Examples Of Hope In Beowulf

According to the scholar J.R.R Tolken, the theme of Beowulf deals with ‘man alien in a hostile world, engaged in a struggle which he cannot win’...” This theme is revealed in the poem, not necessarily through Beowulf himself, but through the commoners that he fights for. Beowulf, being as powerful as he was, could make it through pretty much anything. He was a symbol of hope for the common people. However, there is a clear reason why the people clung to this symbol of hope. They themselves were not powerful enough to deal with the world in which they found themselves. This is shown through the enemies Beowulf faces, the decisions he must make, and the fear he must overcome.

Beowulf proves to be a symbol of hope for the common

man, because of the insanely strong villains that he must fight. One of the villains that Beowulf must face is Grendel, a demon who wreaks havoc on the Danes tribe for 12 whole years. Hrothgar, the King of Dawes, had attempted to fight Grendel with his own men. However, they were powerless in comparison to his otherworldly mite. The people of Danes were eventually forced to the last resort of making offerings at Pagan shrines, with hopes of leaving it up to the gods to defeat Grendel. However, just when all hope is lost, Beowulf hears of Grendel’s wrath and travels to Danes to take care of him once and for all. This is just one example of a time when Beowulf had taken down a foe that was much too strong for an army of commoners to face. Two other examples would be when he faced Grendel’s Mother, a grotesque and demonic begin, and a dragon (which is self-explanatory of how fierce and strong the creature is just by saying “dragon.”) In there scenarios, Beowulf goes above and beyond the strength capacity of a normal human being, and defeats almost every one of them. Beowulf was an example of what it would take to defeat foes of such caliber, and how without him the normal humans would have been nothing more than easy prey.
Another way that the story Beowulf uses its hero as humanity’s symbol of hope, are the decisions he must make.

Each and every time there is a foe, Beowulf must make a decision, the decision to fight and risk his life or to flee and live to fight another day. A great example of this is when a dragon is awoken and begins terrorizing Geats. At this time, Beowulf knows that should he fight the dragon, he will likely die. In this situation most men would choose to walk away with their life. Surely there would be tons of guilt, and self-conflict about what the right choice is. However, Beowulf swiftly makes a decision, and he says that he will fight to protect others, even if it should cost his life. In the poem Beowulf he says “I’ve never known fear, as a youth I fought 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.” P62 This once again highlights the way that Beowulf is a man that is above normal human nature, showing just how insignificant man is alienated in a world that is so dangerous that they must lay all of their cards down, and allow someone who is seemingly much more than human to win their battles. Even with psychological strength, he surpasses them

greatly.
Finally, Beowulf shows his lack of weakness by the amount of courage that he had possessed.

Not only did he have the courage to take on the enemies and overcome all of the trials described earlier, but there is also a great example of a social trial that he must overcome as well. Upon hearing of the way that Grendel was terrorizing the people of Geats, Beowulf had decided to Hrothgar, the King of Geats, directly. This shows great social bravery, as having the gull to talk directly to a King is no simple task. At this time he was not even called by the King, he simply knew that his Kingdom needed help, and sought out to give them just that. On lines 110-115 in the poem Beowulf it says “Beowulf heard how Grendel Filled nights with horror and quickly commanded a boat fitted out, Proclaiming that he’d go to the famous king.” This is yet another example of just how helpless a normal human being would be in this case, were they not Beowulf, any other person would likely have not even thought to address a famous King about problems in his Kingdom. This is yet another humbling example of Beowulf vs. a common

man.
So, as it is now plain to see, the theme of Beowulf is revealed in the poem, not necessarily through Beowulf himself, but through the commoners that he fights for. Through all of the examples shown, Beowulf’s boundless strength served as a foil to the ever so vulnerable common people, expressing the way that man has found themselves alienated in a dangerous world, engaged in an unwinnable struggle. Beowulf, an epic hero, was the base in which the story was created in order to demonstrate this. He was of noble birth (evident in Beowulf lines 126-130), super human, embodies the values of society, lives in a fantasy world, and was on multiple quests. All of this was evident through the given information in Beowulf, and it was the perfect way to express the weaknesses of humanity, that make them unable to grasp victory.