Wiglaf Vs Beowulf Essay

Beowulf portrays the beautiful scenario of ancient Anglo- Saxon society. Though the poem itself named after the Scandinavian hero Beowulf, it exploits the characters bounded with their reputation in their society. Based on the social anatomy, there exists an honor system between the king and his warriors. Heroic acts of a warriors in a battlefield always seems to get high-praised and even considered as the greatest accomplishment of their life. Similarly, in the poem, Beowulf and Wiglaf were also considered as the heroes of Danes because of their heroic acts after their fight against the dragon. Not just that fight with dragon reflects Beowulf and Wiglaf as the mirror image of each other, but also their shared genealogy and their loyalty to their own depicts some resemblance between them. Both Beowulf and Wiglaf has the same approached while fighting with the evil demons by showing their bravery to handle the tough circumstances. During the fights with Dragon, Wiglaf with ten other retainers were there to serve the Beowulf. When situation goes beyond the control, all other retainer left Beowulf alone except Wiglaf. Instead of being afraid, Wiglaf choose to go under arms with Beowulf saying, “Your deeds are famous, / so stay resolute, my lord, defend your life now / with the

Wiglaf being the Beowulf’s kinsman, is also a descendent of Waegmundings same as Beowulf. Beowulf once mentioned that their same ancestry is of bravery when he says, “You are the last of us, the only one left / of the Waegmundings. Fate swept us away, / sent my whole brave high-born clan / To their final doom. Now I must follow them” (2813-2816). Beowulf also passed his gold-collar to Wiglaf which signify that he passed his reign to his kinsman, the last one of Waegmundings clan. This whole scenario illustrates the ranking of Wiglaf as a successor of Beowulf who inherits the common