Examples Of Heroic Code In Beowulf

Heroes are thought to wear tights and silly outfits, just like favorite comic book characters, however that is simply not the case. In, Beowulf, a heroic code is prevalent throughout the epic poem that is Anglo-Saxon. Heroic Code values strength, courage, loyalty, and rewards with fame and glory. Many Samaritan values are found in Beowulf along with heroic codes that may be the foundation of battle.

The first celebration in the Mead-Hall has Thanes singing and dancing like drunken idiots. The Thanes sing praises of Gods creations, which trouble the ‘demon of the wood’. Grendel tortures the Thanes and guest of the Mead-Hall for twelve winters. The Lord of the Thanes, on the other hand, was an outcast and not touched by Grendel’s murderous

hands. News of the treacherous conditions of Heorot reaches Geatland, and the young Geat warrior, Beowulf, stops at nothing to meet and kill Grendel:
Nobody tried to stop him from going,
no elder denied him, dear as he was to them.
Instead, they inspected omens and spurred
his ambition to go, whilst he moved about
like the leader he was, enlisting men (Beowulf, 202-206).
Beowulf comes to the rescue of Heorot, with the help of his fourteen Thanes and is therefore fighting for the cause. At this point in, Beowulf, he is not in the fight for treasures he is in Heorot to kill Grendel. Beowulf becomes their savior after he has ripped the savages arm and shoulder off. Grendel then returns to his lair to perish, and Heorot opens the Mead-Hall to celebrate their newfound safety. Needless to say, the people of Heorot are facing perilous times now that Grendel has been killed. There is an almighty powerful demon among Grendel’s lair, his mother, and the people of Heorot are not ready for her approach.
Since Beowulf has demolished the great monster of Heorot, King Hrothgar and Queen Wealhtheow bestow treasures, armor, and weapons among their great savior. However, this is where the line of savior blurs to hero. An article about “The Peace and Destruction in the Epic Tradition” elaborates further: “ the tension between passivity and aggression, between social and anti-social behavior, between passion and reason” (Wodzak, 5). Since Beowulf has been rewarded for his bravery in killing Grendel, he has now become Heorot’s hero. Beowulf has been characterized by his glorious triumphs, so his defeating of Grendel was just another proof of his skill, courage, and pride.
One of Beowulf’s tokens of appreciation is a new sleeping den. While he is asleep in his den fit for a champion, Grendel’s mother attacks the Mead- Hall as warriors are asleep. Acting in revenge, Grendel’s Mother takes her son’s arm back to her hollowed lair. She also murders Aeschere, Hrothgar’s beloved and trusted warrior, in her tight grip. After hearing about the attack and Aeschere’s death, Hrothgar and the rest of Heorot depend on the hero once more to rid the demon from its soil.
Beowulf, as a savior, sets off to kill Grendel’s Mother: “Beowulf got ready,/ donned his war- gear, indifferent to death;/ his mighty, hand- forged, fine- webbed mail/ would soon meet with the menace underwater” (Beowulf, 1442-1444). When he approaches the murky lair, Grendel’s mother can sense his arrival. Gripping him tight yet unable to crush him because of his armor, she drags Beowulf to her court. Beowulf swings the sword granted upon him by Urnferth, yet he is still incapable of killing the monster. Beowulf notices a sword hanging in her lair, and he takes one last blow to her neck. The sword finally kills Grendel’s Mother.
In the many battles Beowulf fights throughout the poem, it is not clearly stated whether or not Beowulf participates in battle for reward. However, there are many references to savior like traits and heroic code. Saviors fight for the good of mankind, which you could argue is done by Beowulf as he gathers men to sail to the Danish shores to kill the all well known Grendel. Although, there is a lot of boasting done by Beowulf:
Beowulf, however, does not seem to respond to the coast guard’s warning. After an extended boasting session in Hrothgar’s court, Beowulf fights Grendel: he literalizes his boasting speech by fighting with grips, by physically holding on to the monster, in the same way that he is attempting to hold his body to his words. (Kim, 7)
Beowulf likes to remind everyone that he is the big bad wolf, and he likes the rush from his big adventures. However, that may just be the fall of his empire. Beowulf’s Actions may lead him into deeper waters that he may not be able to swim or fight his way out of.
Many years later after Beowulf and his Thanes return to Geatland, there is another traumatic event that has Beowulf fighting in the later years of his life. When Geatland needs a savior call Beowulf! A poor thief agitated a dragon’s keep and stole a goblet. Once the dragon realizes what is missing, he goes on a countryside rampage. He blows fire from his breath burning homes and villages in Geatland, while looking for the thief.
Beowulf reminisces his past reencounters and recalls his triumphs over Breca, Grendel, and Grendel’s Mother.

He then becomes too proud of himself to back down from the challenge of killing the dragon. This particular part of the poem allows the reader to see a transition of savior, one who rescues or will do good for man, and hero, the man that boasts his encounters and challenges. Although heroic code was prevalent during this time it wasn’t always held to its standards: “The Anglo-Saxon heroic world understands the grim realities of war, but it possesses no remedy for the feuding and social disruption its code of conduct produces” (Wodzak,

4).
Beowulf bids to his warriors that he would fight and kill the dragon as long as he could get the dragon out of his keep and out into the open. He calls to the dragon and the two start to fight. As the fight begins Beowulf notices the strength that he has lost as he has aged. He strikes the dragon on the head, but his sword collapses in two pieces. The dragon then bites a chunk out of Beowulf’s neck. Beowulf grabs Wiglaf’s dagger, a warrior who has rushed to his aid, and stabbed the dragon in his wing. The blow was deadly to the dragon. The venomous bite begins to burn and swell in Beowulf’s neck. Toward’s the end of this fight both the dragon and Beowulf are dead.
Characteristics that lead to Beowulf’s “heroic” self- impression are quite easily identified.

It is mentioned in Beowulf, that physical strength is in no need for the almighty powerful Beowulf. Many characteristics that define a Hero are known to be found throughout the epic. However, many of these traits aren’t simple to explain. When a character goes from hero to savior in each battle, there are some important factors to consider. Does Beowulf want to save people or his country? Or is he simply in the fight for further achievement? Starting off Beowulf wants to help the people in Denmark, or at least that’s what we believe. The ending fight with Grendel proves that he has to have a trophy. Beowulf hangs the dying creatures arm for the rest of the Thanes to see. This is clearly the trait of a hero, which involves

boasting.
When Beowulf fights Grendel’s Mother he becomes a savior figure, because he is in it to save Denmark from the threats they face from her. Grendel’s Mother was a powerful water demon that would stop at nothing to destroy the kingdom of Denmark. His courage, loyalty to King Hrothgar, strategies, and Physical strength gets him out of this battle alive with a danger free Denmark.
The last battle in Geatland concerning the Dragon and his keep could involve both savior traits and heroic code. Beowulf joins the battle in efforts to save his country from danger, however at his age during the time. His courage and nobility are not enough to save him from danger. The venomous bite to his neck slowly starts to kill him, but not quite as fast as he can stab the dragon on his wing and kill him indefinitely.
There are very close similarities between savior and hero. Majority of the differences belong to the purpose of your mission. A Hero is in it for the prize, and most likely there will be a boasting session after his achievements. Saviors are in it for the action, to save a person, a country, or anything valuable. The characteristics however are pretty much the same: “aggression, anti-sociality and passion to the heroic world. Chance argues that the success of failure of a peace-weaver's efforts is ‘interdependent on [the actions] of lord and retainer, without
whose willingness peace-making is futile’" (Wodzak, 5).