Examples Of Bravery In Beowulf

Bravery can be displayed in many ways such as fighting monsters, high rising water and bullets being shot at a group of people. Even though individuals can show bravery by stepping up to their fears when others are in need of help, bravery is shown in Beowulf by Beowulf and Grendel's fearless acts.

Beowulf’s audacity to fight Grendel without any help or weapons displays an incredible amount of bravery and courage. Everyone who knew Beowulf’s name knew him as the “strongest of the Geats-greater/And stronger than anyone anywhere in the world-”(Beowulf 110-111). Beowulf displayed his strength through his acts of bravery in and out of battles, to gain his reputation and fame. Hrothgar and his people try to flee from Grendel because of his ravenous appetite for man and their knowledge that “Distance was safety; the only survivors/ were those who fled him”(57-59). After twelve long winters as Grendel terrorised Herot, Beowulf “Heard how Grendel filled nights with horror/ And quickly commanded a boat fitted out ( 112-114). Beowulf

knew it would take all of his bravery to defeat a monster like Grendel. When Beowulf arrives in Herot he greets the king, Hrothgar, and tells him how he has heard of the “monster’s scorn of men/ Is so great that [Grendel] needs no weapons and fears none.” (167-168) that is why Beowulf decides that ‘[His] hands/ Alone shall fight for [him], struggle for life/ Against the monster”(172-174). Showing that he is brave enough to fight the monster that nobody could defeat with his bear hands.
On the perspective view of being known as an evil creature, Grendel's brave decisions to slaughter Heriot's men demonstrates he is willing to do anything. Grendel’s nature demonstrates the brave actions of him being able to slaughter thirty men in their beds coated with blood (37-40). The amount of men that Grendel was focused on slaughtering did not intimidate him to complete the brave task. He seemed to understand even if this meant hard work and courage he had no choice but to put a plan in place to murder these men. The killings had to be done for him to move forward to win the battle. Battles may take several attempts to defeat. Those who have enough courage not back down may win due to their actions of continuing to fight. During the battles Grendel was fighting neither side was willing to concede. Since both sides had strong feelings about not collapsing this made Grendel's feelings of hate grow stronger (68-70). Hatred is normally a negative emotion, however Grendel used it has as a motivator to show his bravery through his acts of fighting.
Not only is bravery shown in Beowulf it continues to be shown in today’s society.

During hurricane Harvey in August of 2017 deputies showed braveness by working up to twelve plus hours to help and save people in the high waters. They were brave enough to put her own life's in danger to help others. to help others (The Telegraph 6). The high rising water was the monster the deputies were fighting during the hurricane, just as Beowulf was fighting the monster Grendel. Another recent event where bravery was seen was during a concert that was taking place in Las Vegas NV.. Women who were at the concert shared that they had seen a brave man who saved at least 20 lives. He didn't stop to think about himself or the danger he was in he just helped the women he was near ( Daily News 1-2). In the past Beowulf did the same and helped others with his actions. When bravery is put into action by individuals they are fighting some sort of

monster.
If individuals were not brave enough to turn their emotions into actions the outcome of difficult situations would be worse. We continue to see acts of bravery on a continuous basis by those who do not think about the consequences of themselves being hurt. Beowulf