Heroism In Beowulf

For centuries upon centuries, mankind has passed down the stories of heroism and valor. Tales of brave men and women who conquered evil have always been a part of each and every culture, people group, and civilization. A classic, and quite possibly one of the most well-known epics of all time is the story of Beowulf. This tale is a brilliant representation of Anglo-Saxon literature and captures a unique perspective of the typical hero. Fast forward almost twelve hundred years and author, John Gardner is found writing a work that takes the story of Beowulf and gives the reader a totally different window into the legend that was hardly experimented with beforehand. The book Grendel, by John Gardner, essentially tells everything that Beowulf does

Nobody questions him and everybody seems to respect him. With this respect by others comes an obvious ego. When the time comes for Beowulf to fight Grendel, Beowulf states, "When it comes to fighting, I count myself as dangerous any day as Grendel." (Heaney 5) This statement is very Anglo-Saxon in that the culture at that time embraced the type of hero who had a large self-image. It could also be said that Beowulf's attitude came across as overly confident in lines such as "My plan was to pounce, pin him down in a tight grip and grapple him to death..." (Heaney 6) Beowulf's attitude in this context, expresses to the reader that there is no doubt in his mind that he can defeat his foe. When compared, both Grendel and Beowulf have a pride issue. In Gardner's book, Grendel takes the spotlight and the reader sees that he is just as devoted to defeating Beowulf as Beowulf is of him. Of course, Grendel fails in the end and is outsmarted but in Grendel, he exclaims "If you win, it's by mindless chance...first you tricked me, and then I slipped. Accident." (Gardner 171) The demon monster makes clear to Beowulf that it is by no means that he has triumphed by his own strength; it was simply a mistake on Grendel's part. On the flip side,