Beowulf Poem Analysis Essay

The poem, Beowulf, tells the tale of a brave hero that risked his life on several occasions to fight sinful creatures. Beowulf, the courageous protagonist, faced three different monsters, and the worst was Grendel. Grendel's defeat came from the tearing of his arm from his body by the hands of Beowulf. The second victory resulted in the perish of Grendel's mother. By the death of her own sword, the heroic figure took her life as well. Vanquishing a dragon became the final act of Beowulf as a living being. For these reasons, the poem itself contains numerous tones.
As the author of the poem describes Beowulf, he displays his characteristics and achievements about almost proudly. In lines 109 through 111, he states, "In his far-off home Beowulf, Higlac's follower and the strongest of the Geats-greater and stronger than anyone anywhere in this world." This is said a quite boastful manner in regards to Beowulf's strengths as a fighter. At this point of the poem, the leader makes the decision to go to Herot to battle Grendel. The Geats encourage this choice by claiming the omens were in favor of his new venture. The author uses these lines to put emphasis on his predicted victory against Grendel.

After defeating Grendel, Beowulf relieves Herot of its sinful creature that caused so much pain and misery to their land.

Hrothgar's followers celebrated the newly found freedom, and praised Beowulf for his bravery. However, their celebration was short-lived, for Grendel's mother became the new form of terror for this town. As a result, Beowulf rescued Herot once again by taking her life with a sword from her wall. As his soldiers waited, they began to doubt whether their leader was dead or alive. Aside from their doubts, these Geat soldiers remained hopeful. Illustrated in lines 560 and 561, which states," Imagining they saw their lord but not believing they would ever see him again," this hope is

desplayed.
In the final moments of Beowulf, he destroys his last opponent but the victory ends in a fatal wound that would slowly take his life. As he fades away Wiglaf, the bravest follower of Beowulf, stays by his side and listens to his final request. Beowulf asks him to go to the dragon's tower to collect its treasure. When Wiglaf enters, he is met with amazement of the shiny jewels. This emotion is displayed in lines 779 through 789, and it says, "Hanging high above, a golden banner, woven by the best of weavers and beautiful. And over everything he saw a strange light, shining everywhere." Barring the state of awe, Wiglaf quickly completes the task given by his dying leader.
Throughout the poem, Beowulf, the author, who remains unknown, uses many instances of tone. There are emotions the author feels such as boastfulness, hopefulness, and awe. As the poem progresses, these tones are expressed through times dealing with death and victory. When Beowulf agrees to fight Grendel, his talents and popularity is boasted by the author. Another instance occurs during the battle between the protagonist and Grendel's mother. Since this fight took longer than expected, the Geat followers grew weary but continued to hope for Beowulf's return. Upon Beowulf's dying wish, Wiglaf enters the dragon's tower, and awe is shown when he sees the bright treasures inside. All in all, with the different events present, the tones in Beowulf were plentiful, but there a few that substantially stood out.