Distortion In Beowulf

“And over and over they swore that nowhere on earth or under the spreading sky or between the seas, neither south nor north, was there a warrior worthier to rule over men” (lines 539-542). The story of Beowulf was translated from Anglo-saxon, or Old-English, and began as an oral tradition that was passed down for generations, earning some distortion along the way. The first written manuscript is thought to be from around the year 1,000 A.D. J.R.R. Tolkien’s translation was written in 1922, but remained as a manuscript in Oxford’s Bodleian Library after many refusals by various publishers. Tolkien’s son, Christian Tolkien, edited the manuscript and tried once again to get it published. To his delight, the manuscript was approved and was published

on May 22nd of 2014. J.R.R. and Christian Tolkien are not the only people who have translated the story, although. Burton Raffel and Seamus Haney have also translated a version of the story. The story of Beowulf is one of an epic hero and appears to be a popular story through the years due to his ability to fight and defeat the enemies others failed to annihilate. Epic heroes, such as Beowulf, are deemed gods and saviors by the people they rescue and those who spectate their victories. Beowulf is portrayed as a perfect prodigy of an epic hero with his bravery, his strength, and his retrieval of symbols from his vanquished enemies.
Bravery has forevermore embodied heroes and Beowulf is not an exception.

“I have heard moreover that the monster scorns in his reckless way to use weapons, therefore; to heighten Hygelac’s fame and gladden his heart, I hereby renounce sword and the shelter of the broad shield, the heavy war-board: hand-to-hand is how it will be, a life-and-a death fight with the fiend” (lines 433-440). When Beowulf heard of Hrothgar’s assailant, he left to rescue the Danes, risking his own life. Once he descended upon the land of the Danes and learned about the monster’s terrorism, he planned his attack. When Grendel enters Herot, Beowulf pretended to be asleep, watching as Grendel ate one of his men. Beowulf’s bravery is the reason he left to help the Danes. Without his bravery, Grendel would have wiped out the entire country, then moved on to the next. Risking one's own life for others is brave, but to fight a Hellion without strength is a death sentence. Luckily for Beowulf, he had the strength,

too.
Epic heroes are stereotyped to have superhuman strength just as Beowulf harbored.

In the book, it was stated that Beowulf had the strength of thirty men in one arm. Beowulf’s strength gave him the ability to rip off Grendel’s arm during their fight at Herot and unsheathe the sword in the Sea Witch’s, which is also Grendel’s mother, underwater cave that no man had had the strength to do so before. Beowulf’s strength alone was enough to defeat Hrothgar’s tyrant, and the Sea Witch, who sought vengeance for her son. When an epic hero is triumphant in battle, they want to have proof they did so. Beowulf made sure he claimed a symbol of his victory in all three battles he took

on.
Conquering tyrants resembling those that Beowulf defeated commonly require some symbol of conquest. In all three battles Beowulf fought and won, Grendel, the Sea Witch, and the Golden Dragon, he retrieved a symbol of their defeat. He removed Grendel’s arm and hung it from the rafters of Herot; he brought back the sword he slayed the Sea Witch with from her underwater cave; and lastly, after defeating the dragon, with the help of Wiglaf, he gave the order to use the treasure for the well-being of his people while on his deathbed after receiving a fatal injury from the dragon. In the time period that the story of Beowulf is set, a warrior is no longer honorable and is deemed a disgrace if he returns unvictorious. The symbol of defeat verified his domination and earned him the treasures he was promised. Of all the traits an epic hero harbors, the three described were the most prominent in the story.
Beowulf’s bravery, strength, and ability to retrieve the symbols of his enemies defeat definitely list him as a perfect example of an epic hero. Beowulf saved thousands of lives, like many men and women today, and without heroes like Beowulf there could’ve been a lot more fatalities than there were. While Beowulf may be fictional, epic heroism is not and there are many people within our own history that could be classified as so. Based on the information given, do you think Beowulf resembles a nonfictional, heroic figure from history books?