Examples Of Heorot's Quest In Beowulf

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The mythological hero quest has been craved by readers and listeners for hundreds of years. The typical hero quest has a call for action, a decision, preparation, obstacles, a climax, and a return home for the hero. The hero quest is a basis for all other stories because of the pattern it establishes. Many people would call it a beginning, middle, and an end. Even dramas and romances follow this same order of actions even without the blood spilling battles and terrifying beasts. Even though Beowulf was written a very long time ago it still experiences man aspects of an archetypal hero quest.
The first two steps of an archetypal quest are the call and the decision made by the hero. In Beowulf he experiences his call when he hears about Heorot’s …show more content…

Typically there is a temptress, however Beowulf is a different case. He does not experience a female to seduce him and tempt him to abandon the quest. This is most likely because Beowulf was meant to be seen as an idol and role model who was morally strong. Another obstacle that Beowulf does experience is a shadow or someone trying to keep Beowulf from completing the quest because they are jealous. When Beowulf plans to fight Grendel, Unferth acts as the shadow by pointing out his failures especially the swimming competition. Unferth does change and becomes an ally to Beowulf when he prepares to fight Grendel’s mother. A very common obstacle is difficult terrain, remote locations, and seemingly insurmountable landforms. Examples of these include the swamp where Grendel and his mother live. This swamp is far away from Hrothgar’s kingdom and produces fire and monsters from within. Another land obstacle was the mountain where Beowulf fights the dragon which was far away from his kingdom and help if he needed it. One of the most common obstacles is a mythical being or legendary animal. In this case the mythical being is what sets up all of Beowulf’s quests. It starts out with Grendel which then leads to Grendel’s mother who wants revenge. The dragon comes about because of a stolen goblet which angers him. Beowulf is forced to attack him because the dragon destroyed Beowulf’s

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