...The Reasoning for Beowulf’s Killing (An Analysis of why Beowulf Killed The Three Monsters in The Story Beowulf) Beowulf is an epic poem of a man, who had the strength of 40 men, called Beowulf. He is a Norsemen which were scary, brutal killing men. The tale begins as an oral story, told around campfires and not being written down until several years later. These men live by a code called the Anglo-Saxon code. The code set guidelines on how the Norsemen are supposed to act and behave. This code gave an understanding of the power of a role model, which the men would look to, or in other words, the leader. Beowulf faces three monsters in the poem, and tries to defeat them all. In the epic poem, Beowulf, Beowulf has three motivations for killing the three monsters. In the story, Beowulf, Beowulf’s motivation to kill the first monster, Grendel, was because of duty. Beowulf travels from his country to Harot in order to fight Grendel because his people knew of his ability to fight, therefore, making it his duty to kill the monster. When Beowulf meets Hrothgar, the aging lord of the Dunes, and gives him information about where he comes from and his background. Obligation is another word associated with duty, which made Beowulf...
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...The passage I chose was Beowulf's fight with Grendal's mother, which to me was the most exciting. During this underwater fight, the second of his three fights, Beowulf and his adversary continually battle throughout her home. Although the conflict seems unrealistic because of the location, it makes the battle even more thrilling and suspenseful. For this and several more reasons, the battle between Beowulf and Grendal's mother is the most exciting episode in this brilliant epic. The battle begins when Beowulf travels for many hours underwater to take revenge against Grendal's mother the day after she carried of one of Hrothgar's men. Beowulf and she proceed to fight until her miserable death in her own home. When Beowulf was almost to the point of death, he grabbed a giant sword of the wall and slew Grendal's mother. To me, this entire fight is very unrealistic. The sword, supposedly a massive sword created by giants, could never have been lifted by a normal person. The fact that he took several hours to get to the bottom of the lake makes the episode seem very unlikely, but it is also very useful in creating suspense in this poem. This entire episode is filled with excitement, suspense, and imagery. Suspense and imagery were hand-in-hand during this fight. Not only did suspense keep the reader's attention; it also created the mood of this episode. The most exciting point was when Beowulf took the giants' sword off the wall and killed Grendal's mother. When Beowulf took...
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...narrative of epic poem Beowulf consists of three episodes in which the hero is engaged in the peculiar mission of fighting with three fabulous monsters (Fisher 1958, p.173). The first monster Grendel is quickly defeated; the second, Grendel’s dam is depicted with greater elaboration but also ends in demise at the hands of Beowulf; and the eventual dragon, distanced from the previous two in a span of fifty years, brings the heroic career of aging Beowulf to an end. The unity of Beowulf’s three fights from ease to death, perceived by some researchers like Klaeber (1950), holds the epic together. Others see the epic poem more than a collection of three different fights in a hero’s life, but it is united and intertwined by two parts—the fights with Grendel and his dam and the final dragon fight—signaling “the opposition of hero and king, youth and age, the beginning and ending of a life achievement” (Tolkien 1936). On the basis of this premise, Fisher (1958) conceives the theme of the epic as the “doom of Beowulf”, the integration of “redemption and judgment treated in a way which skillfully blends the Germanic hero with the Christian saint” (p.171). Wrenn (1958) states the similar notion, arguing Beowulf, a Germanic hero, shows his greatest splendor “ not alone in winning glory by victory, but rather by finding his supremely noble qualities especially in the moment of death in battle”. The essay aims to analyze the three fights in detail in Beowulf’s lifetime and, shed light on the heroic...
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...faith (“Beowulf” 30-31). Beowulf is an epic poem that describes various characters and events from the sixth century, in particular the story of a brave warrior named Beowulf, his many heroic adventures, and his ultimate death. This poem originated from both legends and myths from other cultures that originally were passed down orally from generation to generation and then eventually recorded. By definition, an epic poem is a “long narrative poem in an elevated style that celebrates heroic achievement and treats themes of historical, national, religious, or legendary significance.” Some common characteristics of an epic that are obviously evident in Beowulf are the use of specific types of figurative language, the fighting of heroic battles against supernatural creatures, the unusual behavior of god-like heroes, and the array of geographical settings which are often included in a long journey (“Epic”). One characteristic of epic poems is the use of certain types of figurative language. One type of this elevated language is an epic simile, “an extended simile often running to several lines used typically in epic poetry to intensify the heroic stature of the subject and to serve as decoration” (“Epic simile”). One example of an extended simile in Beowulf is Hodges 2 the comparison of the Geats’ boat to a bird, which begins in lines 217-219 (“Beowulf”). A similar type of description, which is common to Old English poetry, is the kenning. This is another example of figurative...
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...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 in 1815 in an edition prepared by the Icelandic scholar Grímur Jónsson Thorkelin. In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, battles three antagonists: Grendel, who has been attacking the resident warriors of the mead hall of Hroðgar (the king of the Danes), Grendel's mother, and an unnamed dragon. After the first...
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...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 hall, Heorot, is plagued by the monster Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel with his bare hands and Grendel's mother with a sword of a giant that he found in her lair. Later in his life, Beowulf is himself king of the Geats, and finds his realm terrorised by a dragon whose treasure had been stolen from his hoard in a burial mound. He attacks the dragon with the help of his thegns or servants, but...
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...story. His strength is not compared with any man, but only with the monsters he faces in battle. Although he possesses a seemingly un-human-like strength, Beowulf is separated from the monstrous by his caring, honorable nature, his ability to think rationally in every battle he enters, and the fact that God is on his side. Beowulf’s caring nature for his people and everyone around him are crucial aspects of his personality when it comes down to whether he is a monster or not. Although Beowulf can be looked at as arrogant and boastful, his honor and love for his people is undeniable. In passage 1 included in this essay (2177-83), Beowulf is described as a man who acts with valor: “Thus Beowulf bore himself with valour; / he was formidable in battle yet behaved with honour.” (2177-78). These lines show that Beowulf is an honorable man in the eyes of many, and that he is highly respected especially in terms of battle etiquette. He never takes advantage of the power he possesses, and he will never enter battle with a man who is drunk because it would be an unfair battle: “and took no advantage; never cut down / a comrade who was drunk, kept his temper…” (2179-80) This shows the aspects of Beowulf’s character that men highly respect because he would rather fight a man who is fully capable of fighting, not one who is at a physical disadvantage. Not only is he considerably honorable in battle, but he also is fully aware of his magnificent strength. Because he is aware, he controls...
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...In retaliation for the maiming of her son, Grendel’s dam comes and kills Hrothgar’s favorite warrior. Hrothgar summons Beowulf and proceeds to whine to him excessively about what a rough time he’s having now that his favorite warrior is dead. Beowulf responds, telling him to “sorrow not” and that is is better to avenge his friend than mourn him. This reveals the motive of Beowulf’s next battle: revenge. Now, at a glance, you might think that Hrothgar is the only one who needs revenge; after all, it’s his warrior who got jacked. What a superficial examination of the situation will not reveal, however, is that Beowulf has some skin in the game at this point. He has just vanquished the monster, and he’s supposed to ride off into the sunset, or at least to another adventure. Grendel’s dam comes in and wrecks all of that. Now, in addition to revenge, he approaches a sense of duty or responsibility in this second fight. After all, if he wouldn’t have ripped her son’s arm off, Grendel’s mom wouldn’t be killing favorite warriors. The sense of responsibility coupled with the desire to avenge her wrecking of a job well done is enough...
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...Importance of Grendel’s Mother “In revenge and in love, woman is more barbarous than man” --Friedrich Nietzsche Among the phratry of characters descended from the lines of the epic poem Beowulf, none capture the reader’s attention as “the son of Ecgtheow,” Beowulf himself, and perhaps few others as the three prominent monsters he finds himself grappling with. In the Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume A, the editor’s introduction to Beowulf notes the inclination towards the three monsters in the poem center[ing] around Beowulf’s three great fights against preternatural evil, which inhabit the dangerous and demonic space surrounding human society” (31). However, despite the critical importance of Grendel’s mother, both as an overwhelming presence in the fight with Beowulf and as a symbol of reflection, the climax and resolution in the first half of the poem, it is easy to miss her prominence due to the limited number of poetic lines she’s given. Thus, the essay attempts to provide credit where credit is due in analyzing how the physical description and Grendel’s mother’s presence is significant or enhances a reader’s understanding of the poem, in emphasizing Beowulf’s increasing aptitude as hero, as well as to the overall poem. Grendel’s mother, unknown to the reader until well after her son’s detached arm is returned to him, is overshadowed by the poem’s abundant reference to her son, “[the] powerful demon, a prowler through the dark [nursing] a hard grievance...
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...blood). They bear the hero and his booty back to Heorot, where another celebration takes place. Beowulf recounts his battle; Hrothgar praises him and gives him advice on being a king. A grand feast follows, and Beowulf is given more priceless treasures. The next morning, the Geats look forward to leaving Denmark. Before they leave, Beowulf promises aid for Hrothgar from the Danes. Hrothgar praises Beowulf and promises that their lands will have an alliance forever. As the Geats leave, Hrothgar finds himself wishing Beowulf would never leave. In the fiftieth year of Beowulf's reign, a monster arises to terrorize the Geats. A treasure trove was left by an ancient civilization, which guarded it jealously until only one member of the race was left. After the last person's death, a fire-breathing dragon found the treasure and guarded it for three hundred years. One day, a slave stumbled upon the treasure and stole a cup as an offering to his lord. The dragon awakened to find something missing from his treasure, and began his rampage upon the Geats. One day, Beowulf learns that this dragon has destroyed his own great hall. This attack sends him into deep thought. Soon he orders a shield to use for battle, but not without a heavy heart at what may happen to him. He recalls Hygelac's death in battle and his own narrow escape from this battle. He recalls a number of battles he has seen as he travels to the dragon's lair with eleven of his thanes. The servant who stole the cup leads them...
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...before, the protector of warriors – after the war-making of Heremod had come to an end, his strength and his courage” (38). The final piece which comprises the Anglo-Saxon hero is the notion of fame. The only after life a warrior could ever aspire to have was immortality through fame. One again this is explained by the introduction to the story, “Beowulf’s chief reward is pagan immortality the memory in the minds of later generations of a hero’s heroic actions” (24-25). By understanding what defines a hero it is a simple matter to comprehend why Beowulf is considered by some to be the greatest of all. He posses unfaltering loyalty to his king and allies, and save for his final battle his thanes show the same devotion to him. His strength is unparalleled, as he is able to defeat each of his opponents and perform feats of unmatched endurance. Beowulf’s courage, though motivated primarily by his own notion of fate, is, none the less, unwavering. And as a hero he achieved his desire for immortality through the poem itself. Each of the four heroic traits can be identified within the three battles in which Beowulf participates: His battle with Grendel, his undersea struggle with the Grendel’s Mother, and...
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...before, the protector of warriors – after the war-making of Heremod had come to an end, his strength and his courage” (38). The final piece which comprises the Anglo-Saxon hero is the notion of fame. The only afterlife a warrior could ever aspire to have was immortality through fame. One again this is explained by the introduction to the story, “Beowulf’s chief reward is pagan immortality the memory in the minds of later generations of a hero’s heroic actions” (24-25). By understanding what defines a hero it is a simple matter to comprehend why Beowulf is considered by some to be the greatest of all. He posses unfaltering loyalty to his king and allies, and save for his final battle his thanes show the same devotion to him. His strength is unparalleled, as he is able to defeat each of his opponents and perform feats of unmatched endurance. Beowulf’s courage, though motivated primarily by his own notion of fate, is, none the less, unwavering. And as a hero he achieved his desire for immortality through the poem itself. Each of the four heroic traits can be identified within the three battles in which Beowulf participates: His battle with Grendel, his...
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...The epic story of “Beowulf” is a story about Beowulf, the man who is the true definition of bravery and heroism. This story recaptures Beowulf's quest as he destroys monsters that terrorize the kingdom of Herot and the people who subside within it. Throughout the story vivid imagery and detailed monologue help upholds the story to an epic quality. But, for for it to truly to be an epic it must have a few needed elements such as references to god and battles between good and evil. A moment in Beowulf that truly captures this epic mentality can be found near the end of the story. Beowulf is out of his youth and is living in his old age as king. He along with some of his geats are set up outside the cave, where a diabolical dragon awaits to destroy anyone in sight. Beowulf stands up and begins his great final speech to his geats, unweary what there future holds.(2510-2510) This moment adds so much momentum to the story and so the way it embodies Beowulf as a story and a character. This moment shines above the rest and fully demonstrates the elements of bravery, self-sacrifice, and overall heroism. Of all the things Beowulf is, Beowulf is the true definition of bravery. He demonstrates this in many different ways through the text but it is the most apparent in his...
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...out both engines about three minutes after departure leaving all 150 passengers and crew with the sole decision of the pilot to safely land the plane. (PAPP) Amazingly, all 150 passengers were rescued from the cold waters of the river. His demonstration of courage displays his wise decision to crash-land the plane in the freezing water rather than attempting a landing at the airport or on land. With only a few seconds to react to the situation, weighing all the possibilities what would be the safest method for all passengers aboard the plane. His ultimate character of courage is portrayed when he wades through the rising water in the plane, risking his life, to double check all passengers have evacuated the plane before he officially leaves the plane to sink below into the river which shows a man of courage and leadership. In Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf, Beowulf embodies the ideal Anglo-Saxon hero. Beowulf displays heroic characteristics of strength and audacity during combat with the vicious monsters. Through actions, Beowulf displays power and boldness during his battles with the vicious monsters. Young and tough, Beowulf hears of an inexorable creature that goes by the name of Grendel. (ABP) Grendel terrorizes the Danes, a small village, by inflicting constant cruelties on the villagers in the night. His desire to help these vulnerable villagers, Beowulf courageously sails to foreign lands to collaborate with the Danes to obliterate Grendel. On Beowulf’s first night staying with...
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...giving him the hero status. Beowulf encountered many battles, where he selflessly put his own life on the line to stop evil from tormenting the Danes. But does Beowulf actually fulfill his role in kingship? Although Beowulf traveled across seas to save the Danes did he actually had what it take to be crowned the honor of the king or was it a curse? Was he deceived into becoming something he wasn’t? The main theme of Beowulf is heroism shown through the transformation of Beowulf from a great warrior to a devout King. This involves far more than physical courage. It also means that Beowulf the warrior must fulfill his obligations to the group of which he is a key member as a thane. Beowulf's transformation is portrayed through three separate and increasingly difficult conflicts - with Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon shows a clear division between Beowulf's youthful heroism as a warrior and his mature heroism as a reliable king. There is also a clear-cut network of social duties depicted in the poem. The king has an obligation to behave with generosity. He must reward his thanes with valuable gifts for their defense of the tribe and their success in battle. This is why King Hrothgar is known as the "ring-giver." He behaves according to expectations of the duties of a lord when he lavishly rewards Beowulf and the other Geat warriors for ridding the Danes of Grendel. King Hrothgar's acts as king forsahdow Beowulf's manner of kingship in the second half of the poem. But...
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