What Role Does Revenge Play In Beowulf

How big of a role does revenge play in the poem and in society? In Beowulf, an epic poem written by an unknown writer, is about the tales of love, revenge, and bravery back in the time of the Anglo-Saxon culture. Beowulf, the main character, is the bravest of them all and defeats the vicious monsters of the land of Denmark and Sweden. On Beowulf’s path to glory, he defeats a methodical monsters to save the Danes and the Geats, after the great feat of defeating Grendel, another form of the brutal antagonist of the poem appeared, stronger and faster than the monster ever was, that being Grendel’s mother whom brings Beowulf to the limit of life and almost kills the great legacy that the prince of the Geats made for himself on his journey. The

A man by the name of Beowulf, defeats the maleficent monster, “A prince of the Geats, had killed Grendel, Ended the grief, the sorrow, the suffering forced on Hrothgar’s helpless people by a bloodthirsty fiend. no man doubted the victory, for the proof, hanging high from the rafters where Beowulf had hung it, was the monster’s arm, claw, and shoulder and all”(830-836). The phrase “hanging high from the rafters” usually means something that is worth noting, and in this case it most definitely is. The best players, best moments, and best accomplishments are put onto the rafters in sports arenas, now the best moment of the defeat of Grendel is hung from the rafters being symbolized by his arm, claw, and shoulder. When reading the quotation, you feel like a great accomplishment has just occurred, and that the tone of the quotation feels joyous and happy. The reason Beowulf embarks on the journey to defeat that monster Grendel, was to gain revenge through the killing of that demonic fiend for the thirty men that died to the beast’s claws on the night in Herot Hall