The Incapable King
Hrothgar has to be one of the greatest, weakest kings described in English Literature. Many of the descriptions given of him can be contradicting. He is understood to be a leader and king through the use of many epithets. One epithet describes Hrothgar as “the Shieldings’ helmet” (line 1321), this line details that he is the king of the Shielding people and the helmet is equal to the status of a kings crown. Besides being a king of the Shielding people, he can also be seen as a warrior because the helmet also represents head armor for battle. There are some epithets, unlike the previous one, that do not coordinate with Hrothgar’s character features. Misleading epithets used to detail Hrothgar do not comply with many of his …show more content…
Unfortunately, that was not the case. Hrothgar was anything but mighty when the monster Grendel began to slaughter the people of his kingdom. “Their mighty prince, the storied leader, sat stricken and helpless, humiliated by the loss of his guard, bewildered and stunned, staring aghast at the demon’s trail, in deep distress.” (lines 129-133) These lines tell of how helpless Hrothgar was with being able to defined and protect his people. Still epithets like “the far-famed in battle” (line 608), detailing someone who is so great in battle that is known from all around, was used to describe Hrothgar. The following lines, “far-famed in battle, the prince of Bright-Danes and keeper of his people counted on Beowulf,” (lines 607-609) tell of how Hrothgar is stated as being the protector/keeper of his people, but was counting on someone else to protect them from Grendel. Even with these epithets telling of how great Hrothgar was, it cannot be over looked that he was unable to protect his people from Grendel. The mischaracterization of Hrothgar causes him to be viewed as just a king, not a might king or a powerful protector. He was constantly being described by epithets that portrayed him before becoming “an old man” (line 357), no longer capable of being the great protector his
Hrothgar has to be one of the greatest, weakest kings described in English Literature. Many of the descriptions given of him can be contradicting. He is understood to be a leader and king through the use of many epithets. One epithet describes Hrothgar as “the Shieldings’ helmet” (line 1321), this line details that he is the king of the Shielding people and the helmet is equal to the status of a kings crown. Besides being a king of the Shielding people, he can also be seen as a warrior because the helmet also represents head armor for battle. There are some epithets, unlike the previous one, that do not coordinate with Hrothgar’s character features. Misleading epithets used to detail Hrothgar do not comply with many of his …show more content…
Unfortunately, that was not the case. Hrothgar was anything but mighty when the monster Grendel began to slaughter the people of his kingdom. “Their mighty prince, the storied leader, sat stricken and helpless, humiliated by the loss of his guard, bewildered and stunned, staring aghast at the demon’s trail, in deep distress.” (lines 129-133) These lines tell of how helpless Hrothgar was with being able to defined and protect his people. Still epithets like “the far-famed in battle” (line 608), detailing someone who is so great in battle that is known from all around, was used to describe Hrothgar. The following lines, “far-famed in battle, the prince of Bright-Danes and keeper of his people counted on Beowulf,” (lines 607-609) tell of how Hrothgar is stated as being the protector/keeper of his people, but was counting on someone else to protect them from Grendel. Even with these epithets telling of how great Hrothgar was, it cannot be over looked that he was unable to protect his people from Grendel. The mischaracterization of Hrothgar causes him to be viewed as just a king, not a might king or a powerful protector. He was constantly being described by epithets that portrayed him before becoming “an old man” (line 357), no longer capable of being the great protector his