Heroes and monsters, both good and evil fighting each other, is a theme that even today we are all too familiar with in movies, books, and television. However, Beowulf depicts the accomplishments of a Geatish hero who rids Hrothgar's kingdom of two monsters, Grendel and Grendel's mother. This is a characteristic of a violent society where war and kingship are normal daily parts of life. What kind of person could handle the constant threat of dragons and monsters? Only someone with supernatural powers and heroic qualities such as Beowulf! In this story, Beowulf is a warrior exhibiting the qualities of an epic hero with courage, supernatural powers, and fame.
Beowulf demonstrates his courage a number of times throughout the poem. Beowulf travels to Denmark in order to challenge Grendel, the undefeatable and horrific monster that many knights have tried to destroy, but no one has succeeded. "Grendel is no braver, no stronger/ Than I am! I could kill him with my sword; I shall not,/ Easy as it would be. This fiend is a bold/ And famous fighter, but his claws and teeth/ Scratching at my shield, his clumsy fists/ Beating at my sword blade, would be helpless. I will meet him/ With my hands empty- (44). He fights Grendel empty handed and still defeats the monster. In addition, Beowulf displays courage in choosing to face Grendel's mother in her lair. Her quarters are underwater and Beowulf knows that if he opts to fight her he might never come back alive. But this didn"t stop the brave Beowulf; he has the courage to fight Grendel's mother to her death. Lastly, Beowulf has courage to fight a dragon, which is killing the knights in his own kingdom. When Beowulf realizes that no one can defeat this dragon, he takes it upon himself execute this hideous monster. Even though Beowulf dies fighting the dragon, he still manages to defeat the beast. Beowulf is an epic hero with the trait of courage.
Another special trait that Beowulf has is supernatural powers.
Beowolf Essay Grendels mother was sitting on Beowolf. ... Beowolf was ready to give up. ... Beowolf is with out a doubt a hero. Beowolf is a great example of a hero because he is brave. ... Beowolf was truly heroic and he showed it in many ways. ...
Beowolf is the oldest piece of British literature, and has survived for over thirteen hundred years. ... Beowolf battles three monsters throughout the story. ... Beowolf has a third heroic attempt at killing another bothersome monster. ...
Beowolf is a headstrong character in which he rushes in with his mighty strength and kills everything, sometimes even when he killed it already in the case of Grendal. ... I like the way Sir Gawain acted in this poem because he showed more thought than Beowolf before rushing into a situation....
Do you ever feel like you are being shut out from a group? Or like your opinion is ignored and considered insignificant? In present society the exclusion of people or groups of people often occurs, which makes these (groups of) people outcasts. Most of the time this means that they are being totally...
Beowulf and You A hero is a person of distinguished courage who has outstanding qualities and abilities, who is admired for these having these aspects of their character and also admired for brave and noble acts. Heroes today have changed from those of Beowulf's day. Back in the time of Beowulf heroes were mainly the protectors of the country such as warriors and kings. No one could posses all of the heroic qualities but each of us could posses a few. First of these characteristics is honor. ...
A character is an elaborate blend of emotions and characteristics. Even though the character's emotions are significant because they make an individual feel for the character may it be sympathy or anger. The characteristics are very also important because they make the character. They describe the character's nature even if they are good hearted or if they are evil incarnate. Many times there is one word that can single-handedly describe the character's reaction or behavior toward some other anomaly. ...
Beowulf The story of Beowulf is one of courage, nobility, and heroism. Beowulf possesses each of these attributes both as a young prince and an elder king. These qualities allow him to become the honored king that he was, yet they also lead to his death. His actions are to be viewed as a precedent for young princes and future kings. Clearly every young prince inspires to earn enough respect to become king in his latter years. ...