How Does Beowulf Show Honor

The epic Beowulf by Seamus Heaney took place during the Anglo-Saxon time period where men were meant to be hardy and brave. This time period was between 449 and 1066. From the shore of the Geats to the kingdom of Hrothgar, Heaney’s tale follows the morality and honor of his main character known to the Geats and the Danes as Beowulf. Beowulf sowed his honor as he voluntarily traveled from his homeland to battle and defeated the vicious monster, Grendel., who was killing inebriated Danes in their sleep. When Beowulf arrived at Hrothgar's castle he declared, “I hereby renounce sword and the shelter of the broad shield” (336). He is a fair warrior and knows that Grendel has “no idea of the arts of war” (681), so beowulf decides to have an even match without his upper hand in swordsmanship. Beowulf’s honor is apparent in his willingness to lose the advantage and become even with his opponent. Beowulf’s honor is apparent once again as he describes and recounts to Unferth his daring swimming contest between him and his boyhood friend, Breca. Although Beowulf technically lost the race, he still won in the face of honor. Beowulf explains to Unferth that neither him nor Breca were stronger than the other (51). …show more content…
In Beowulf’s ceremonious war declarations against Grendel, he tells his people that in the case of his death over Grendel’s, there is “no need then to lament for long or layout [his] body” (450. Beowulf does not seem to care about his own mortality and focuses on elongating the mortality of the Geats and the Danes. In a speech at the mead hall, addressing Wealtheow, Beowulf proclaims that he “meant to perform to the uttermost what your people wanted or perish in the attempt [...] or meet my death here in the mead-hall” (634). In preparation of battle, Beowulf fearlessly looks ahead to all the possible outcomes of the upcoming battle and graciously accepts his