The Irony in the Ideal Hero

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The Irony in the Ideal Hero
Beowulf is an epic poem about a great hero in pagan society written by a Christian poet. During the time that Beowulf was written, the Germanic tribes were in flux, transitioning from paganism to Christianity. The conflict between the ideal pagan warrior and Christian ethics is evident throughout the poem. Beowulf is portrayed as the ideal hero because of his bravery, strength, and skill as a warrior; his success over Grendel and Grendel’s mother is rewarded with riches, a typical practice in pagan society. The tenets that make Beowulf a great hero conflict with Christian ideals such as love they neighbor and thou shalt not kill. Peace, mercy, and kindness are essential ethical components of Christianity while strength, vengeance, and triumph over enemies are essential components of the pagan warrior society.
In this violent epic, Beowulf fights in order to get revenge on Grendel for terrorizing the Danes at Heorot. Grendel’s mother returns to kill the Danes and Geat warriors and fights Beowulf to get revenge for Grendel. This vicious cycle contradicts the Christian idea of forgiveness and peace. In the bible, Romans 12:17-21 says, “Repay no evil for evil, but give thought to what is honorable… live peaceably with all”. However, in the pagan warrior society, the honorable thing to do is seek justice for your kinsmen through a blood-fued or “wergirld”, death-price. In fact, in the beginning, the poet portrays Hrothgar as weak for being unable to destroy Grendel in order to keep his people safe and get revenge for the Dane’s whose lives had already been lost. The inability to exact revenge is considered shameful in Pagan society. Although the poet is Christian, struggle between revenge vs. forgiveness i...

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...rom and destroyed by the treasure that they valued so much, which in the end proved to be useless, rotting away under the watchful eye of the dragon.
There also seems to be some conflict between the control of fate or “wergild” or God in the outcome of events. At the beginning of the poem, Beowulf says that the outcome of the fight with Grendel will be decided by fate, “Fate goes ever as fate must” (line 455). However, when Beowulf defeats Grendel’s mother, he credits his victory to God, “…holy God decided the victory” (line 1553). This could suggest that although the conversion to Christianity may have been complete by the time this epic was written, elements of Pagan society do not disappear so easily.

Works Cited

Beowulf. The Norton Anothology of English Literature. 9th ed., Volume 1. Eds. Abrams, Greenblatt, et al. New York: W.W. & Norton & Company, 2012.

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