...The Reluctant Dragon and the dragon from Beowulf are two very different stories. The Reluctant Dragon is about a very well-mannered dragon who doesn’t want to fight a knight, while Beowulf tells a story of a cruel, malicious dragon. The time period when these two stories were written are profoundly different; even though, their settings are in the same time period. By contrasting these two stories, one can tell a lot about the people, the entertainment, and the time period. The dragon story in Beowulf is about a man who steals a goblet or cup from the dragon’s lair. This crime causes the dragon to become furious with the man, as a consequence, King Hrothgar commands for Beowulf to come and fight this dragon. Beowulf arranges an army of men...
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...Beowulf and “Personal Dragons” Paper In this world we have dragons to face against to solve and defeat. Everybody has at least one problem in this world, even Beowulf has one. The problem we have today is money and we can’t get what we want. Money can’t buy happiness, which is what they all say. In Beowulf there were two dragons in the story one is swimming since I don’t know how to swim. I am also not a morning person when I get up and try to take a walk and play a game. My dragons would get up to play a game to walk and exercise since it would be a good fit. The story that Beowulf would take a risk for swimming in the ocean. I say not everyone gets everything what they want in life. In the story Beowulf wanted to defeat the dragon and end...
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...According to the movie Beowulf, he’s on a quest by himself for glory and also to slay the dragon. In almost the first scene, Grendel slays the Danes in the night while they are sleeping. He attacks the men so they don’t have a chance to fight back. During the next scene in the movie towards the middle, Beowulf kills the dragon by ripping its heart out with his hand. While in an attempt to grab the dragon’s heart, Beowulf dislocates his own arm for a better reach. Lastly, Beowulf dies from his fight with the dragon and Wiglaf sends him on a flaming boat of fire away into the sea. In the movie, Beowulf fights three important battles. The first encounter was with Grendel when he creeps into the hall and kills about 30 men. Secondly, he goes head...
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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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...King Hrothgar was devastated when Beowulf left. So King Hrothgar went to Geats to visit Beowulf. He commanded his warriors to go get a ship ready for his journey to Geats. His ship was filled with bunch of food and water for his journey. After two days, King Hrothgar had finally reached Geats. He had heard that Beowulf was king now. Hrothgar was so proud of Beowulf. Hrothgar was so happy to see Beowulf after fifty years, but Beowulf was about to do something extremely dangerous. Hrothgar was worried, he had drops of tears trickling down his face, because Beowulf was about to go fight the Dragon in Geats. As a payment to the kings of Danes. Hrothgar said “Beowulf I am going with you to fight the dragon. Beowulf said “No it’s too dangerous,...
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...Beowulf - His Last Words In the society in which the poem Beowulf takes place, war and kingship are normal factors in daily life. Beowulf's world is a very violent society with wars as a dominant part of daily life. Dragons and monsters are a constant threat to the Danes and the Geats. Warriors are a necessity to this war-like society. Beowulf is a hero and an example of a great warrior. He fights against monsters. In the section of the poem we are about to discuss, Beowulf is ready to fight a dragon with his thane Wiglaf. He is going to fight a dragon . Beowulf has no fear of the dragon, because he has fought many enemies that were much more ferocious. For example one of Beowulf's great battles is the fight with Grendel. No one other than Beowulf is brave enough or strong enough volunteer to fight Grendel. We are now about to enter a new age of Beowulf's life. With all his great achievements, he finally becomes king of his homeland: Geatland. Even in his old age, his code of honor still obligates him to fight against an evil, fiery dragon. For fifty years he has governed his kingdom well. While Beowulf is governing, the dragon "...kept watch over a hoard, a steep stone-barrow" (Norton 55). Under it lays a path concealed from the sight of men. Over centuries no one had disturbed the dragons kingdom until one day when a thief broke into the treasure, laid hand on a cup fretted with gold This infuriated the dragon. "The fiery dragon had destroyed the people's stronghold...
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...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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...he faces the dragon that wages war on the Geat nation he rules. After fifty years into Beowulf’s reign a dragon is awoken by an intruder who steals a gem goblet while the dragon was asleep in his cave. The furious dragon “sourch[es] the ground…hunt[ing] for the trespasser” (2295-2296) creating a path of destruction burning the Geat nation and delivering “brutal assaults” (2318) from “virulent hate”(2319). Beowulf learns of this dangerous threat that has took monstrous amounts of innocent fatalities. Beowulf bravely admits “he was destined to face the end of his days in this mortal world; as was the dragon” (2342-2343). Beowulf wishes to fight the dragon as he did in his younger years against Grendel hand-to-hand....
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...his brave deeds and noble qualities. Beowulf is an example of a great Anglo-Saxon hero. He has the courage to face the monsters without fear of death. He did what others cannot do. Beowulf willingly sacrificed himself for his people. Beowulf was a hero because he saved people by killing monsters. Beowulf was not only brave but was physically stronger than normal. He heard that there was a monster that killed people in Heorot. He vowed to kill the monster for King Hrothgar. Beowulf was the strongest, mighty warrior of Geatland. He fought to bring glory to him and his people. Beowulf showed great courage when Grendel could not. Grendel attacked Heorot at night because he was too much of a coward to fight Beowulf in the light. When Grendel charged in to kill Beowulf, Beowulf’s counterattack by grabbing Grendel’s hands by his bare hands and took Grendel by surprise. Grendel bled out and died (page 47) and Beowulf kept Grendel’s hand as a trophy. King Hrothgar threw a feast for Beowulf’s victory over killing the demon that haunted Heorot....
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...The story of Beowulf is the story of a seemingly invincible hero written by an unknown monk sometime in the 11th century. In the story, Beowulf completes multiple quests; however, despite there being multiple quests, all of them follow multiple archetypes commonly seen in epic poetry. The first quest that Beowulf must complete is slaying Grendel, a hostile monster that is terrorising the Danes. Second, he must kill Grendel’s mother who took the head of one of Hrothgar’s closest friends. Finally, Beowulf is tasked with slaying a dragon that is aggravated that someone stole his treasure. In Beowulf’s first quest, he is tasked with killing Grendel, a monster said to have the strength of thirty men. Beowulf takes the quest to show that he is one of the...
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...Good Vs. Evil In Beowulf, the conflict between good and evil is the poem's main and most important aspect. The poet makes it clear that good and evil doesn’t exist as only opposites, but that both qualities are present in everyone. Beowulf represents the ability to do good or to perform acts selflessly and in help of others. Goodness is also showed throughout this epic as having the ability to cleanse evil. Even though evil is presented by Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon, who are filled with a desire to act against people and ultimately destroy them, even pride, a human quality, is presented in Beowulf as a sign that evil exists. This story might even be considered a classic because it mainly talks about the old fashion good vs. evil, hero vs. villain. Beowulf and the three monsters show the significant difference between good and evil, and why god will always prevail. At the beginning of the play, one reads about Grendel, who is a man eating monster who is feared by everyone. Grendel represents sin and evil throughout the story in various ways. Evil is first shown by the monster Grendel when, “Suddenly then the God-cursed brute was creating havoc: greedy and grim, he grabbed thirty men from their resting places and rushed to his lair”. (Beowulf 120-124). Grendel lives in the darkness and has absolutely no remorse on human life. This shows a very big quality of an evil being and how the Anglo-Saxons viewed evil in forms of monsters. Evil is also thought to be greedy...
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...Trails of heroic fate of Beowulf Introduction The 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...
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...between a poem and a movie based on the same story?’ The poem and the 2007 movie of Beowulf are both unique in their own way. The movie of Beowulf doses a good job of retelling the poem in a Hollywood fashion. But, there are some major differences between the poem and movie, such as Grendal’s Mother, Beowulf kingdom, and of course the Dragon. Let get started on comparing and contrasting shall we. Grendal’s Mother in the poem. Beowulf tracks Grendel’s Mother down in a lake and commences fighting her with armor and sword that he received from Unferth. During the fight, it said in poem that “ Grendal’s Mother whips out a huge knife and stabs at Beowulf’s shoulder but, the chain- mail turns the blade and saves Beowulf life”.(Page 70 Lines 1497-1812). Beowulf’s sword breaks, then Gendal’s Mother tries to stab Beowulf but, can’t because Beowulf had armor on and protected him from getting stab to death. He then finds a giant sword and uses it to stab Grendal’s Mother with it in the neck and kills her. Now, in the movie, Beowulf gose and tracks Grendal’s Mother without any armor. When he finds her she isn’t as hideous as she is the poem. She ends up being a beautiful woman that instead of killing her, he has sex with her. Beowulf’s kingdom in the poem. It’s said the poem that “Hygelac is killed in battle his son inherits the throne with Beowulf‘s support but, is also slain.”(Page 91 Lines 2200-2400). Beowulf returns to his homeland after slaying Grendal and his Mother. He ascends to the...
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...Hero A hero is one who places himself or herself at great risk while performing acts of courage. Not only is Beowulf a hero because of his physical strength, but rather than basking in the resulting glory, he gives the glory to God. Beowulf is the ultimate hero who put his life on the line for an entire kingdom. Beowulf's heroism can be seen when he takes 14 of the bravest in his land to go help Hrothgar. Hrothgar was Beowulf's father's close friend who had been plagued by attacks for twelve years that threatened an entire kingdom. Beowulf did not have to offer Hrothgar's kingdom help, but does so because he wants to uses his God given strength to the best of his ability. As soon as Beowulf heard of the troubles in this land he set sail immediately. Beowulf continues to show his thankfulness by thanking God for giving them safe travel across the sea. Beowulf is lead to Hrothgar and offers him is services. Beowulf is asked by the warriors to tell of his past defeats while eating in Hrothgar's palace. Beowulf is already a hero to the people of this land for he is about to rid them of their enemy. As an ultimate hero, Beowulf decides, to be far, he will not use weapons in his battle against Grendel since Grendel reputedly does not use them. "I do not consider myself a lesser fighter than Grendel does himself; therefore I will not kill him with a sword, and deprive him of life in that way.... No, this night we two will abstain from swords..." That night...
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...Beowulf Beowulf is an epic poem from the Anglo-Saxon time period and is roughly 4,000 lines long (The History Behind Beowulf). An epic poem is defined by Oxford Dictionaries as “a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of a nation” (Definition of Epic in English). Many television shows and movies have been made based on the poem but one of the most recent is a movie from 2007 that shares the same name. Even though this movie version follows the majority of the original plot line of the poem, it does deviate on a couple key points which change the scope of the movie and make the journey of Beowulf markedly different from the poem. In both the poem and the movie Beowulf assumes kingship after the passing of King Hrothgar, kills Grendel and the dragon, and dies from wounds sustained from the battle with the dragon. However there are clear artistic liberties that were taken when making the film to make it more marketable as a film. For instance in the movie Beowulf sires the dragon with Grendel’s mother instead of killing her which leads to the dragon seeking out Beowulf for retribution. One of the greatest changes from the poem to the story is the slaying of Grendel’s mother. In the poem Beowulf engages in a heroic fight against Grendel’s mother ending with her death: He grasped then the sword-hilt, knight of the Scyldings, Bold and battle-grim, brandished his ring-sword...
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