What Is The Importance Of Reputation In Beowulf

Every epic hero acquires certain heroic characteristics. The poem, “Beowulf, is about the most heroic man of the Anglo-Saxon period. Beowulf is a warrior from Geatland that comes to help Hrothgar, the king of Danes, defeat the monster Grendel who has been killing men in their kingdom. Beowulf defeats the unstoppable beast, Grendel. Then Grendel’s mother comes to try to avenge Grendel’s death, and Beowulf slaughters her in her underwater lair. After 50 peaceful years of ruling the Geats, Beowulf in his old age fights his last battle with a dragon. He defeats the dragon, with help from Wiglaf, but dies as a result. The main character, Beowulf exemplifies many characteristics that an epic hero possesses. Beowulf’s characteristics include

Helping the once great Hrothgar, Defeating the monstrous Grendel, and proclaiming his everlasting honor are all reasons Beowulf earned and preserved his everlasting honor. Honor can corrupt the strongest minded of men, but not in the case of Beowulf. Beowulf used his greed for honor and fame to better himself and improve the reputation of his namesake. He proved himself time and time again through countless quests and deeds, spreading his name across the lands. Due to Beowulf’s

Beowulf is the hero of all. He has courage, strength, and is considered the prince of the Geats. He always stand by his word no matter what happened, no matter if he must risk his physical integrity for it. He likes to be there for the people that need his help to be saved from the evil. He is willing to risk his own life in order to save the life of his ideals, and that selfless help identifies his heroic identity and character. He defeats three monsters, two of them were the descendants of Cain, demonstrating his capabilities of performing great feats of strength and courage. This heroic icon demonstrates how brave he is, not only with himself but with other people that need his useful help and he is always there to help others, using his ability of strength and courage.

Beowulf’s culture cares about reputation because it is the only concept that is immortal. Before people die, they wanted to have a long-lasting impact on the lives around them, and they wanted their image to last as long as possible. This is especially true to the tribe of the Geats, a family of warriors bent on battle. Warriors fought in battle for position, territory, or to defend their tribe from

Beowulf if extremely brave, even for a warrior of his time. He is personally willing to protect a foreign city from a man-killing monster that no one else would dare go up against. The fact that makes even more of a hero is how he does not receive anything but honor and glory for killing the beasts he is faced with. Most warriors of the time would have requested a monetary reward for such a feat. However,

Beowulf is a poem that tells the story of a hero’s victories and defeat, first killing a demon and his mother and after being defeated by a dragon. This poem shows how spectacular epics were at this time and as the Anglo-Saxon literature took a long a long time ago. Furthermore it shows how important and recognized the heroic deeds were, so much to the point to write about the hero with qualities and characteristics that were a little overdone such as the strength of Beowulf that with one fist he tore Grendel's arm off. In the epic, the reader can witness that willpower and loyalty are more important than physical strength in battle as these allow him to be willing to face a very strong and terrifying enemies and defend his principles and friends.

In the epic poem Beowulf reputation shows a big part in how you are seen, and perceived. King Hrothgar knows of his cousin Beowulf due to his brute strength and courage from stories. When Beowulf- said to be the strongest of the Geats, the strongest man in the world (pg. 23, lines 110-111) - arrived in the story with his fourteen men who were said to be the strongest and bravest of the Geats (pg. 23, lines 120-121). Unferth the son of Ecglaf has heard of stories from when Beowulf had a swimming race with his cousin Brecca. The only thing Unferth really knew about Beowulf was that he lost the race to Brecca, and how they were boastful fools who only cared about the danger of it.

The famous poet James Russell Lowell once said, “Reputation is only a candle, of wavering and uncertain flame, and easily blown out, but it is the light by which the world looks for and finds merit” . Reality stresses the importance to be more concerned with personal character than self reputation, because character beholds who you really are, while your reputation is merely what others perceive. The epic of Beowulf, written in Old English, describes the adventures of a great Scandinavian warrior of the sixth century. Having an outstanding reputation was an important aspect of life, and in the world of Beowulf it was no different.

Heroes come in all different shapes and sizes. When a hero is described, a hero is not all the time a muscular strong person; they could be weak and still be a hero. In “Beowulf”, Burton Raffel describes Beowulf with hero like traits such as, being “the strongest in the world”, and ridding the evil monsters of the earth so no person could be hurt by them. Beowulf is the most outstanding hero to be known because like any hero, he is intrepid; and is courageous because he does not stand down from any fight in order to keep people safe and out of harm's way.

So, Beowulf the strong and brave warrior with the strength of thirty men in each arm who does not fear death but death itself. “Epics often involve interactions between heroes and gods. In Beowulf, the Christian God is not immediately present in the poem but is often mentioned and discussed.” The hero often leaves for a quest to rid the land of evil often to return home to bask in the glories of his triumphs. Beowulf is no exception, but at times his strength, courage and dedication is tested. Not once but three glorious battles between “Good and Evil” over the course of this poem who would one day return the land of “Geastland” to become

Beowulf is a very old man by now and although he is, in the end, fatally wounded, he manages to deliver the final blow that kills the dragon. His lack of fear to fight the dragon by himself, is portrayed when he tells his friends to stay outside so they will not get injured. Even as an elderly person, Beowulf still has the same extraordinary courage and strength as earlier in the poem. And even with age, he has not lost the qualities that make him universally well known, and an outstanding hero. These battles are examples of epic folklore during pagan times.

Beowulf is the story of a hero who has a power to defeat his enemy . He is the great hero of his time. The story starts in heorot when all people celebrating a feasts and because of that all people create a noise.Because of the noise coming from the hall the monster named Grendel disturb that is why the monster get out and went to the mead hall to start a war.Because of the tragedy happened the powerful Beowulf exist to end the tragedy experience by the people.It is an interesting story because of it’s heroism. It is amazing story because of his power and he know how to kill his enemy in equal.The weakness of man is

This occurrence was due to the culture in the Anglo-Saxon time period, in which any boy who was born, grew up to be a warrior knight. Those knights fought and killed monsters, and went to war to protect their people. This truth is further explained in the Prologue of the epic, in which it states: “So young men build their future, wisely, open-handed in peace, protected in war, so warriors earn their fame, and wealth is shaped with a sword.”(lines 22-25). This quote helps to further explain and understand how and where a warrior's’ fame come from. Without war or slaying monsters young men would not grow to become famous, wealthy, and well known by everyone across the land. This lack of fortune, including their heroism and status, would be caused as a result of all of those attributes being solely based on their accomplishments in war and by their heroic ability and courage to battle the monsters that harmed their people.

When reading the tales of Beowulf and the descriptions of his battles, you tend to think that this is about a god-like or super-powered creator - anything but human. The truth surrounding Beowulf, if there truly is a truth to these tales, is something that remains unclear, because almost nothing other than Beowulf, as far as writings and literature, has survived from this time in history. Beowulf, however, has been written and rewritten, again and again, because these tales were so popular with the people of that time period. These tales had everything going for them, particularly the trials and making of a good, godly man or god-like man. Heroic, epic battles, strength, blood and grit, all things that good story tellers needed for an interesting story. Yet, this is not to say that Beowulf is like any other human being walking around; no, Beowulf is a Geat, and the last one of his kind.

Beowulf is a piece of Anglo-Saxon literature that is expressed in Old English and provides an image of early medieval times. It is known as one of the greatest epic poems ever written. The main character, Beowulf, displays personality traits that set him apart from the other warriors. The bond between family and clans shapes the powerful warrior’s action that would either form an alliance to help protect against enemies or gain enemies. There are many elements that are significant to a person’s life. In Beowulf, establishing reputation is one of the most important aspects in life. In the Anglo-Saxon culture, when a man has a higher reputation, he will most likely have a stronger respect and trust amongst other warriors. Each character has a reputation that plays a role in society. Having a superior reputation can make someone have a recognition in a part of the history. In every epic poem, a character becoming too concerned with his image is the main flaw that causes problems. The character only thinks about their image and not what is best for them in order to overcome challenges. However, in Beowulf, this pride of reputation helps enhance him as a great warrior. Beowulf is establishing his reputation through his “building blocks” of challenges he will have encountered. Reputation is the defining concept because Beowulf is constantly concerned of how people view him.