Brave Beowulf

Brave Beowulf

“An Analysis of Beowulf”

Beowulf is a epic retold for many generations from father to son, warrior to child, and it serves its name very well, epic! It starts off by explaining a newly built mead house, created by the lord of the Danes, Hrothgar. This mead house is massive and used by all of the Danes. But these people are now plagued by a terrible force, Grendel, a terrible monster who comes into the town and massacres its people. In a distant land, a prince hero Beowulf, hears of this terrible monster and decides to prove his worth by fighting and destroying it. Beowulf comes to the land of the Danes, and meets with Hrothgar to ask permission to slay the beast, it is then granted. When Beowulf first meets Hrothgar, he strips down taking off all of this armor that he wears for protection in battle and states that he will kill Grendel without his armor to prove his worth. That during the mead hall celebration, Grendel arrives and strikes a few of Beowulf’s soldiers dead, but then grabs a hold of Beowulf. Grendel then is scared for his life, for he has never felt that much strength in one human being, he struggles throughout the fight and soon Beowulf gains the upper hand, literally. He pulls Grendel’s arm out of its socket, ripping it free from his body. Mortally wounded, Grendel retreats back to his cave where he then dies. In the second part of this epic, it is Grendel’s mother who is the monster who comes for revenge of her son’s death. By this time Beowulf has left the land of the Danes and is going back home to the Getes when he finds that he is needed again by Hrothgar. He ventures back, and pledges to kill Grendel’s Dom just as he did with Grendel, just with protection this time. He goes to h...

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...o bring to my people while breath still came to my lips. (Page 62 Lines 818-820). After the battle is said and done Beowulf is dying from a bite wound to the throat and his last final wish is for the building of a lighthouse, “Then the Gears built the tower, as Beowulf Had asked, strong and tall, so sailors could find it from far and wide;” (Page 63 Lines 843-845) . Even after death Beowulf wanted to be a role model and guide his people, in the form of a lighthouse.

Beowulf is an amazing character, strong and huge, with the intellect of a wise old man. He proves his worth throughout the fantastic epic, with motives most of us have never dreamed of, all the way from vengeance, to guidance for his people. Clearly, you can see what motivations Beowulf has as a character to accomplish all that he did.

Works Cited

Prentice Hall Literature Vol. 1 Beowulf Pages 40-64