Examples Of Courage In Beowulf

Beowulf tells the story of a great Thane, named Beowulf, to Hygelac, the king of the Geats in Sweden, and his battle with these unknown beasts. To begin, Beowulf hears the reign of terror about this beast named Grendel that has been killing and eating people in the mead hall, Heorot, for 12 years. As a result, Beowulf decides to risk his life crossing the ocean from Sweden to Denmark to fight this monster he has never heard of for a king that he has never met. Some may ask why, but Beowulf believed he could have achieved honor, fame and courage if he won the fight, in which, Beowulf has never lost a fight. Ultimately, Beowulf risks his life to go fight an unknown beast for a distant king for his belief of honor, fame and courage.

Honor is

the highest respect one can have for themselves or others and is not worth any price.. To start, Beowulf believed honor had no price, but was for himself. In this case, Beowulf decides to fight Grendel with no armor and no sword because he believed that his opponent had no knowledge of any fighting and wielded no sword. It would be fair, in Beowulf’s mind, to fight Grendel the way Grendel will fight him. In the poem, Beowulf, Beowulf states,” I count myself nowise weaker in war or grapple of battle than Grendel himself. Therefore I scorn to slay him with sword, deal deadly wound, as I well might do! Nothing he knows of a noble fighting, of thrusting and hewing and hacking of shield”(507-513). Beowulf greatly honors his opponent by fighting him evenly even if the two are different sizes, which shows how much Beowulf respects his opponents. Not to mention, this act of respect shows how much Beowulf believes in himself if he was going to fight Grendel barehanded. All in all, Beowulf’s act of honor to Grendel also demonstrates his idea about courage that brought him to Heorot.
Through fighting with Grendel, Beowulf demonstrates his idea of courage.

First, courage is the ability to take action when scared or when others are scared. In response to declaring to fight Grendel barehanded and with no armor, Beowulf carries out his plan and proceeds to fight Grendel. Not only does this show how much honor he has for himself and his opponent, it shows his idea of courage. Going into this battle, Grendel has never been defeated and has been eating the people inside of Heorot for the past 12 years. In the poem, Beowulf, Beowulf states,”The loathsome spoiler, prolong his life. A deep wound holds him in deadly grip, In baleful bondage; and black with crime the demon shall wait for the day of doom when the God of glory shall give decree” (713-717). Reckless actions of defeating a once undefeated monster with no armor or sword demonstrates what kind of courageous man Beowulf is. He won a battle no man in Denmark could ever do in the past 12 years. To end, to go along with his honorary and courageous ideas, Beowulf also came to Denmark due to his idea of

fame.
Beowulf’s idea of fame is to be known by many. As a result of his many victors against other beasts, Beowulf was called upon by best of his people to go fight this unknown beast for King Hrothgar, King of the Danes and someone Beowulf has never met.. In Beowulf, Beowulf states to King Hrothgar,” The best of my people, prudent and brave, urged me, King Hrothgar, to seek you out; They had in remembrance my courage and might” (319-322). Being called upon by his people indicates how famous and strong Beowulf is. A fight with Grendel would only increase his fame with everyone because if he defeats this undefeated monster, Hrothgar and his people would love and know who Beowulf is. Not only would it increase his fame in Denmark, others will talk about Beowulf slaying this monster even Hrothgar could not defeat. Others remember how strong Beowulf was and believed he could defeat Grendel. Assuredly, Beowulf traveled a hazardous ocean to challenge himself to increase his fame throughout the lands.
Throughout the whole poem, Beowulf’s intentions to take a hazardous voyage across an ocean to fight an unknown monster for a distant king was his beliefs of fame,courage and honor.

To start, Beowulf first honors his enemies by fighting how they fight and in this case, he fought Grendel barehanded without any armor. Beowulf also believed in courage, which is the reason why he decided to stick to his words and actually fight Grendel barehanded. Not to mention the fact that Grendel has not lost a fight in 12 years and fighting him would be a great challenge, one that Beowulf enjoyed. Furthermore, Beowulf, after defeating Grendel, would achieve great fame from King Hrothgar and his people. The Danes would then spread Beowulf’s name around of this great warrior that defeated a monster that has not lost a fight in over 12 years. Therefore, Beowulf came to Denmark to fight Grendel for the benefit of himself and others and the challenge of defeating the

undefeated.