Henry Bonilla
Jennifer Howard
English Comp 2
09 November 2017
Hero’s Journey used in Beowulf Many author’s use Campbell’s Hero Journey in their stories. Some author’s do better jobs on using the Campbell’s hero’s Journey on their stories than others. Seamus Heaney did a good job using Campbell’s Hero Journey on Beowulf. He used almost all of the Status Quo to bring his story together. The one’s that I noticed that the story used the most was the trials, the Call to Adventure, and, New Life. Each one was kind of used in a unique way. First, I noticed that Seamus did great using the Hero’s journey because of the trials in the story. The trials were pretty good in the stories because the biggest challenge Beowulf had to do was fight
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There was a decent amount of call for adventure. Beowulf knew about the terrors that Grendel was causing. Grendel had been hunting the mead-hall of the Danes for twelve years now. Beowulf and his crew went across the sea to fight the monster. This dude knew that he had to be the hero and set out to save the Danes and keep the Geats from the terrors. He also believed that he was the only one that could possibly help Hrothgar because of his history fighting monsters. In the poem it says “So Beowulf chose the mightiest men he could find, the best and the bravest Geats, fourteen in all, and led them down to their boat; he knew the sea, would point the prow straight to that distant Danish shore” (Heaney …show more content…
After the long battle that he bravely fought and did not do as good as he thought he was going to be doing. On his way back he found Grendel body laying lifeless on the ground. Beowulf be headed Grendel and took the head as a trophy to the King of the Danes. The purpose of this was so they could always remember the horrors that they lived through. They all thanked Him for the opportunity. In the story it said “He sought Hrothgar to salute him and show him Grendel’s head. He carried that terrible trophy by the hair, brought it straight to where the Danes sat, Drinking the queen among them. It was a weird and wonderful sight, and the warriors shared (Heaney
The great heroic story of Beowulf gives many examples of the traits a great leader should have. At the end, those same traits were demonstrated by Wiglaf who then became the king of the Geats. This proves that these traits were essential to the Anglo-Saxon culture; however, this also makes Beowulf contemporary. The poem has many themes that are still applicable today. Natural respect and trust are fundamental parts of character in Beowulf and in today's society. This is a great reason to keep reading Beowulf and take it as an example of honor and loyalty. Beowulf is a great hero but also a great example along with many of the characters. The poem itself teaches the reader about respect and
challenges. “A man cannot become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall” Aristotle. Beowulf has many adventures and he fights Grendel and other monstrous creatures but he was very sure of himself. He was born being strong and we as an audience do not identify with that. “Of living strong men he was the strongest” . Beowulf had qualities that any other man had, but he
In the poem Beowulf, the protagonist is portrayed as a heroic figure who strives to spread his name and glory out across the land in order to be remembered. Although his acts may not entirely be for the right reasons, Beowulf does express his heroic qualities of bravery, arrogance, and brute force.
Early in the poem, Beowulf hears accounts of Grendel’s destruction of Herot, Hrothgar’s majestic mead hall. Knowing his strength and military prowess, Beowulf immediately devises a plan, recruits men, and orders boats, thrusting himself into a battle that was not necessarily his to fight. Beowulf felt obligated to end Grendel’s reign of terror. Though he knew the death of Grendel would bring him fame and honor, the idealized Beowulf was able to set aside personal ambition in order to end the suffering of the Danes. Shortly after slaying Grendel, Beowulf again displays an awareness of duty when Grendel’s mother extracts revenge upon Herot, killing one of Hrothgar’s best men, Aeshere. Instead of leaving Herot in a state of frenzy, Beowulf comes to King Hrothgar’s side, pledging allegiance and service. Bolstering the defeated king’s moral, Beowulf boldly addresses the older King Hrothgar saying, “So arise, my lord, and let us immediately set forth on the trail of this troll-dam. I guarantee you: she will not get away, not to dens under ground nor upland groves nor the ocean floor. She’ll have nowhere to fall to. Endure your troubles to-day. Bear up and be the man I expect you to be.” Beowulf could not set aside his duty and obligation, though he knew full well the suffering and pain that might result from his actions. Thus, Beowulf is a portrait of
Knowing that the sword is powerful enough to cut the skin of Grendel’s mother, Beowulf slays her and brings the sword and the head of the mother to Hrothgar, and he rewards Beowulf with more gifts and another feast. Once Beowulf returns home, he then tells his lord about his adventures and gives him all of the rewards that he received from Hrothgar for successfully defeating Grendel and his mother. His lord, then gave him rewards such as a new golden sword that belonged to Beowulf's father and grandfather, and some land and houses. In addition, Beowulf was to have the crown after the death of his lord and the lord’s son. Fifty years after Beowulf first became king, in Geatland a dragon was awakened by a slave who discovered the path to his tower by accident.
Beowulf is a hero that shows honor respect and courage. In lines 710-1007 is where the battle with Grendel happened. Thinking of the destruction that he will get, Grendel bursts into Heorot. Grendel tears the door from its hinges with his hands and quickly becomes a Geatish warrior while Beowulf carefully looks around. When Grendel reaches out to pick Beowulf up, he is surprised to find his arm gripped with a strength than he never knew could even happen. Confused and frightened Grendel doesn’t want to run back to the safety of the swamplands. He tries to escape, but Beowulf wrestles him down to the ground. The crash around the hall, making noise on the walls and smashing the mead-benches. Grendel begins to panic in pain and fear; the sound
Beowulf has been living at his home land taking on challenges that others may not have wanted to take on. He has always been a man of action, always looking for adventure that challenges his strength. When Beowulf was told of the rumors that a demon is tormenting Hrothgar famous mead serving hall he accepted the wise men decisions to help him rid them of the demon. This is where step two of the hero’s journey comes into play. There is a call to adventure that affects the hero in some way. Beowulf may have formed a personal connection to the cries of Hrothgar reason being his father was once had history with Hrothgar . When Hrothgar helped Beowulf 's father settle things with the Wulfings Beowulf may have felt a need to repay his father’s debt. When Beowulf and his men finished the feast the king provided in the mead hall that was closed due to Grendel’s blood lust. ¨Epic heroes possess qualities that mere mortals lack. Bravery beyond compare, superhuman intelligence, strength or skills and a driving desire to find success¨(Connie Jankowski). In this part of the story Beowulf and his men have proven that they do contain the courage
According to Henry Bosley Woolf, “News of the evil wrought among the Danes by Grendel is carried across the seas” (86). When Beowulf, who is in his home in the land of Geatland, hears about the tragic attack that Grendel has caused the Danes, he announces his plan to sail to Heorot and help King Hrothgar with Grendel (Beowulf 45). Beowulf, by helping King Hrothgar, is showing great signs of honor because Beowulf feels as if it was the right thing to do since he had been successful in his past deeds. In return, Beowulf expects no reward for his action but rather just being able to put another notch in his
The character Beowulf, “a man of great strength and bravery” (Magill 388), is a hero in the way he defends his neighboring country, Denmark. When the word that a hostile creature, known as Grendel, was killing tons in Denmark, Beowulf set sail to help defend the people and rid them of the hideous monster.
In the beginning of the novel, Beowulf takes interest in the plight of Hrothgar, King of Denmark, and wants to help him fight Grendel. Grendel is a large monster that has been harassing members in the mead-hall of the Heorot. Beowulf owes Hrothgar a favor, due to the fact that Hrothgar saved his father in years past. Hrothgar is honored to have Beowulf attempt to fight the swamp monster, and decides to hold a feast in his name. When Grendel shows up to the feast, Beowulf illustrates his bravery by fighting Grendel without any armor. When Beowulf wins the battle by ripping Grendel’s arm off, everyone in the mead-hall praises Beowulf for his acts of courage. In this scene, Beowulf proves that he is a hero by fighting off a monster that everyone else was afraid of. This made him look
The story of “Beowulf” begins at a time where a great hero is needed. This is where Beowulf’s character takes the initial place of an epic hero. In the first story of “Beowulf,” Beowulf takes on the responsibility of destroying the great threat, Grendel. This immediately shows the courage, honor and bravery of Beowulf. When Beowulf sailed to the Danes to kill Grendel, he was not searching for money, he was simply putting the Geats lives before his own. Beowulf was not yet
Beowulf could be considered as a hero through Hrothgar’s perspective. For example, in The Hero’s Journey, a hero must enter the unknown and Beowulf does this more than once in order to restore Heorot to its
Beowulf and Grendel (Gunnarsson 2005) depicts a very different protagonist than the one in the epic (Heaney 2000). The Beowulf in the film learns how to have mercy as the movie progresses, while the epic Beowulf is very flat. This is due to the fact that the modern culture is very different from that of the epic. Our culture isn't content with such characters. We want our characters to have more lifelike characteristics such as emotions and a change of heart.
Beowulf went to the dark lake where she had been dwelling. He was suited up with a helmet, armor, together with his own sword. However, he then found it to be useless against the mother. While in the battle hall, Beowulf spotted a superior sword on the wall. With this sword, he ended the life of Grendel’s mother. After this battle, Beowulf took Grendel’s head as a “trophie”.
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.