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The most heroic battle in beowulf
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In Beowulf, Beowulf goes through multiple fights, but there are three main battles that top all of them. The battle with Grendel, the battle with Grendel's mother and rhe final battle. In these battles, Beowulf receives different trophies every battle, and also uses different methods for each one. In every battle, Beowulf slowly developed into a hero. In the battle with Grendel, Grendel came to kill. As Grendel went to clutch Beowulf with his claws, Beowulf leaned up on one arm. Grendel fought back once he was trapped. All he wanted was to escape. Grendel's claws had been caught and he regrets going to Herot. The battle took place in the hallway he had emptied just before.Grendel let out a terrible scream that awoke the Danes. Grendel knew he was defeated so he kept letting out tears and screams of pain. Grendel had his taut throat open to the point his shrieks were terrific. Beowulf wasn't letting go of Grendel. No matter what Beowulf and his men did, their swords couldn't hurt Grendel because he had cursed him. Grendel had known his strength had left him, so he grew angry, but he had no power left to fight. Grendel had lost. Beowulf had hung his trophy high: Grendel's arm, claw, and shoulder and all. Beowulf had fought for his men, even know they were ready to …show more content…
She had taken her son's arm back, which was the reason Beowulf was awoken. Grendel's mother had dragged him into someone's battle-hall. Beowulf had swung his sword right for her head. Grendel's mother had jumped on Beowulf and had drew a dagger, covered in dried blood. Beowulf had been laying on his back, so when she went to stab him, his mail shirt had stopped the blade from injuring him. Beowulf had spotted a heavy sword, grabbed it and struck it straight into her neck. Once she had died, Beowulf had went back to Grendel's liar to find him dead, so he chopped his head off. Beowulf learned that more than likely you'll need a weapon to help you
He lives in solitude in a cave at the bottom of the lake and is angered by the parties in the mead hall. To further emphasize the archetype, he is said to go on raids only during the nighttime. This shows more of his loneliness because he can not show his face in broad daylight. When his arm is ripped off, Grendel runs away. This shows his cowardice since he runs instead of finishing the fight on the spot. For the Anglo-Saxons, death in battle was the most glorious type of death, Thus Grendel running away would have been mocked by the crowd and re enforced the quality of courage. When the battle itself begins, Beowulf decides to fight Grendel bare handed. His comrades however stay to help him fight. This reveals the theme of loyalty. This theme is prominent during the main battle because Beowulf is shown to be, “Surrounded closely by his powerful thanes” (98). This ties into the theme of loyalty to one’s kin because although the weapons do no damage, Beowulf’s brethren stay by his side to help. This is also used to emphasize the Anglo-Saxon warrior culture, the battles serve as a way to show the listener the deep cultural significance of the kinship of the warriors. They are treated as one group,
Beowulf sees Grendel's mother in a cave. He tries to hit her with his sword, Unferth's Hrunting, but it fails to pierce her skin. So he throws the sword away and attacks the mother with his bare hands. He trusts "in his strength, his mighty hand-grip." Beowulf manages to throw Grendel's mother down; however, she quickly retaliates and is soon sitting on top of him. She tries to kill him with a dagger, but Beowulf's armor protects him this time. Beowulf managed to throw her off of himself and sees a sword of enormous size, which he immediately grabs.
In the epic poem of Beowulf, written by an unknown monk in about 725 AD, the Anglo-Saxon virtue of comitatus is displayed as a slowly dying aspect of life. Comitatus is the basic idea that everyone protects the king at all costs even if it means a warrior giving up his own life, and if a king is killed, the warriors must avenge the death of the king or they can no longer serve as warriors for the next king. This value of comitatus is displayed mostly through the three battles that Beowulf encounters during the epic poem. An analysis of the three battles is important because Beowulf’s choice of weapons, behavior of the Thanes, and preparation for and attitude toward battle all emphasize the death of the Anglo-Saxon virtue of comitatus.
When Grendel takes out one of Beowulf’s men, that is when they attack. In his oath Beowulf promised to take Grendel on bare handed, and he intended to do just that. While he was fighting with the monster, his men tried striking at Grendel with their blades.However it was futile for their blades could not harm Grandel. With these circumstances laid in place it was up to Beowulf to use his brute strength to defeat Grendel. After the two engaged in battle Beowulf was soon to triumph.”He twisted in pain, and the bleeding sinews deep in his shoulders snapped, muscle and bone split and broke.The battle was over, Beowulf had been granted new glory: Grendel escaped, but wounded as he was could flee to his den, his miserable hole at the bottom of the marsh, only to die, to wait for the end of all his days.”(337-345) Even with the lack of weapons, Beowulf was able to defeat Grendel and carry on his legacy.
Beowulf is a hero that shows honor respect and courage. In lines 710-1007 is where the battle with Grendel happened. Thinking of the destruction that he will get, Grendel bursts into Heorot. Grendel tears the door from its hinges with his hands and quickly becomes a Geatish warrior while Beowulf carefully looks around. When Grendel reaches out to pick Beowulf up, he is surprised to find his arm gripped with a strength than he never knew could even happen. Confused and frightened Grendel doesn’t want to run back to the safety of the swamplands. He tries to escape, but Beowulf wrestles him down to the ground. The crash around the hall, making noise on the walls and smashing the mead-benches. Grendel begins to panic in pain and fear; the sound
The section in which Beowulf gets ready for another monster begins with Hrothgar informing him of Aeschere's death. The murder has been committed by Grendel's mother who comes to avenge her son's death. This is the proper thing for her to do in this society. Revenge was of great importance in Pagan society. It was the norm to avenge a murder, especially if no wergild was paid. Hrothgar offers Beowulf additional wealth if he can find and kill the female monster. This arrangement Hrothgar makes with Beowulf, for a second time, is referred to as comitatus. Beowulf tells Hrothgar not to worry, that Aeschere's killer will be found. He reminds Hrothgar that time must not be wasted on sorrow when revenge must be taken immediately. He promises Hrothgar that the woman will "not be lost." Beowulf will seek her out at the bottom of the lake, where her home is located, and kill her. This promise that Beowulf makes is called a boast. Hrothgar thanks God that Beowulf has said this because his friend's murder must be avenged and the murderer stopped before she kills again.
The mighty grizzly bear is the king of the forest, the overarching predator that no animal dare disturbs, if it wishes to keep its life. However, it can only rule the forest for so long, even the mighty grizzly bear succumbs to old age, and then a new grizzly bear will take its place. Beowulf was that grizzly bear, he came, he conquered, then when age finally caught up to him, he died. All throughout the story of Beowulf by Burton Raffel, Beowulf fought many monsters, but surprisingly each battle was considerably different then the next. The three most famous battles that Beowulf undertook, were fighting Grendel, fighting Grendel’s mother and finally fighting the dragon. Beowulf’s strength, seemed to diminish progressively at each battle he partook in, however, his willingness to sacrifice himself for others never wavered.
The anonymous author of Beowulf can easily be construed as either arguing for or against war in its basic form. However, on a deeper level, the author is giving a profound and perhaps comforting view of war during this time period. The author we know has a great respect for wyrd or fate. We know that the outcome of any engagement of war is already pre-ordained by the Almighty so how could one argue for or against war when the general consensus was that there was really nothing to be done about it? The author is trying to say that war is a fact of life and no more in the command of man than the weather storms or rising and falling of the tides.
Beowulf fought many monsters in his life including Grendel and his mom. He fought Grendel to protect the people of Herot. As an extremely strong person he decided to go fight monsters that no one had dared to. Using his strength, Beowulf had won the battle.“ He twisted in pain, and the bleeding
The Old English epic Beowulf depicts Anglo-Saxon warrior culture where fate (wyrd) governs the actions of the hero. Beowulf, now over seventy years old and king of the Geats, has earned his respect and glory on the battlefields as a great warrior. The honorable old king has ruled for fifty years, and according to the author, "he was a wise king, an old guardian of the land" (Norton, 55), when the dragon attacks Beowulf's Hall, assaulting Geats at night.
The story of “Beowulf” begins at a time where a great hero is needed. This is where Beowulf’s character takes the initial place of an epic hero. In the first story of “Beowulf,” Beowulf takes on the responsibility of destroying the great threat, Grendel. This immediately shows the courage, honor and bravery of Beowulf. When Beowulf sailed to the Danes to kill Grendel, he was not searching for money, he was simply putting the Geats lives before his own. Beowulf was not yet
Beowulf looked over on the wall next to them and saw a magnificent sword hanging on the wall adorned with beautiful carvings, it was blessed with magic. No normal man could ever have lifted that sword, but Beowulf was no normal being. He waited for the right moment to go and retrieve the sword, and when he found the perfect opportunity and he ran straight towards the wall. He pulled the sword down with great force and began running towards Grendel’s mother. Beowulf took in a deep breath as he leaned back and heaved the sword forward. Beowulf had sliced straight through Grendel’s mother’s scaly neck, blood began to pour everywhere and he heard her bones cracking as the sword passed through her.
It was dark in the cave when the monster suddenly attacked. If you want to read a story about an epic battle between good and evil then read Beowulf. Beowulf, is an ancient story about one man against some of the most evil creations known to mankind. In the book, Beowulf fights three of the most evil monster ever and comes out victorious. The author, Robert Nye is really descriptive so that you have a very vivid image of what is happening in the story.
In the beginning of the story, a mythical monster named Grendel who is attacking King Hrothgar’s mead hall Herot. When Beowulf hears of this tragedy, he volunteers to go and fight the mythical beast. The author wrote, “So Beowulf chose the mightiest men he could find the bravest and the best of the Geats, fourteen In all.” Once Beowulf arrives, he is given a feast and then decides to stay in Herot overnight to confront Grendel. Grendel then arrives and kills one of the Geats before Beowulf can get into the battle. Beowulf then goes hand-to-hand against Grendel and ends up tearing off Grendel’s shoulder. Grendel then retreats to his lair to die. This is only a mere example of why Beowulf is a hero.
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.