For Glory!
(A discussion on the motivations of Beowulf in Beowulf) It is a widely known fact that the Anglo-Saxons valued honor and glory extremely high on their society’s morals. This rings true in the epic poem Beowulf translated by Burton Raffel. In this poem, the hero Beowulf battles and defeats three different monsters. Each monster is ghastly in its own right. So why would Beowulf fight such horrendous creatures? It’s simpler than you might think. For every monster Beowulf has to fight each comes with its own motivation. The three main motivations of Beowulf in the poem Beowulf are personal glory, vengeance and leaving his people in safety. Beowulf’s first motivation is to obtain more personal glory. When Beowulf first arrives in Denmark he is extremely boastful and arrogant about his accomplishments. Beowulf boasts his accomplishments with this quote “I drove five great giants into chains, chased all of that race from the earth. i swam in the blackness of night, hunting monsters out of the ocean, and killing them one by one.” Clearly there is something supernatural about Beowulf, but that does not change his thirst for glory and killing Grendel in hand-to-hand combat would be give the
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When Beowulf goes to fight the dragon he is extremely old. It seems he has no hope to slay the horrific beast. So why even bother trying, right? This time Hrothgar drops a philosophical knowledge bomb by saying “He forgets the future, unmindful of fate. But it comes to pass in the day appointed his feeble body withers and fails; Death descends and another seizes his hoarded riches and rashly spends the princely treasure, imprudent of heart.” Beowulf takes this to heart. Instead of dying and wasting his life. He takes the dragons life with his. In this wildly glorious act Beowulf not only solidifies himself as a hero, but ensures that his kingdom will carry on without fear of the dragon razing their
Beowulf’s fight against the dragon shows Beowulf as a hero. Although Beowulf had previously defeated two other foes, he stands fast and fights his most formidable foe yet, the dragon. Dragons were notoriously difficult to kill, and the poem states that it was a great man, who could kill a dragon, even if it meant losing one's life. While others cower away Beowulf fights the dragon. Beowulf defeats the dragon but loses his life in the same instance. Like the classical hero Beowulf loses his special status in death. Beowulf sought no compensation for his services; the mere satisfaction of helping others was pay enough. Like his two previous battles Beowulf fights for those who could not fight for themselves.
Beowulf wants to fight Grendel, a monster wreaking havoc, and is boasting that he is more powerful and courageous.
In the anglo saxon society in which Beowulf took place, there was a warrior code which resulted in everyone trying to gain power over one another. Everyone lived by a heroic code that encouraged battles, feuds, and murders and rewarded the victor with treasure. By showing your insecurities or weaknesses in this age you will be taken advantage of. Beowulf understands the heroic code and uses his pride to get the upper hand on everyone else, Beowulf boasts himself as an invincible hero and goes in battle with out an ounce of fear. Beowulf’s justifies his excessive pride through his . Lastly, Beowulf’s pride made him a leader and led by example to defeat the dragon and ultimately sacrifice himself in the process. Beowulf’s desire for pride
As a young kid Nate had imagined he was fighting feared monsters, many times more than once. He would defeat these monsters and parade around like he owned the world. Nate was imagining that he had much glory from killing these monsters, like the way that Beowulf had real glory from defeating his monsters. Every time that Beowulf killed a monster he gained more glory and treasure. As the leader of the Geats he had to be fearless to show his glory and prove his ability as a leader. In reality there are two kinds of glory, real earned glory and glory made by telling false stories or making things seem better than they really were.
Towards the end of the story, Beowulf travels to fight a dragon who is protecting a large treasure. He wants to prove to his kingdom that he is still the brave and strong man he used to be, but his main motivation is the treasure he will get after his victory. "And Beowulf uttered his final boast: 'I've never known fear, as a youth I fought In endless battles. I am old, now, But I will fight again, seek fame still, If the dragon hiding in his tower dares To face me'" (606-610). On the other side, the dragon has the same motivation. He is willing protect the treasure if it takes his life. This makes the fight one to the death. "When he comes to me I mean to stand, not to run from his shooting Flames, stand still till fate decides Which of us wins" (619-622). Beowulf feels that if he cannot have this victory, that this is the proper way to
Beowulf knows that he has the strength to stop this monstrous creature from killing more people, so he does what is best for others and battles the dragon. Beowulf told his people that he should risk his life once again for them, “I risked my life often when I was young. Now I am old, but as king of the people I shall pursue this fight… Men-at-arms, remains here on the barrow, safe in your armor… This fight is not yours, nor it is up to any man except me…” (2511-2534). Beowulf knows that he had the ability to defeat the dragon but was not sure if he would end up alive or not. Even though he was not sure of his life he still did not back down from confronting the dragon because he knows that is was for the best of others. Beowulf calculated the happiness and the pain of others in order to make his decision; he knows that by killing the dragon he will reduce the amount of pain of others. Reason why this action makes Beowulf a hero is because Beowulf sacrifices his life to reduce the amount of pain the dragon was causing to others; Beowulf follows Bentham’s utilitarian idea by calculating his decisions between happiness and
This final battle proves to be the most difficult for Beowulf; he is pushed to the brink, but, “inspired again by the thought of glory”, he musters just enough strength to strike down the dragon (Heaney 19). This language proposes that Beowulf’s chief motive for fighting the dragon is “the thought of glory”. Additionally, this depicts Beowulf as selfish, as he seemingly neglects his people. Niles opposes this viewpoint, stating that “nothing suggests that the king enters [the fight] as a way of winning personal glory”(Niles 94). Rather than for solely personal gain, Niles correctly asserts that Beowulf is focused on saving his people, as that is his first duty as an Anglo Saxon king. However, Beowulf accomplishes this very goal by carrying out his desire to uphold his heroic image. It was Beowulf’s own “thought of glory” that spurred his rally to kill off the dragon; in effect, Beowulf’s desire to preserve his image saved his people. Even though the narrator uses the story of the dragon to emphasize Beowulf’s greediness and lust for glory, it is the outcome of the fight reveals the true reason for Beowulf’s bravery. By striving to retain his honorous reputation, Beowulf simultaneously protects his people, effectively fulfilling his role as king as both a servant and an esteemed
Hrothgar predicts that Beowulf’s pride would be his demise and he was correct because Beowulf chooses to fight the dragon alone in his older years. Beowulf is no longer in his prime and he knows he will not be around forever and hopes to make a final “score” and let the people live out the rest of their days wealthy and without worry. But Beowulf still wants to fight the beast alone. “Our old gift lord meant to manage this monster hot battle alone once again with his great wonder strength armed with a war name earned through a lifetime forged now with deeds” (2642-46). Beowulf is not fighting these monsters because he believes he is a god but because he wishes to carry out a promise he gave long ago to his people. His only desire is to make the Geats happy.
In life, there are many motivations to make people do certain things. Money, love, and power are three of the most common motivations for people. According to the Anglo-Saxon code this is not the case for what motivates them. In the Old English epic poem Beowulf, there are many factors that motivate Beowulf to fight the three monsters. The first monster is Grendel who is followed by the second monster which is Grendel's mom. The final monster is a fearsome dragon who is out for revenge. In the epic poem Beowulf, the three things that motivate Beowulf to fight the monsters are duty, glory, and treasure.
The Anglo-Saxons were a group of warlike tribes who occupied England starting around A.D. In the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, by an unknown author, the titular character is shown to be a perfect example of what the Anglo-Saxons believed to be a hero. Beowulf is a glory seeking warrior who throughout the epic is encouraged by the pursuit of glory; he later achieves this glory by winning great battles and boasting of his accomplishments; these accomplishments are later recognized by others in Anglo-Saxon society, further forwarding his quest for the glory.
Beowulf begins with Grendel attacking the Danes out of vengeance and hatred. Grendel is the relative of Cain which means that he is outcast to eternal darkness as punishment for the crime of Cain killing his brother Abel. Therefore, when Grendel hears laughter in the hall named Heorot, he is angry and a little envious, so he goes on a killing spree in order to put an end to the warriors’ happiness. Because of Grendel’s attack upon the Danes, Beowulf arrives in order to put an end to the killing spree: “And now alone I shall settle affairs with Grendel the monster, the demon” (Donaldson, p.8). The author offers no other solution to solving this issue with Grendel but battle, and after the battle is fought and Beowulf wins, Grendel’s hand is preserved as a trophy. Beowulf is rewarded with gifts for his courage, and now the Danes are at peace.
Throughout the epic poem, Beowulf shows his love for glory by fighting for his kingdom. Beowulf was Geatland’s greatest warrior which means that he was always thirsty for a battle. So once Geatland found out that Denmark was being terrorized by Grendel, Beowulf was the first to help. One of the first ways the epic shows this trait of a love of glory is after the
Everyone feared his abilities and wouldn’t dare attack him. Then a dragon was woken from its slumber and attacked part of Beowulf’s land. “Yet the prince if rings was too proud to line up with a large army against the sky-plague.” (159: 2345-2347). Beowulf could have taken all of his warriors to fight, but he was too smug. He had to be the one to fight it, or die trying. Beowulf had a need for glorious battle and impossible tasks. He brought few warriors with him to kill the murderous creature. When they reached the dragon, Beowulf made the decision to go in alone because he was too proud, and full of himself to ask for help. When the time came that he needed his warriors, they all ran except one. Beowulf was such a great warrior that no one else in his army had any skill at battle. They had no courage or experience because of Beowulf’s need to go in alone. Beowulf met his match against the dragon, and perished. The need for all the glory and fame drove Beowulf right to his death. It wasn’t the actual threat that killed Beowulf, but the careless decisions that were the real
When the story begins, Beowulf has gone to the land of the Danes to kill Grendel for the people, not for the glory. Beowulf brings his own hand picked, group of soldiers with him throughout his battles, and refuses to allow help from others. Beowulf also tells the readers he will not use weapons unless necessary. Before the battle against Grendel, a Denmark officer states, “A chosen warrior who bravely does battle with the creature haunting our people, who survives that horror unhurt, and goes home bearing our love” (ln. 210). Also, when Beowulf’s men abandon him in the battle against the dragon, he does not choose to run in fear, but to continue fighting. In this moment much like in his past, Beowulf shows how honorable he really
The reason Beowulf embarks on the journey to defeat that monster Grendel, was to gain revenge through the killing of that demonic fiend for the thirty men that died to the beast’s claws on the night in Herot Hall