...Beowulf The Monster Heroes are praised for their great deeds, their incredible abilities and for fighting for what is right. Rarely mentioned are the attributes that are considered to be wrong or evil. In the epic, Beowulf, the protagonist is depicted as a hero who defies the odds and defeats multiple monsters while at the same time saving various peoples from further harm. Beowulf portrays the typical characteristics of an epic hero; confidence that edges on the side of cocky, an undying loyalty to those close to him, and a bravery that could be matched by no other soul. His heroism combined with his many personal victories results in much praise from the people of his kind. Those in opposition of him did not see him as a hero but rather as an enemy; one who carried out actions similar to a ‘monster’. Although he may demonstrate the traits of a heroic person, Beowulf can also be similarly paralleled to each of the powerful monsters that he slays, namely Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the Dragon. Beowulf expresses many similarities to the monster who wreaks havoc on the mead hall of King Hrothgar. The creature, Grendel, makes his home in the swamps that are not too distant from the grand hall Heorot. (I, 104) Grendel continuously causes much fear and suffering, to a point where the great hall that the king had built “stood empty” (II, 145). Similarly, Beowulf causes terror among the monsters of the sea. He vanquishes copious amounts of water beasts, and in doing...
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...of Honor and Success Throughout the entire text of Beowulf, the accumulation and re-distribution of t reassure serves to have symbolism regarding acts of bravery, honor, success, and reward. Treasure is both gained through the brave battles that Beowulf fights against the three monsters he encounters, and his rewards reflect upon his success and honor in victory. Treasure is also redistributed throughout the text form king to warrior and vice-versa, symbolizing the acknowledgement of honor and reward from one generation to the next. Treasure is viewed in each of the battles as proof of victory and with this proof of success, the holder of such treasure proves that he is worthy and deserving of loyalty from and by brave warriors. After slaying Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon, treasure is gained and passed along to the next generation, such as when Hrothgar gives gifts to Beowulf, who distributes it among his people, to show and symbolize the potential sacrifices made to gain the treasure, and thus the bravery, honor, success, and reward that the treasure surely represents throughout the text. After Beowulf slays the monster Grendel, King Hrothgar rewards and thanks Beowulf for his efforts by offering him several objects considered treasure. Among the multitude of objects that he presents to Beowulf: “He gave to Beowulf the blade of Healfdene/ a golden war-standard Roberts: 2 as a reward for victory” (Beowulf 1020-1021) Here the word “treasure” is substituted with...
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...“The Wulf and the Sheep” (An Analysis of the Motivation of the Epic Hero Beowulf) What drives the heroes to commit acts of upright morality rather than making decisions that would lead them down the road of infamy? If you were in the place of the hero would uphold the “right” instead of enveloping yourself in the “wrong”? Why would you ever want to be a hero? The great Anglo Saxon epic Beowulf seeks to provide us with the answers to these questions. Beowulf is clearly motivated by a lust for something, why else would he seek to help the Danes slay a monster that has no effect on his homeland? Beowulf slew the fiends out of duty, an aspiration to be the hero and he slew the dragon to ensure the security and prosperity of his people. Beowulf made great strives to achieve to accomplish his duty. He felt obligated to use his abilities to save the Danes from their plight. Why did he feel this way? He felt that way because he had been told by the wisest of his people that he was capable of saving the Danes from Grendel and therefore, should save them....
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...Is Beowulf An Epic Hero? Beowulf, an epic hero came from Geats to the rescue of Hrothgar. The Mighty king of Danes whose kingdom was getting ruined by an evil monster, Grendel. Beowulf eventually defeats Grendel by cutting his head off. He shows his strength and brut by killing grendel with his bare hands. However, beowulf ends up meeting grendels mother. They fight in her underwater lair. Beowulf amazingly holds his breath for one whole day. Grendels mother was on a war path to seek revenge which ended for her by beowulf finding a sword giants once used and slays her. He stabs her in the neck. After beowulfs victory he returns home to Geats, 50 years pass. Beowulf finds himself in one last battle.There is an evil dragon that threatens to destroy the people Beowulf was sworn to protect. Beowulf fails at first.. He finds a lone servant , Wiglaf to help him battle the dragon. Wiglaf gets the dragon into the cave and kills it. Beowulf gets...
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...of monsters. The hero, Beowulf, came from a distant land where he was very famous for slaying sea monsters. He had heard of a beast that was troubling a town far away. This beast was called Grendel. Grendel was a terrible monster who loved to terrorize the town and had a thirst for blood. Beowulf is then able to slay him along with his mother and a dragon. The first main problem that occurs in the poem is the fight with Grendel. In the poem, Grendel had terrorized the town and killed many people in the mead hall. Grendel returned to the mead hall to kill many times. He also had a weakness toward loud noises. When Beowulf finally fought him , he was able to kill Grendel by breaking his arm which caused him to bleed to death. In the movie, Grendel came to the mead hall only two total times. He also had an over exaggerated sensitivity to loud noises. His main weakness in the movie was his ears, and that is how Beowulf killed him. Beowulf made loud noises to distract Grendel. He then stabbed and punched Grendel’s ears until they popped. In the movie, Grendel’s mom was a beautiful girl made of gold. She had past relations with the town’s king . The gold horn that was the symbol of the king’s monarchy was actually given to him by Grendel’s mother. She then stole the horn and Beowulf went to retrieve it and attempted to kill Grendel’s mother. This is where the movie really takes a twist and makes it even more different from the poem. Beowulf finds Grendel’s mother very...
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...Wisdom as a Warrior Beowulf, an epic tale from the Anglo-Saxon era, depicts a hero that goes by the name Beowulf. Beowulf is a Geatish warrior who lives to later on becomes a king. On this journey from a young warrior of the Geatish nation, to a king amongst the people, Beowulf experienced many battles and ended up victorious to his last breath. Out of the many battles Beowulf had, three specific battles stand out to show how Beowulf evolved as a warrior. These battles are; the battle with Grendel, the battle with Grendel’s mother, and the battle with a dragon. The progress achieved in each battle proved to be constructive to his wisdom as a warrior. The first battle took place in the land of the Danes with, “This grim spirit called Grendel, / mighty stalker of the marches,” (Beowulf 103-104). Grendel terrorized the mead hall named “Heorot.” This terrorizing of the mead hall, by Grendel, took place for twelve long winters in the Danish land. Word of this terrorizing reached the ears of Beowulf which caused him and his army to travel to land of the Danes. Grendel’s terror consisted of sneaking upon sleeping soldiers in the mead hall and fulfilling his bloodlust and hatred by slaying the Danish soldiers. As said before this slaying took place for twelve winters. At this point, Beowulf is a young and naïve soldier. This is shown by his battle with the monster Grendel. Instead of going into battle with armor, weapons, and anything else that would give Beowulf the upper hand on Grendel...
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...Tom Loughman and John Finley investigate how is Beowulf as a leader of his people, specify the ways why Beowulf is an exemplary of charismatic leadership, and analyze how the poem displays the overreliance upon a ring-giver is a risk. The authors, Loughman and Finley caption this “Beowulf and the Teaching of Leadership” and argues that Beowulf is an exemplification of an appealing leader. In the Old English poem Beowulf, the warrior battles with three monsters: Grendel, Grendel’s mother and an infuriated dragon. In the first battle, Grendel attacks the mead hall and attempts to grasp Beowulf’s arm, but then Grendel exits with his arm cut off. Grendel’s mother seeks vengeance and fights Beowulf, but Beowulf found a sword and slaughters Grendel’s mother. After 50 years, the King of Geats encounters a dragon and vows to slay it but due to his age, he became feeble and the dragon executed him. Only Wiglaf, Beowulf’s nephew remains by his side. Finley and Loughman’s topic is legitimate. Beowulf is an exceptional ruler. The ruler of the Geats embodies the characteristics of a Conger and Kanungo’s charismatic...
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...Beowulf Values The story of Beowulf holds many interesting values about each character. The characters value their fathers names, their armor and treasures. These values are clearly shown throughout the story and affect the plot dramatically . Beowulf truly cares about his father Edgetho and his appearance in his armor because of how he presents himself when meeting new people stating his father's name right away, and treasures because he lost his life for a treasure. The value of a man's fathers name is very important to the men in this time period. In my perspective if a person had a well respected father and was well known and he stated his name, people would like you better. ''So the living sorrow of Healfdanes's son/Simmered, bitter and fresh, no wisdom(104-105)''. This quote is talking about Hrothgar. Instead of just saying Hrothgar they state his father's name and add son to the end to represent Hrothgar. Another example is ''We are Geats/ Men who follow Higlac. My father/ was a famous soldier, known far and wide/ His name was Edgetho (173-176) ''. This example is when Beowulf arrives to Herot and is introducing himself to the sentinel. Characters in Beowulf value armor a lot. The guard of Herot see's Beowulf and his men arrive on the shore and almost automatically welcomes and respects due to their flawless armor. I think the characters take value in their armor because of how much pride they have fighting and how brave they are. ''With gleaming armor/Going...
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...Beowulf Beowulf | first page of Beowulf in Cotton Vitellius A. xv. | Author(s) | unknown | Language | Old English (West Saxon and some Anglian) | Date | unknown, sometime between the 8th and 11th century | State of existence | manuscript suffered damage from fire in 1731 | Manuscript(s) | Cotton Vitellius A. xv | First printed edition | by Thorkelin (1815) | Genre | narrative heroic poetry | Verse form | alliterative verse | Length | c. 3182 lines | Subject | the battles of Beowulf, the Geatish hero, in youth and old age | Setting | Denmark and Sweden | Personages | include Beowulf, Hygelac, Hrothgar, Wealhtheow, Hrothulf, Æschere, Unferth, Grendel, Grendel's mother, Wiglaf, Hildeburh. | Beowulf (/ˈbeɪ.ɵwʊlf/; in Old English [ˈbeːo̯wʊlf] or [ˈbeːəwʊlf], literally "bee wolf" i.e. "bee hunter", a kenning for "bear") is the conventional title of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature. It survives in a single manuscript known as the Nowell Codex. Its composition by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet is dated between the 8th and the early 11th century. In 1731, the manuscript was badly damaged by a fire that swept through a building housing a collection of Medieval manuscripts assembled by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton. The poem fell into obscurity for decades, and its existence did not become widely known again until it was printed...
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...Beowulf in Old English [ˈbeːo̯wʊlf] or [ˈbeːəwʊlf]) is the conventional title[note 1] of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature. It survives in a single manuscript known as the Nowell Codex. Its composition by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet[note 2] is dated between the 8th[1][2] and the early 11th century.[3] In 1731, the manuscript was badly damaged by a fire that swept through a building housing a collection of Medieval manuscripts assembled by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton. The poem fell into obscurity for decades, and its existence did not become widely known again until it was printed in 1815 in an edition prepared by the Icelandic-Danish scholar Grímur Jónsson Thorkelin.[4] In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats in Scandinavia, comes to the help of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall (in Heorot) has been under attack by a monster known as Grendel. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is then also defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland in Sweden and later becomes king of the Geats. After a period of fifty years has passed, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is fatally wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants bury him in a tumulus, a burial mound, in Geatland. Story The main protagonist, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, whose great...
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...Beowulf A good hero is a person who has a great talent and uses that talent at the right time, making them a hero. Both the heroes in Beowulf and in 13th Warrior have a skill that they use at the right moment, which separates them from other individuals, making them a hero. Beowulf himself is a man full as brute strength and pure power in order to defeat his foes. Ahmed Ibn Fadlan lacks the strength aspect, unlike Beowulf but has great intellect, which helps him to succeed and become a hero. Beowulf does not think of any enemy as threatening and believe that his strength will not be matched. Ahmed is not strong and has no strength to rely on like Beowulf. What Ahmed does have is intellect, which he uses to replace his absence of strength. The better hero is Beowulf out of the two. It seems that Ahmed would be a better sidekick to Beowulf in he cannot physically do a lot. Ahmed would be able to think of plans and strategies and Beowulf would be able to implement them and make them work. Just as Wiglaf helped Beowulf neither one could defeat the dragon without the other. This would be the case if Ahmed and Beowulf were with each other; they would both be needed in order to accomplish something. Beowulf has strength and knows of it, which is a great benefit to him. He gets confidence knowing that he is extremely strong and gains courage from this. He is not afraid of anything including Grendel who everyone in the story fears. Grendel comes to the land of the Spear-Danes and...
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...EN 231 July 27, 2016 Beowulf the Legend The action packed, fantasy film Beowulf, released in 2007 is an animated 3D film inspired by the fictional old English epic poem Beowulf. The film was directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis, and contains an all-star cast including, Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie, Ray Winstone, Jon Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn, Brenden Gleeson, Crispin Glover and Alison Lohman. The film is a loose adaption of the epic poem Beowulf, and the screenwriters, Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary have weaved various tidbits of differences throughout the film, adding a touch of “Hollywood” to the story. Avary is a Hollywood screenwriter, and Gaiman is a well-accomplished author across a huge number of...
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...For centuries mankind has regarded self-sacrifice as an act of heroism. To risk pain, loss, and even death for another person demonstrates an excellence of character that few possess. But how does sacrifice occur in today’s culture? Does it resemble the acts of valor shown in the great epic, Beowulf? In this thrilling tale, Beowulf, a mighty warrior, defeats both a demon and a dragon in the service of others. While many today display reserve in their abnegation towards others, sacrifice hold just as much honor today as it did in Beowulf’s time. Modern opinions of who one should die for differ significantly from Beowulf’s. First, he saved a kingdom of complete stranger, risking death in the process. Additionally, as his final act, Beowulf slayed a dragon, giving it’s gold to his subjects to help them prosper. In stark contrast, most people today have only a few close friends and relatives who they would suffer for. Most deem sacrifice for a stranger abnormal, meant only for the most saint-like among us. Why do so many of us withhold our selflessness when Beowulf...
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...In Beowulf Christianity make known about itself, in which the reader feelings may feel kindness from the ideas that relates to the bible. The characters in Beowulf take on different characters that are related to the characters in the bible. The scenery also contains Christian components for example, Herot Hall that Hrothgar constructed in righteousness of his fame, were parties were held with his men. In Beowulf describes festivity and peace in Herot Hall: “As now warriors sang of their pleasure: So Hrothgar’s men lived happy in his hall.” Even though Herot hall is the residence where the festivity happens however, Grendel’s hate towards Herot’s party causes him to jump in while Hrothgar’s men were intoxicated and slay them all. Another Christianity...
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...someone to look up to. Or why is a hero a hero? The characters in the books Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and The Knight's Tale all show the attributes of a hero. Beowulf takes place in what would now be modern day Denmark and Sweden while Sir Gawain and the Green Knight takes place in what is now Great Britain. Finally, The Knight's Tale is an ancient legend that comes from Greece. In one story Beowulf slays the dragon Grendel. Then the young Prince Beowulf slays Grendel's mother. Similarly, Gawain goes on a dangerous adventure to keep his word, while two noble knights fight over a beautiful lady in the third story. Since all can agree that heroes must be brave and willing to risk their lives for the good of others, these protagonists exemplify a hero....
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