Two Examples Of Heroism In Beowulf

Loyalty and bravery are themes that are often found in literature, and Beowulf is no exception. It is one of the reasons I find this poem so interesting. Beowulf is the hero of the poem who decides to sail to Denmark with hope of protecting the Danish people from a creature known as Grendel, who has attacked and devoured many of King Hrothgar’s warriors while they were asleep. Like all heroes, Beowulf exhibits true bravery, courage, and puts the people before himself, which makes him a very likely candidate for king. Even before he faces the terrifying monster, Grendel, Beowulf renounces the uses of weapons when he says “Soon I shall sink him into death-sleep, not with my sword but solely by strength. He is unschooled in skills to strike against

also demonstrates loyalty to King Hrothgar, who “led / The Danes to such glory that comrades and kinsmen / Swore by his sword” (12-14) even though King Hrothgar is not his king. Beowulf knows that he came onto King Hrothgar’s land, so he should be loyal and respectful to Hrothgar.

Beowulf displays bravery several times throughout the story. He shows bravery by coming to Herot to help Hrothgar and his men by offering to fight Grendel. He stated “Now Grendel and I are called together, and I’ve come, grant me then, lord and protector of this noble place, a single request” (pg.48). He again shows bravery when he goes down in the water to fight Grendel’s mother, after she attacked and

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.

This shows Beowulf’s strength, courage and fearlessness. Through this it is evident that he possess courageous traits.

Beowulf is a hero, and we all know a hero when we see one. There are many traits and characteristics that make someone a hero. These traits and characteristics are more expressed in ancient epics and poems. Beowulf is one of the most famous ancient Anglo-Saxon poems still taught to this day in schools and colleges all over the world. The story starts off of how a man by the name of Beowulf receives news that a neighboring land is being terrorized by a monster named Grendel. Beowulf shows several characteristics of here such as, bravery, loyalty, generosity, friendship, and showing a high level of intellect. Beowulf first shows his heroic character through his bravery while journeying on his epic quest. There are several cases where he is not afraid, and instead of being frightened, he shows great bravery. An example of from the poem is, “Instead, they inspected omens and spurred his ambitions to go, whilst he moved about like the leader he was, enlisting men, the best he could find; with fourteen others the warrior boarded the boast as captain” (Beowulf 205-210). This quote gives proof of his bravery because he was the head of the group leading his men. Beowulf proves that even he himself must be brave in order to lead the bravest of men into battle.

All throughout the poem Beowulf has not once hesitated in showing that he is brave and that he does not care about risking his own life to help others. In the beginning of the

A hero is one who is not only strong, but one who uses his strength to uphold others. A hero is humble, philanthropic, magnanimous and selfless, a humanitarian at best. In the unprecedented epic Beowulf, the tale’s namesake exemplifies every characteristic befitting an Anglo-Saxon hero. He is honest, loyal, and courageous. He portrays these characteristics in the battle against Grendel, the affray with Grendel’s mother, and the fight against the dragon that inevitably ended his life.

Beowulf is a prime example of what it means to be courageous. In his fight with Grendel, he chooses “[n]o weapons, therefore, / for either this night: unarmed he shall face me / if face me he dares” (683-84). Beowulf has never encountered Grendel before. He has only heard the stories of the beast’s evil doings, so going into a fight with no protection requires great strength and bravery. Beowulf is the only man to dive into the waters to fight Grendel’s Mother. He goes into the fight believing “life doesn’t cost him a thought” (1536). The outcome of the battle does not faze Beowulf because a warrior should

While reading these three individual stories you can see that bravery is shown in every single one of them. Bravery is defined as a courageous behavior or act committed by someone. Anyone who is brave takes action and helps those who need it the most. While reading the story of Beowulf you can see that he is very brave because he takes a stand for Hrothgar’s people when he feared to lose more of his men. Beowulf and his men have travelled a long way to help Hrothgar defeat the monsters that terrorize his kingdom, “Grant me, then, Lord and protector of this noble place, A single request! I have come so far, O shelterer of warriors and your peoples loved friend, that this one favor you should not refuse me—That I, alone and with the help of my men, may purge all evil from this hall. I have heard,

Loyalty was a big theme in Beowulf which by the way without loyalty Beowulf would have been alone but loyalty helped him in many different parts of the story. For example, as he was in the halls of Hrothgar his loyal subjects knew that sleeping there might cost them their life but they stayed there because they knew they had a warrior who could save them. They stayed through the loyalty to Beowulf. Beowulf the main character showed the most loyalty out of all which prove the point that loyalty is the main theme of the story. He showed such loyalty by never fearing anything by Always think of other before himself by thinking of his people and his duty to his people by helping them from danger to helping them financially and also keeping his words to the king of Hrothgar.

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

In the anonymously written Beowulf, the theme is that being loyal to others will result in material rewards, as can be seen through Beowulf when he vows to protect his village by fighting the dragon alone, tracking down Grendel’s mother after she kills Hrothgar’s good friend, and protecting his leader Hrothgar from Grendel and his mother. In the beginning of the poem, there appears to be a mythical monster named Grendel who is attacking, the land of the Danes. When Beowulf knows of this tragedy, he volunteers to go and battle the mythical beast with fourteen of his mightiest warriors that he found the bravest. He is put through abundance of situations where he has to battle many mythical creatures such as Grendel, Grendel’s mother and the dragon. Which he is capable of

This is a part of the characterization of Beowulf. The courage of Beowulf is shown multiple times through the work. Grendel has been the cause of many deaths and Beowulf has the bravery to face him with no weapons or armor. This definitely shows the values that Beowulf

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