Examples Of Courage In Beowulf

Beowulf’s Courage Against Evil

In the poem Beowulf, by Seamus Heaney the main character Beowulf displays courage and bravery throughout the novel in his heroic battles against evil.

The first example of when Beowulf shows courage is when he fights Grendel with his bare hands. Grendel is an evil dragon who is killing people in the mead-hall. Beowulf hears of what is going on and can ignore the option to save the Danes, but says “that king, / the famous prince who needed defenders” (Heaney 200-201). Beowulf chooses to defend Hrothgar and his men from the dragon and become a hero for the Danes and the Geats. There is a lot on Beowulf’s shoulders to defeat Grendel who is wreaking havoc on the Danes. “There was panic after dark, people endured /

raids in the night, riven by the terror” (192-193). Grendel has brought terror to the Danes and Beowulf is going to stand against him. Beowulf shows courage by going to owe allegiance to Lord Hygelac and believes he has a past reason to help them. When Beowulf battles Grendel he chooses not to use weapons and says, “When it comes to fighting, I count myself / as dangerous as Grendel. / …No weapons, therefore, / for either this night: unarmed he shall face me / if face me he dares” (677-685). Beowulf displays courage to fight with his bare hands and thinks he is as strong as Grendel. Beowulf faces evil and is fighting for all his soldiers and the Danes. Beowulf wins the battle against Grendel by ripping his arm off and makes him retreat to his home. This win makes Hrothgar proud of Beowulf and treats him like his son. Beowulf’s courage to help the Danes starts a great alliance with Hrothgar and gives himself a good reputation as a warrior. The Danes are now at peace until Grendel’s mother comes back for revenge, only to be killed by the great Beowulf.
The next example of when Beowulf portrays courage is when he battles and kills nine sea monsters in the ocean.

This is mentioned in the book when Unferth expresses jealousy and hate towards Beowulf by telling a false version of the story. Beowulf tells his version of the story and says, “we struggled on / for five nights, until the long flow… / drove us apart” (555-558). Beowulf swims for five nights, which shows his supernatural strength to swim for as long as he does. During this swim, Beowulf is racing Breca, his childhood friend, who Beowulf claims has never outswam him in a race since they were kids. Suddenly, Beowulf encounters nine sea monsters and kills all nine of them with his sword in the ocean, “However it occurred, my sword had killed / nine sea monsters” (574-575). It takes courage for Beowulf to battle for his life in the ocean with just a sword against the giant sea monsters. Fighting in the water is a major challenge that Beowulf has conquered and takes a lot of skill to do. Beowulf also states, “Time and again, foul things attacked me, / lurking and stalking, but I lashed out.” (559-560). Beowulf starts swinging his sword around in the water anytime he feels something attack him. This shows Beowulf’s superhuman abilities to fight in the ocean while displaying his strength and courage in the

battle.
The final example of when Beowulf expresses courage is when he fights a dragon by himself.

A fire-breathing dragon is causing destruction on Beowulf’s land and home. Beowulf’s home is nearly destroyed and he must do something about it. Beowulf stands up against the fire-breathing dragon and decides to battle him. This is going to be Beowulf’s last and toughest battle, as it is against the biggest dragon he’s ever faced. During the battle Beowulf’s soldiers see the dragon and run for their lives. Beowulf is now fighting the battle on his own and it becomes an even tougher challenge to conquer, “from his high-born comrades; that hand-picked troop / broke ranks and ran for their lives” (2597-2598). Beowulf must show courage against the dragon when only one of his soldiers helps him whom is Wiglaf. He stands tall by himself with his sword, but his sword cannot slice the dragon and breaks, “his whole strength behind a sword-stroke / and connected with the skull. And Naegling snapped” (2679-2680). His sword snaps and the dragon draws blood from Beowulf. Beowulf is near death and must show passion and courage against the evil dragon. Beowulf is saved by Wiglaf who shows courage to protect him. Beowulf does kill the dragon with his wound on his neck, “Once again the king / gathered his strength and drew a stabbing knife / he carried on his belt, sharpened for battle. / He stuck it deep into the dragon’s flank” (2702-2705). This shows that Beowulf has left it all on the battle field

to protect his people and even though he is destined to die he displays bravery against the dragon. Beowulf represented the good against the evil dragon. No one dared to attack Beowulf during his reign as king, and is now seen has the greatest king to ever rule the Geats.
Beowulf portrays the characteristic of courage in many battles throughout the novel when he leads his army against evil monsters and dragons on his path to become an epic hero.