Beowulf must be careful how he approaches Hrothgar about killing Grendel. He does not want Hrothgar to think that he is only willing to save Denmark so that he can steal the throne from right from under Hrothgar’s nose. Hrothgar is an established king and has been for many years. He will need to approach Hrothgar with humility. Hrothgar is much older than Beowulf and could not kill Grendel himself to save his people from the attacks at the mead hall. Even Hrothgar’s personnel, including Unferth, could not kill Grendel. Denmark is in such danger that a younger man from another land has to save them. This could make Hrothgar and his warriors feel substandard and Beowulf needs to be careful of how he offers help not to seem pompous. Grendel has been attacking the people of Heorot for a very long time. For twelve long years everyone has been in a panic and gossiping about the monster, Grendel. Over time the stories have bled into the land of the Geats. Beowulf hears this and feels that it is his duty to protect the Danes …show more content…
because Hrothgar helped Beowulf’s father, Ecgtheow, pay off a debt many years ago. This may not be the only reason. Beowulf knows that the legend of him slaying Grendel will spread as fast as the rumors of Grendel attacking in the first place. When Beowulf and his troops arrive in Denmark, Wulfgar thinks that the Geats are admirable enough to speak with Hrothgar and wants Beowulf to slay Grendel. Wulfgar states, “Do not refuse them, but grant them a reply. From their arms and appointment, they appear well-born And worthy of respect, especially the one Who has led them this far: he is formidable indeed.” (367-370) Wulfgar appreciates the help of Beowulf and pleads for the king to allow him and his men to help. Hrothgar is faced with a choice whether or not to allow Beowulf to walk on to his land and slay a monster that he cannot slay himself. When Beowulf was a baby, his father fought with a warrior from another tribe.
Ecgtheow, his father, killed the other warrior. The warrior’s family wanted revenge for his death and began a war. Ecgtheow's peers ostracized him. Hrothgar took in Ecgtheow and his family. Ecgtheow became Hrothgar’s best warrior. Hrothgar says to Beowulf, "Beowulf, you've come to us in friendship, and because Of the reception your father found at court. Ecgtheow had begun a bitter feud, Killing Hathlaf, a Wulfing warrior: Your father's countrymen were afraid of war, If he returned to his home, and they turned him away." (457-462) Hrothgar recalls when he helped Beowulf’s father, Ecgtheow, years ago and welcomes the help of Beowulf. This is a compelling reason to allow Beowulf to save Denmark but this is also a way for Hrothgar to rationalize someone else taking care of Grendel. Even so, Hrothgar agrees to have Beowulf kill the monster in which he was
successful.
Nobody dared to stop the bravest man in all the land known as Beowulf. Beowulf is the strongest warrior from Geatland. When Beowulf hears about the Danes and Hrothgar’s struggle to keep his men safe, he offers to help. The Danish king, Hrothgar, accepts Beowulf’s request to kill Grendel and his mother. Beowulf proves his strength and becomes famous when he defeats Grendel in a battle using nothing but his bare hands in Herot. He keeps Grendel’s arm as a symbol of his victory. Grendel’s mother looks for revenge, but she is also killed by the brave warrior. Beowulf becomes the King of Geatland after the king’s son, Heardred, is killed. Beowulf rules for 50 years and he is very successful in keeping peace across the land and Geatland becomes very prosperous. Beowulf later dies after a final fight against a dragon. The Geats build a tower strong and tall just as Beowulf requested so that sailors could find it from far and wide. Beowulf perfectly embodies the Germanic heroic ideal.
The story begins with Grendel taking the lives of countless innocent men. It seems to all that there is no one who can face this great monster who lives down in the swamp. The king, Hrothgar, becomes concerned for the health of his country and seeks out help from someone of great strength. In hearing this, Beowulf sees it as an opportunity to increase his popularity and fame. Upon arrival, he is anxious to come face to face with the great beast. In addition, he declares that he will fight Grendel without any weapons to prove who is truly the strongest. After his victory, Beowulf gets his fame and becomes king of another land for fifty years.
The first opponent Beowulf must face in the land of the Danes is Grendel, textually described as “a fiend out of hell … [a] grim demon / haunting the marches, / marauding round the heath / and the desolate fens” (Beowulf, line 100 – 104). The author also provides us with a moral description, explaining how Grendel is “merciless … malignant by nature, he never showed remorse” (line 135-137). As we can see here, the author’s physical and moral portrayal of Grendel is rather unforgiving. We also resent Grendel further once we learn that he has wreaked havoc upon the Heorot hall for twelve years, “inflicting constant cruelties on the people / atrocious hurt” (line 165).
In Beowulf the movie the queen reveals Grendel’s mother seduced Hrothgar and that Grendel is Hrothgar’s son. According to Margaret Reed, “She has seduced Hrothgar and Grendel is their son.” Grendel has a bronze scales on parts of his skin this a symbol of Hrothgar. After Beowulf “slays” Grendel’s mother, he returns to Heorot to tell Hrothgar and his Danes. After announcing that he has slayed her the Danes have a party, but Hrothgar pulls Beowulf aside questioning him about what really happened. Beowulf reveals that he actually didn’t slay her. Hrothgar then proceeds to give Beowulf the kingdom, The Queen before he jumps off of the castle committing suicide. According to Beowulf the movie, “so you brought back the head of Grendel. What about the head of the mother? Hrothgar asks .With her dead and cold in the bog, is it not enough to return one monster’s head? Beowulf responds. Did you kill her? Asks Hrothgar. Would you like to hear the story of my struggle against this monstrous hag? Beowulf says passive aggressively. She is no hag, Beowulf. We both know that. But answer me, did you kill her? Hrothgar says. Would I have been able to escape her, had I not? Beowulf asks. Grendel is dead that’s all that matters to me. He can bother me no more. The mother, the “Hag” she’s not my curse anymore.” Hrothgar then announces to the Danes that since he doesn’t have a son he is giving the throne and
Beowulf is a epic retold for many generations from father to son, warrior to child, and it serves its name very well, epic! It starts off by explaining a newly built mead house, created by the lord of the Danes, Hrothgar. This mead house is massive and used by all of the Danes. But these people are now plagued by a terrible force, Grendel, a terrible monster who comes into the town and massacres its people. In a distant land, a prince hero Beowulf, hears of this terrible monster and decides to prove his worth by fighting and destroying it. Beowulf comes to the land of the Danes, and meets with Hrothgar to ask permission to slay the beast, it is then granted. When Beowulf first meets Hrothgar, he strips down taking off all of this armor that he wears for protection in battle and states that he will kill Grendel without his armor to prove his worth. That during the mead hall celebration, Grendel arrives and strikes a few of Beowulf’s soldiers dead, but then grabs a hold of Beowulf. Grendel then is scared for his life, for he has never felt that much strength in one human being, he struggles throughout the fight and soon Beowulf gains the upper hand, literally. He pulls Grendel’s arm out of its socket, ripping it free from his body. Mortally wounded, Grendel retreats back to his cave where he then dies. In the second part of this epic, it is Grendel’s mother who is the monster who comes for revenge of her son’s death. By this time Beowulf has left the land of the Danes and is going back home to the Getes when he finds that he is needed again by Hrothgar. He ventures back, and pledges to kill Grendel’s Dom just as he did with Grendel, just with protection this time. He goes to h...
Beowulf, a soldier of honor and courage. Through his many battles with giants and sea monsters he has found himself in another life threatening predicament. Many things change when the poem is put on the big screen. Hrothgar king of the Danes was never mentioned as Grendel’s father in the original poem. In the poem Beowulf never makes a deal with Grendel’s mother, he kills her. Towards the end of the movie Hrothgar crowns Beowulf the king of the Danes, but in the poem leaves and becomes king of the Geats for fifty peaceful years.
The King knew that the killings were not over and that Grendel would come again. Beowulf, a strong, brave and giant man heard of the Kings despair and decided that he would take some of his bravest, strongest and best men of the Geats and come kill Grendel the murderous beast himself.
Grendel and Beowulf are two feared beings who dislike each other, but are alike and different in many ways. Grendel was a powerful monster that lived in darkness and was feared by humans. He was evil, haunted the moors, and terrorized the Danes. He was not born as a human but as a demon/monster, and was described as something sent from Hell. The Harots singing awakened Grendel, which made him attack them every night. An angry Grendel made his way through the night seeking only to capture and feast on the Danes. Hrothgar and the sleeping Danes are in for a rude awakening.
In literature, monsters are often used to symbolize characteristics in humans. In the poem Beowulf, monsters are used to symbolize destructive behavior in humans. In the case of Hrothgar and Beowulf, their pride causes them to become selfish. Pride often makes people lose focus of their priorities and that can make their selfishness get out of control, and lead to destructive behavior.
When news reaches Beowulf of the troubles that King Hrothgar faces in Denmark, he sets off, determined to defeat the monster Grendel, “...And his bold retainers found little to blame/ In his daring venture, dear though he was; They viewed the omens, and urged him on.” (Beowulf, lines 203-205) When they arrive in Denmark, Beowulf makes the introductions to the coast guard, saying,
When Hrothgar did finally address the situation, he made Beowulf kill Grendel instead of doing it himself. Though this is a clear sign of cowardness, especially from a king, Hrothgar stayed in power and remained beloved by his people. This was mainly do to Hrothgar's lineage and the strong reputation Hrothgar's family had brought him. The Danes probably did not want to interfere with such a fixed line of honor. As for Beowulf, if it were not for his lineage, he may have not had any connection with Hrothgar and the rest of the Danes. For example, Beowulf is friends with Hrothgar as a result of Hrothgar protecting his father Edgetho because he paid off Edgetho’s feud after killing Hathlaf, a Wulfing warrior. Hrothgar tells Beowulf “you’ve come to us in friendship, and because of the reception your father found at our court.”(l.457-458 Ch.7) In other words, Hrothgar is saying the reason Beowulf had come to the Danes in friendship is due to Hrothgar helping Beowulf's father. Therefore, if it weren't for Beowulf’s father(lineage), there would have been no one to stop
“I have heard moreover that the monster scorns in his reckless way to use weapons, therefore; to heighten Hygelac’s fame and gladden his heart, I hereby renounce sword and the shelter of the broad shield, the heavy war-board: hand-to-hand is how it will be, a life-and-a death fight with the fiend” (lines 433-440). When Beowulf heard of Hrothgar’s assailant, he left to rescue the Danes, risking his own life. Once he descended upon the land of the Danes and learned about the monster’s terrorism, he planned his attack. When Grendel enters Herot, Beowulf pretended to be asleep, watching as Grendel ate one of his men. Beowulf’s bravery is the reason he left to help the Danes. Without his bravery, Grendel would have wiped out the entire country, then moved on to the next. Risking one's own life for others is brave, but to fight a Hellion without strength is a death sentence. Luckily for Beowulf, he had the strength,
It is soon brought into light that Beowulf's prime intention for coming to Hrothgar’s aid is owed to a family debt, “Beowulf, you’ve come to us in friendship, and because Of the reception your father found at our court. Edgetho had begun a bitter feud, Killing Hathlaf a Wulfing warrior… In this nation i bought the end of Edgetho’s Quarrel.”(191-205) Beowulf’s father Edgetho received hospitality and friendship in his time of need so now many years later Beowulf is coming to return the favor by killing Grendel.
In the poem Beowulf, dating to around 1000 AD, the young “beloved warrior”, Beowulf, sets out on a series of three adventures to slay evil and be his heroic self (Beowulf, 1216). The first fiend Beowulf must tackle is a swamp-like creature and descendent of Cain, named Grendel, that sets out to attack Hrothgar’s, the aging ruler of the Danes, hall Heorot for the pain it brings him. Readers do not get much of a description or background for Grendel, but we get is that he is bad, and Beowulf is the hero, so Beowulf must kill Grendel. Once this warrior murders Grendel, the poem states,
To begin, here is some history and background information on Beowulf. Beowulf was written in the Anglo Saxon time period. These people had a different outlook on life and how you should act. They had much respect for anyone that was older than you. They felt before you die, you needed to have some kind of glory for others to remember you by. If you had something good, people would forever remember you, like a last name that will last forever if you are lucky. Beowulf is the nephew of King Hygelac in the land of the Geats. He has never been to Denmark, or the land of the Danes. When Beowulf hears about the monster, Grendel, in the land of the Danes, he feels an obligation to go and defend these people. However, why? He doesn’t know these people. They do not even know he exists, he is a nobody. So why would he risk his life to save people that don’t even live in his land? Well isn’t this the million dollar question. In this essay I will be discussing why Beowulf traveled across the ocean to fight Grendel, Grendel’s Mother and the dragon.