Beowulf Essay

The story of the epic hero, Beowulf, has been translated by many authors throughout the years. Among the many authors is Burton Raffel. Burton Raffel tried to instill or incorporate and project an emphasis on the importance of the qualities that a hero should posses. Burton Raffel translated Beowulf in 1963 after 44 other translations of Beowulf. As a translator, Burton Raffel faced what many other translators had to capture – the ideas of the author.

Although the author is unknown (anonymous author), a reader can infer the type of individual he was. The author’s poem was written to be simple and precise, which made it easy for his readers to grasp the essence of human qualities within Beowulf. Another key element or aspect of Beowulf was that it was written to be verbally told (oral tradition). In written form, it followed traditional Anglo Saxon poetry, which contains four stress lines. Furthermore, the exact date of the writing of Beowulf is also unknown.

The major theme that the author tries to portray is the victory of goodness over evil. The minor theme focuses on loyalty: Beowulf is highlighted above other men because of his loyalty to his king. Loyalty is what set apart an ordinary man from a heroic man during Beowulf’s time.

The mood that is captured throughout the story is one of success or triumph. Beowulf is constantly conquering evil and upon his wounding and death, the mood continues to be one of success and triumph.

On September 11, 2001, the United States was shocked to see that millions of innocent lives were gone in a split second. Millions of people grew to see the importance of leaders in society today. Without leaders, many individuals or groups would fail to believe in anything, which would lead...

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...e was more important than his own. In his last dying moments, Beowulf thought about his people rather than the condition he was in. In his weak state, he said, “Take What I leave, Wiglaf, lead my people, Help them; my time is gone “(Raffel 16). He was willing to hand over to Wiglaf the responsibility of taking care of his people. He believed Wiglaf was a leader himself and appointed him to lead his people to triumph. Three individual aspects made up a leader in the Anglo-Saxon age: loyalty, bravery, and generosity.

The story of Beowulf has captivated for many centuries because of Beowulf’s heroic qualities. Beowulf was the epic hero reflecting values and heroic ideals of the Anglo-Saxon society. He not only attained unbelievable strength, but also was honorable throughout Herot. He portrayed what an Anglo-Saxon leader should be---loyal, brave, and generous.