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How is beowulf described as an epic hero
How is beowulf described as an epic hero
Critical analysis of Beowulf
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Beowulf is displayed as an Epic Hero. He is known to diminish creatures of the dark realm, and joyfully rejoice in the reward offered for the defeat of his enemies. Beowulf was raised by the Great Higlac, the king of the Geats and his feudal lord and uncle. The many battles that Beowulf has accomplished is an example of how he is an epic hero. He put forth his life to save others, so they wouldn’t be patronized anymore by Grendel’s horror.
Within the battle of Grendel, Grendel put fear into the hearts and eyes of the townspeople. When the village would celebrate for the elegant joy of the wall of herot being crafted, Grendel raged with anger. In line 36-40 pg.42. “He slipped through the door and there in the silence Snatched up thirty men,
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He sailed across the seas to come into great battle with the creature that was causing havoc in the village. In line 284-285 pg.48. “That night Beowulf and his men stay inside Herot. While his men sleep, Beowulf lies awake, eager to meet with Grendel.” The battle begun in line 385-405. “To feud with Almighty God: Grendel Saw that his strength was deserting him, his claws Bound fast, Higlac’s brave follower tearing at His hands. The monster’s hatred rose higher, But his power had gone. He twisted in pain, And the bleeding sinews deep in his shoulder Snapped, muscle and bone split And broke. The battle was over, Beowulf Had been granted a new glory: Grendel escaped, but wounded as he was could …show more content…
The villagers of Geatland were at last safe once again until trouble followed. In line 623-624. “After being honored by Hrothgar, Beowulf and his fellow Geats return home, where he eventually becomes King. Beowulf rules Geatland for fifty years. When a dragon menaces his kingdom, Beowulf, now and old man, determines to slay the beast. Before going into battle, he tells his men about the royal house and his exploits in its service.” Beowulf said his fair wells and left for the almighty battle against the traitorous scaly hydra. In line 680-694. “The monster came quickly toward him, Pouring out fire and smoke, hurrying To its fate. Flames beat at the iron Shield, and for a time it held, protected Beowulf as he’d planned; then it began to melt, And for the first time in his life that famous prince Fought with fate against him, with glory Denied him. He knew it, but he raised his sword And struck at the dragon’s scaly hide.” In lines 774-775. “Wiglaf and Beowulf kill the dragon, but the old king is mortally wounded. As he dies, Beowulf asks Wiglaf to bring him the treasure and that the dragon was guarding.” Beowulf showed great honor, loyalty, pride, strength, and bravery during the life he lived. He put his life endanger for the life of others. This is the reason, why Beowulf is an epic hero. Every hero yearns for a reward, but the reward given was the joy in his people being safe at last from the ominous danger and the for the story of the Great
He lives in solitude in a cave at the bottom of the lake and is angered by the parties in the mead hall. To further emphasize the archetype, he is said to go on raids only during the nighttime. This shows more of his loneliness because he can not show his face in broad daylight. When his arm is ripped off, Grendel runs away. This shows his cowardice since he runs instead of finishing the fight on the spot. For the Anglo-Saxons, death in battle was the most glorious type of death, Thus Grendel running away would have been mocked by the crowd and re enforced the quality of courage. When the battle itself begins, Beowulf decides to fight Grendel bare handed. His comrades however stay to help him fight. This reveals the theme of loyalty. This theme is prominent during the main battle because Beowulf is shown to be, “Surrounded closely by his powerful thanes” (98). This ties into the theme of loyalty to one’s kin because although the weapons do no damage, Beowulf’s brethren stay by his side to help. This is also used to emphasize the Anglo-Saxon warrior culture, the battles serve as a way to show the listener the deep cultural significance of the kinship of the warriors. They are treated as one group,
Scyld Scefing often deprived his enemies, many tribes of men, of their mead-benches. He terrified his foes; yet he, as a boy, had been found a waif; fate made amends for that. He prospered under heaven, won praise and honor, until the men of every neighboring tribe, across the whale’s way, were obliged to obey him and pay him tribute. He was a noble king! (BEO 4-11).
It is common opinion that Beowulf was written by a Christian poet. This was probably true because at the time when it was written, most of the few people who knew how to read and write were in the clergy. There are various references within the poem to elements of the Christian religion. However, the story is about Pagan people and certain aspects of their culture are even glorified. The ambiguity of Beowulf’s religious content has caused confusion as to what significance religion had in inspiring the author and in what manner the author meant to inspire or influence his audience. I do not think that Beowulf is a Christian allegory because Beowulf had very little in common with the Biblical figure of Jesus Christ. I think that religion was not the primary thematic concern of the writer. Although there are discrepancies between the two styles of thinking, Beowulf seems to praise values which were considered moral and good among all humanity, both Christian and Pagan.
Throughout life a man makes many descions which determine the way his life will be lived and the way it will end. All choices a man makes in his life have consequences and each man must account for them. In life, every man must reap what he has sown. The values a man holds to be important in his life govern the choices he makes. The epic Beowulf is a good example of this truth. In the story, Beowulf is a god-like human who possesses a strength and warrior spirit unmatched by anyone. The choices he has made resulted in this power and it is also those same choices that play a part in his end.
In this poem, Beowulf exhibits the trait of bravery by defeating the monster, Grendel. This monster was a very powerful monster that plagued the town of Herot. “He slipped through the door… Snatched up thirty men, smashed them/ Unknowing in their beds and ran out with their bodies/ The blood dripping behind him, back/ To his liar, delighted with his night’s slaughter. (11)”
In the beginning of the story, a mythical monster named Grendel who is attacking King Hrothgar’s mead hall Herot. When Beowulf hears of this tragedy, he volunteers to go and fight the mythical beast. The author wrote, “So Beowulf chose the mightiest men he could find the bravest and the best of the Geats, fourteen In all.” Once Beowulf arrives, he is given a feast and then decides to stay in Herot overnight to confront Grendel. Grendel then arrives and kills one of the Geats before Beowulf can get into the battle. Beowulf then goes hand-to-hand against Grendel and ends up tearing off Grendel’s shoulder. Grendel then retreats to his lair to die. This is only a mere example of why Beowulf is a hero.
As the welcoming celebration for Beowulf goes on, Unferth begins to ridicule Beowulf about his swimming competition with Breca. Unferth is jealous and feels threatened by Beowulf " for he would not allow that any other man of middle-earth should ever achieve more glory under the heavens than himself." (Norton p. 33) Unferth is a very peculiar character. Although he has committed the horrific crime of killing his brother(s), he is privileged enough to sit at the feet of the king, a very respected position. His sin,an enormous violation of the comitatus, suggests that there is something wrong in Hrothgar's kingdom and perhaps helps to foreshadow its destruction. Ultimately, it will be destroyed, as the text says, by a fire after " sword-hate between son-in-law and father-in-law to awaken after murderous rage." (Norton p. 28).
The first thing that makes Beowulf an epic hero is his wisdom. In this epic poem Beowulf fight with many characters, that are bigger and stronger than him, but Beowulf wins all these battles through his wisdom. Most of the time Beowulf fights for glory, so he always looks for a battle to fight. That’s how he came to the fight with Grendel, who frightened the whole kingdom of Hrothgar. Many warriors tried to defeat Grendel, but they all failed and eaten my Grendel. When Grendel came to the Heorot to kill the warrior’s, Beowulf tricked and attacked him with his bare hands, knowing that the swords does not work on him (Beowulf 51). First Beowulf learned Grendel’s attacking style and with that he counter attacked Grendel. Beowulf uses his wisdom wisely in every situation he encounters. When Beowulf fights Grendel's mother, first he looked around his surrounding and “he sights a famous old sword of the giants, which he seizes and thrusts at Grendel’s mother, who falls in helpless death throes” (Foster 1). In every battle, Beowulf is overpowered with wisdom, which makes him an epic hero.
There was a huge influence of both paganism and christianity that can be noticed in Old English Poetry. To better understand these two values, let us explain what paganism and christianity mean. Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. As presented in New Thestament, Christians believe Jesus to be the Son of God and the Messiah prophesied in The Old Testament. Christianity began in the 1st century AD as a Jewish sect, and shares many religious texts with Judaism, specifically the Hebrew Bible, known to Christians as the Old Testament. The name Christian means belonging to Christ or partisan of Christ. As far as Paganism is concerned, the word comes from latin paganus and means a country dweller, rustic. It is a term which has come to connote a broad set of spiritual or cultic practises or beliefs of any folk religion a nd of historical and contemprorary polytheism religious in particular. (...) Characteristic of pagan traditions in the anscence of proselytisation and presence of a living mythology which explains religious practice. The term Pagan is a Christian adaptation of the goy of Judaism.
Beowulf displayed great courage and honor throughout his journeys and battles; he was an epic hero. An epic hero is a person who is viewed as larger than life and possesses values of a certain society. From the time of Beowulf’s battle with Grendel to his brawl against the dragon, he has showed everyone what being an honorable hero looks like. His heroism is revealed through both youth as a young warrior and wisdom as a reliable king. He never backed down and didn’t give up when situations were tough. Beowulf had obligations to fulfill and went about every aspect of his life with courage and strength. He cared for his people and was willing to take on anyone that threatened them or his kingdom. He sincerely was the hero of his time.
?Justification for the Abandonment and Solitude of Beowulf Beowulf is the classic tale of a mighty and heroic Geat leader who comes to an unpleasant and seemingly early end. Throughout his life, Beowulf had been an excellent leader and had led his army to many victories over many foes, of his land and of many others as well. At his peak, Beowulf was the mightiest warrior on all the earth: “There was no one else like him alive. In his day, he was the mightiest man on earth, high-born and powerful.” (297-298). Eventually, Beowulf would come to be ruler over many people. During this time he would defeat many enemies, two of which being Grendel and his mother. After their defeat, Beowulf and his people experienced a time of peace and prosperity which was enjoyed by all. He remained undefeated until the bitter end when he was defeated by the dragon in the underwater hell-like grave. Beowulf’s death marked the end of not only his reign, but also of the safety know by his people, and also the end of his kingdom. The reasons for his abandonment of his people and his insistence to fight alone are not clear, although many have theories as to why the great warrior chose the fate he did. The first topic at hand is why Beowulf chose to fight by himself, especially in the case of the dragon. Beowulf was a very valiant warrior who fought his greatest battles alone, or at least single-handedly.
A true hero does not fear death or, but instead risks all that he is for what he believes to be right, moral, and just. Beowulf is an epic and tells the story of a legendary hero, conquering all obstacles as if he was immortal. Up until the end of Beowulf’s life he was constantly looking to be the hero. However, his humanity is exposed by his death. Heroes all share the characteristic of their willingness to die in their effort to accomplish their heroic act, thus making the act in itself heroic. Throughout the epic, Beowulf in many ways exhibited all the qualities and characteristics needed to be a true hero.
What does it mean to be a hero? Like anything else in this world, the definition of the word hero can be argued. Some may say that a hero can be passive, that is if he or she refrains from doing a certain action it makes them heroic. Others would argue that to be truly heroic the character must never turn tail and always face the obstacle head on even though he or she may die in the process. So is Beowulf a hero? Yes, Beowulf is a great epic hero, but his greatness comes only from his sword and not from his mind.
The news of Grendlel traveled to many kingdoms, and soon it reached the Geats from across the sea. King Hygelac, the king of the Geats, heard this news, and soon Beowulf heard it. Beowulf was the strongest, and boldest man in the Geat Kingdom. He was also the son of Ecgtheow, a great war hero. When he heard this news he was ready to help the Danes. At first Hygelac, and the wise eldermen didn’t want Beowulf to go, because they feared he wouldn’t return, but then yielded. Beowulf then chose 15 warriors, with the help of Hygelac and the wise eldermen, to go with him on his journey to defeat Grendel. Upon their arrival, the Geats were greeted by an earl of Hrothgar. The earl asked them who they were, why they were dressed for war, and if they knew the password, and then noticed Beowulf. He was in shock for he had never seen a warrior like this one, and was sure that he was a hero. When Beowulf explained who they were, and why they were there, the earl quickly asked them to follow him to Heorot Hall. When faced with the...
Beowulf’s first accomplishment as an epic hero was his battle with Grendel. Grendel was a huge beast, a descendent of Cain, who ruthlessly murdered innocent Danes because he felt pity for himself. Upon hearing of the Dane’s problem, Beowulf set off to help the Danish without having been called upon. Even though Beowulf had men backing him, He drew battle with Grendel alone and without armor or weapons. Yet, Beowulf emerged victorious with the arm of Grendel as his trophy. Beowulf then went on to kill Grendel’s vengeful mother and a huge fire-breathing dragon who thought it had been done wrong by the Geats. Alas, the killing of the dragon would be Beowulf’s last great battle for the dragon took Beowulf’s life in the struggle for his own.