and achieving greatness. This is true of most epic heroes, being either demigods, royalty, or both. Hercules is a demigod (explaining his astounding feats of strength and will), Aeneas is a demigod and of a royal bloodline, Odysseus is essentially blessed by the gods and king of Ithica. Those characters’ qualities of birth can be definitively classified as happenstantial luck. Yet, is it luck if one’s powers are inexplicably unique and inherent, not being bestowed? The most enigmatic, yet prominent epic hero who defies the trope of born luck seems to be the Anglo-Saxon character of Beowulf.

This sets the foundation for the story and creates a basis for the characters to thrive upon.Beowulf is a story that can only teach us the pure meaning of things and how they reflect on one another.

In the poem Beowulf, written by an unknown person is an epic poem. The poem tells us about Beowulf’s killing of the monstrous creatures. Lof, comitatus and wyrd shows value of importance in Beowulf’s culture.            First is the importance of lof, in Beowulf’s culture lof is boasting in oneself to have more fame.

Beowulf is an epic about a hero who takes on great challenges and adventures. This story dates back to the Anglo-Saxon period. The character Beowulf, encounters the virtues of the Anglo-Saxon culture and beliefs. The traits the he encounters from the Anglo-Saxon society are strength, bravery, courage, and the desire to help the helpless. The character of Hrothgar establishes to Beowulf how to be a successful king.

The theme of Beowulf had the good vs.evil theme to the story when the monster is Grendel is the monster and his mother also a threat to herot and Beowulf is the hero to solve the problems of Grendel is making. Beowulf is the hero in the story and Grendel is the villain. Beowulf is the faced with many trials throughout the story with unferth and the Grendel.

The theme of Beowulf: A New Telling is dark versus light or good versus evil. The king of Danes, Hrothgar is a king loved by his people and shows great light and good in him. He is a strong, generous king. He is one of the main protagonists of the story and almost dies at the hands of Grendel, until his lovely wife Wealtheow saves him. Wealtheow is also an example of light in Beowulf: A New Telling because she cares so deeply for Beowulf, and gives him a magnificent gold ring. Her love and light thwarted Grendel as she threw herself on top of Hrothgar to die with her love. Grendel is an example of dark and evil in the book. Grendel is a cold-hearted murder who literally leaves a trail of blood wherever he goes. Grendel is fat, greedy, and the Son of Cain, which shows darkness that contrasts against the great light of Wealtheow and Hrothgar. Grendel lives in the Fen, a dark and evil place filled with horrific creatures such as a horse with no head and hands instead of hooves. The Fen is full of

As Thomas Paine once said, “The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection”. Through most recent generations, the word “heroic” is thrown around to a certain extent. At one time, heroes were naturally born into key figures, glorified through fame. Beowulf's’ nobility provides his key success towards being born into a hero. As for Oedipus, he had also been born into aristocracy by his father's legacy. Today’s concept of heroism is a concern for people in need—an involvement to defend a moral cause, the possibility of personal risk, done without the expectation of a reward. [In the fictional myths of both Oedipus the King and Beowulf, eccentric heroes prove their personal necessities in characterizing the importance of a culture; However, the current society’s tragic hero is one that often combats through the fear of bravery and the greater good of others.]

Hrothgar’s courage and strength diminishes as he moves out of Heorot into huts sitting outside his grand hall. He no longer feels like the king he once was because he cannot protect his kingdom. Even Hrothgar’s men lose their courage and faith that Beowulf will triumph over Grendel’s mother. When Beowulf is fighting Grendel’s Mother, the Danes retreat in fear:

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.

Having the main focus of the poem, Beowulf, being about monsters, the three major monsters depicted in the poem playing crucial roles were Grendel, Grendel’s Mother, and the dragon. Each monster had a big portion of the poem dedicated to them, in my opinion, Grendel's mother had the smallest portion but it was still pretty big.

Beowulf is an epic story that relates well to the time that it was introduced by having the stories of the epic battles and the defeats of the treacherous monsters that kept everyone entertained during this era. Not only does Beowulf represent the era well, but it also has very interesting characters, themes and symbols that help teach us lessons that are very much so needed in today's society.

The king of Danes, Hrothgar, was first introduced as an accomplished and wise king. He comes to be well known as a young king when he protected Beowulf's now departed father, Ecgtheow. Hrothgar wergild peace with Ecgtheow's enemies so that the bloody feud would end. With Hrothgar doing this generous deed to help Ecgtheow and his kingdom out Beowulf devotes his assistance in the beginning of the poem. One thing that makes Hrothgar a good king is that he always seems to stay true to his word, as is told at the beginning, “the king kept well his pledge and promise to deal out gifts, rings at the banquet” (53-55). It was clear that Hrothgar was an exceptional military leader with his bravery and strength but he is aged now and cannot fight the same as he used to. The Danes are then faced with an evil and wicked monster, Grendel, who terrorizes his realm. Beowulf asks Hrothgar if he could fight this battle for him to pay back his family debt and Hrothgar agreed. Hrothgar makes a promise to reward Beowulf if he succeeds in killing the monster Grendel. He says, “For his gallant courage I’ll load him with gifts…. shall know not want of treasure or wealth

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

What makes tone something so important in an epic hero story? Many of the epic hero stories have some kind of tone in it. In British literature you often see many literary elements, but the tone is a main element that demonstrates everything on what the story deals with. Beowulf, “Gilgamesh”, the Iliad and Hercules all have the same tone that ties it up together.

Beowulf is an epic dense with imagery derived from Anglo-Saxon Pagan culture and Christianity because it is was written in England during the 8th century, a period of Christian migration, growth, and conversion. From the sea where he loses a fight but fends off evil sea-monsters, the forests, and specific animals such as the raven, Beowulf blends nature, mysticism, and reality seamlessly. The descriptions of nature are general and vague which makes it hard to tell exact locations and lets the reader form their own, personalized visualization of the area; likewise, the role of nature in the lives of the Anglo-Saxon culture and Pagan religion remain unclear at best. Provided with many images of nature in Beowulf, this analysis will extract a deeper understanding of how the Anglo-Saxons used their Paganistic view of nature to help shape Beowulf.