In reading the epic poem, Beowulf, we read about his many battles and the famous warrior that he was. Our first reading was of his battle with Grendel and how Beowulf triumphed. Second, we read about how he turned an almost certain defeat into a victory of the battle with Grendel’s mother. Last we read of Beowulf’s ultimate death and his battle against the dragon.
There are some similarities of these battles, the question is what is similar about them? They all seem to be completely different. Some similarities are during the first two battles. In the first two battles Beowulf is dealing with Grendel in some way or another. The first battle he fought the treacherous Grendel. In Beowulf’s second battle he fought Grendel’s mother. In doing
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This is where he goes to battle Grendal’s mother. During this second battle Grendal’s mother is close to claiming a victory against Beowulf. But in the end Beowulf was able to defeat her after regaining his strength. The difference here again in the second battle is Beowulf is still filled with anger after killing Grendal’s mother, that he searches the great battle hall to find Grendal again. But he soon discovers Grendal is dead in a corner. He takes the sword that he used to kill Grendal’s mother and chops of his head.
Finally, in the third battle, Beowulf battles the dragon. This battle’s difference is Beowulf is unsuccessful in battling the dragon. He is defeated by the dragon and is fatally wounded and dies. He was deserted by his comrades and he had to fight the dragon alone. One other difference in this battle is Beowulf is older than the other two battles and he is the king of the Geats. Beowulf was a great warrior, to people all over the world, not just by his men. He fought his hardest up to his final days where his hardest just wasn’t good enough. Although, each battle was fought hard, each one had it’s own story and personality. Each battle also had a connection to the other in some form or another. If we can take away any knowledge from this story, we could say that these battles are similar in the fact that it will always be good versus evil and sadly good doesn’t always
It is common opinion that Beowulf was written by a Christian poet. This was probably true because at the time when it was written, most of the few people who knew how to read and write were in the clergy. There are various references within the poem to elements of the Christian religion. However, the story is about Pagan people and certain aspects of their culture are even glorified. The ambiguity of Beowulf’s religious content has caused confusion as to what significance religion had in inspiring the author and in what manner the author meant to inspire or influence his audience. I do not think that Beowulf is a Christian allegory because Beowulf had very little in common with the Biblical figure of Jesus Christ. I think that religion was not the primary thematic concern of the writer. Although there are discrepancies between the two styles of thinking, Beowulf seems to praise values which were considered moral and good among all humanity, both Christian and Pagan.
Towards the end of the story, Beowulf travels to fight a dragon who is protecting a large treasure. He wants to prove to his kingdom that he is still the brave and strong man he used to be, but his main motivation is the treasure he will get after his victory. "And Beowulf uttered his final boast: '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'" (606-610). On the other side, the dragon has the same motivation. He is willing protect the treasure if it takes his life. This makes the fight one to the death. "When he comes to me I mean to stand, not to run from his shooting Flames, stand still till fate decides Which of us wins" (619-622). Beowulf feels that if he cannot have this victory, that this is the proper way to
A soldier and Beowulf are similar in many ways, for instance, they are both strong and brave. A soldier shows strength and bravery when he/she fights for the safety of our country by going to war against countries that mean us harm. Beowulf showed strength and bravery when he fought Grendel, a demonic monster who killed many of the Danes’ people. Unarmed and with the strength of just one hand, Beowulf was able to defeat Grendel. Throughout the poem, Beowulf fought in two more major battles; Grendel’s mother and a great dragon. Another similarity is that both, a soldier and Beowulf, are/were passionate about serving and protecting their people. Soldiers are dedicated to protecting those around them on the battlefield, as well as our society as a whole. Beowulf was not only dedicated to protecting his own people, but also those who had done right by his father.
Beowulf is a poem about strength and courage. This is illustrated in the eighth section of the story called “Beowulf and the Dragon.” A slave, a hero and a dragon play a big role in this section. The characters are well developed, as is the setup for the conclusion of the poem.
Scyld Scefing often deprived his enemies, many tribes of men, of their mead-benches. He terrified his foes; yet he, as a boy, had been found a waif; fate made amends for that. He prospered under heaven, won praise and honor, until the men of every neighboring tribe, across the whale’s way, were obliged to obey him and pay him tribute. He was a noble king! (BEO 4-11).
The story of both heroes is quite peculiar when comparing them to each other. Beowulf is recognized for his almighty strength of defeating monsters by himself. In a kingdom located in Denmark, Beowulf travels to aid the king Hrothgar. Hrothgar had a major problem
While fighting the Dragon Beowulf shows feats of strength and courage that define him as a hero. The classical hero displays a special quality that separates him from the rest of
As the welcoming celebration for Beowulf goes on, Unferth begins to ridicule Beowulf about his swimming competition with Breca. Unferth is jealous and feels threatened by Beowulf " for he would not allow that any other man of middle-earth should ever achieve more glory under the heavens than himself." (Norton p. 33) Unferth is a very peculiar character. Although he has committed the horrific crime of killing his brother(s), he is privileged enough to sit at the feet of the king, a very respected position. His sin,an enormous violation of the comitatus, suggests that there is something wrong in Hrothgar's kingdom and perhaps helps to foreshadow its destruction. Ultimately, it will be destroyed, as the text says, by a fire after " sword-hate between son-in-law and father-in-law to awaken after murderous rage." (Norton p. 28).
There was a huge influence of both paganism and christianity that can be noticed in Old English Poetry. To better understand these two values, let us explain what paganism and christianity mean. Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. As presented in New Thestament, Christians believe Jesus to be the Son of God and the Messiah prophesied in The Old Testament. Christianity began in the 1st century AD as a Jewish sect, and shares many religious texts with Judaism, specifically the Hebrew Bible, known to Christians as the Old Testament. The name Christian means belonging to Christ or partisan of Christ. As far as Paganism is concerned, the word comes from latin paganus and means a country dweller, rustic. It is a term which has come to connote a broad set of spiritual or cultic practises or beliefs of any folk religion a nd of historical and contemprorary polytheism religious in particular. (...) Characteristic of pagan traditions in the anscence of proselytisation and presence of a living mythology which explains religious practice. The term Pagan is a Christian adaptation of the goy of Judaism.
?Justification for the Abandonment and Solitude of Beowulf Beowulf is the classic tale of a mighty and heroic Geat leader who comes to an unpleasant and seemingly early end. Throughout his life, Beowulf had been an excellent leader and had led his army to many victories over many foes, of his land and of many others as well. At his peak, Beowulf was the mightiest warrior on all the earth: “There was no one else like him alive. In his day, he was the mightiest man on earth, high-born and powerful.” (297-298). Eventually, Beowulf would come to be ruler over many people. During this time he would defeat many enemies, two of which being Grendel and his mother. After their defeat, Beowulf and his people experienced a time of peace and prosperity which was enjoyed by all. He remained undefeated until the bitter end when he was defeated by the dragon in the underwater hell-like grave. Beowulf’s death marked the end of not only his reign, but also of the safety know by his people, and also the end of his kingdom. The reasons for his abandonment of his people and his insistence to fight alone are not clear, although many have theories as to why the great warrior chose the fate he did. The first topic at hand is why Beowulf chose to fight by himself, especially in the case of the dragon. Beowulf was a very valiant warrior who fought his greatest battles alone, or at least single-handedly.
There are many similarities and differences between each battle Beowulf is part of. In every battle, the reader expects Beowulf to be victorious since it has been stated since the beginning of the epic poem that he is a hero. In addition to this Beowulf’s intention is the same in every battle. Although he would argue that he wants to destroy Grendel in order to help Heorot, it is clear Beowulf only wants to build a strong reputation for himself. I personally thought Beowulf had a very arrogant personality especially when it came to fighting battles for his own benefit rather than the people. Some key differences found in each battle is how Beowulf goes about defeating the monsters and the dragon. In the battle with Grendel Beowulf fights without
To begin, we can examine the physical appearances of the two heroes. From the get go, we see Beowulf as a very powerful man. We see emphasise of this through the drawings of the novel. We see how muscular he is and the overall aura. He is relaxed and in control every step of the way.
First, lets see how these battles are similar. Now you may be asking yourself, “All these battles are totally different. How could they possibly be similar?”. Well here is your answer. During the 1st two battles Beowulf is dealing with Grendal in some form or another. The 1st battle he fought the treacherous Grendal, but in the 2nd battle he fought Grendal’s mother who took her revenge on Beowulf and the Geats by killing King Hrothgar’s closest friend.
Another similarity of course is violence. Violence is obviously present in Beowulf’s world. The determinant of status holds its roots in violence. The only way for a warrior to prove himself is through battle, or violence. Specifically this can be seen through the character, Unferth. He was not respected as a warrior due to his inability to win battles. He tried to find faults in Beowulf to raise his own ego. The disrespect given to this man was due to his unsuccessfulness in violent engagements.
Beowulf’s first accomplishment as an epic hero was his battle with Grendel. Grendel was a huge beast, a descendent of Cain, who ruthlessly murdered innocent Danes because he felt pity for himself. Upon hearing of the Dane’s problem, Beowulf set off to help the Danish without having been called upon. Even though Beowulf had men backing him, He drew battle with Grendel alone and without armor or weapons. Yet, Beowulf emerged victorious with the arm of Grendel as his trophy. Beowulf then went on to kill Grendel’s vengeful mother and a huge fire-breathing dragon who thought it had been done wrong by the Geats. Alas, the killing of the dragon would be Beowulf’s last great battle for the dragon took Beowulf’s life in the struggle for his own.