Revenge: A Theme in Beowulf

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Have you ever wanted to avenge a wrong doing done unto you? Well, the characters in Beowulf will stop at nothing to achieve vengeance. Revenge is so immensely practiced that it is a common act to pay of a deed done by an offender. However, a payment or truce does not satisfy the desire for revenge in the Poem. Every time a Character precedes to make peace, it eventually falls apart by a desire to avenge loved ones. This desire is usually upheld until someone is no longer left to be avenged or no one is left to avenge those whom they loved. This, although it may not seem so, happens commonly in this epic. The Danes seem to have disputes with everyone, some ending with them basking in glory and others ending, well, with not so much glory involved. In the Hall of Frisia the King, Finn, was attacked by the Danes. In this battle the Danes leader was killed, as well as Finn’s only heir. The Danes, leaderless, were then lead by Hengest who forced a treaty with the and Finn, so they were taken under the care of Finn. “Finn, son of Focwald, should honor the Danes, bestow with an even hand to Hengest and Hengest’s men the wrought-gold rings (1089-1092)”. The Danes were maddened by this and began to be resentful towards the Frisians and at the coming of Spring they renewed the fight and killed Finn, and robbed him thoroughly. “Thus blood was spilled, the gallant Finn slain in his home…..Finn was cut down, the queen bought away and everything the Shieldings could find (1146-47; 1152-1154). Finn tried to make peace, but the desire to avenge their leaders murderer was greater, They also looted his stronghold and took back his wife. Considering his wife was a Dane, they must have also had a desire to avenge something else when the Dani... ... middle of paper ... ...nd the feud with the Swedes are related, One ending leads to the end of another. Anyhow, in these feuds there wasn’t even an attempt to make peace, They just ended up killing each other, so what is the point of a truce if they all just end in the same as with these? Can you really say there is one? Through this, I come to my conclusion that the desire to enact vengeance is just too great for the Characters to overcome, sometimes even so much that they do not bother making peace with their opponents. The desire of revenge is common amongst everyone, what we call a monster and what we call a human. Think this though, if Grendel, his mother, and the dragon (what we would classify as beasts) have a slightly lower, but generally same, ability to keep peace, then what does that say about the others involved in revenge? Works Cited Bewoulf translated by Seamus Heaney

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