Beowulf: A Believable Story

Improved Essays
To some, the epic poem “Beowulf,” is a believable story; however, there is a lot of evidence that it is not a true story. In the poem, it tells how Beowulf travels and fight monsters. He also looks after a village and has super heroic powers. In the beginning of poem, a village called “Herot” was under attack by a crude monster named “Grendel.” Beowulf hears about how Grendel went into the mead hall and torn apart the sleeping warriors. Beowulf, who thought highly of himself, decided to kill Grendel. In lines 390-393, “and the bleeding sinews deep in his shoulder snapped muscle, and bone spit and broke.” Beowulf “rips” off Grendel’s arm and that is humanly impossible. After the battle of Grendel, Beowulf follows his blood tracks to a lake

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    What are the makings of a hero? Are they the physical qualities or the outstanding achievements? Or is it the mental battles of the hero that count? Three heroes from ancient english literature will be assessed for the noble qualities of a hero. Brave Beowulf was an honorable hero of the Geats.…

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    People throughout life all grow up looking up to a hero. Who was yours? In the Hero’s Journey it explains the life of a hero. It starts with they find their calling then they go through many challenges and in the end meet there match that leaves them remembered as a great hero. In Beowulf the story he hears about a place called Herot which has been under attack for twelve years by a great monster (Grendel) and so he decides that he is going to take on the mighty beast.…

    • 1316 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The epic poem Beowulf tells a story of a hero coming from a different land to lift the shroud of evil off Herot. Hero’s in an epic poem must exemplify traits of bravery, strength, courage, and the want to achieve immortality through heroic actions and deeds. In the poem Beowulf the main character Beowulf exemplifies all of these traits. Bravery, all epic heroes possess this trait especially Beowulf. The beginning of the story, Grendel travels into Herot and kills thirty people.…

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Beowulf: A True Hero

    • 270 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In Beowulf, I found myself idolizing over the strong and fearless hero. He was what I would call “the perfect hero”, because not only did he get the job done, but he did it so with honor and modesty. In some cases it reminded me of the movie Hercules, where Hercules tried to show off as much as possible and show that he was better than everyone else to gain fame. While Beowulf used his famous strength to help those in need not to just gain fame, but because he knew he was undoubtedly the only one who could help.…

    • 270 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    When the fight starts Beowulf’s men draw their swords and try and pierce through Grendel hide but they are unsuccessful. WHen they realize that their weapons will not work they decide to use hand-to-hand combat that turns very bloody. After Beowulf goes…

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Beowulf In the poem, Beowulf, a warrior from Geats comes to help Hrothgar, the king of the Danes whose land is being attacked by a monster, Grendel. Beowulf is successful and kills Grendel. To show his bravery and abilities, he even kills Grendel without using weapons. However,Hrothgar is still in trouble, because Grendel's mother is now trying to get revenge. As the poem continues, Beowulf kills Grendel's mother in her lair with a sword that giants used.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Beowulf A Hero's Journey

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Beowulf is the tale of a man with godlike strength and the will of a mighty dragon, he is a well known warrior that has accomplished an incredible amount of feats. Beowulf is an exact representation of joseph campbell’s call to adventure. Where a hero hears about the danger and then must gather himself to cross the threshold and defeat the guardian of the threshold either by reason or by killing him. The guardian must be killed in order for the hero to make it fully across the threshold and make his way to his final goal.…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Seeing another chance to prove himself Beowulf accepts and soon he and his men travel to Grendel's Mother’s swamp-cave. Only Beowulf can make the trip and he faces her alone, he finds her in the cave with Grendel’s corpse. He first attack her with the sword…

    • 889 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Beowulf Hero Quotes

    • 1276 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Grendel had already been well established as both a hateful and malicious monster and an undefeatable monster. Grendel had not been so much as scratched by any of the Danish soldiers. Despite that Beowulf did not run. Not even when “Grendel snatched at the first Geat/ He came to, ripped him apart, cut/His body to bits with powerful jaws,/Drank the blood from his veins and bolted” did Beowulf even consider to dishonor himself by running away or fleeing(line 262-265).…

    • 1276 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Beowulf is an epic story. It is a complete epic; the oldest surviving Germanic Epic as well as the longest and most important poem in Old English (Anglo). Scholars think the story originated around 500 AD (Notes). An epic story is a poem or story that is about a larger than life hero that goes on a long adventure and does heroic things. Example of an epic story besides Beowulf would be something like Star Wars, The Odyessy, or the movie Three-Hundred.…

    • 1380 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When Beowulf got the news of this monster from across the sea, he set sail along with fourteen Geats, to go see if they could kill the monster that has been terrorizing Herot. When they got to Herot they had a party to try to bring Grendel to them. When Grendel finally shows up, Beowulf fights him with his bare hands, when Grendel try’s to run away Beowulf “that mighty protector of men meant to hold the monster till its life leaped out” smashed Grendel’s arm off with the door. After Grendels arm got torn off, he ran back to his cave where he later bled out. Beowulf hung Grendel’s arm from the ceiling as a…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I was told that there was another attacking. I knew that it wasn’t Grendel because Beowulf killed him. It had to be his mother, the creature from hell, a nameless monster who had to be out to avenge her son 's death. I went to inform Beowulf that Grendel 's mother came and slaughtered the soldiers and offered him the job of slaying her as he did her son. Beowulf willingly and fearlessly accepted the challenge.…

    • 1008 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Heroic Beowulf Essay

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Heroic Beowulf Society defines a hero in many different ways. Heroes stretch from firefighters to cancer survivors. Being a hero can mean different things to different people. In the epic poem Beowulf, translated by Burton Raffel, a hero is defined by his courage and strength.…

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Facing your fears or turning your weaknesses into a strength is something not very many people do. In Beowulf: A New Telling by Robert Nye that is something the hero, Beowulf, does. On page 29, it says “He admits to his weaknesses and in admitting they become his strengths.” This shows that he doesn’t separate good and evil, but he knows that there is good and evil in everyone.…

    • 978 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This shows his honor and confidence, which brings joy and confidence to the Danes. Grendel and Beowulf battle, Grendel, defeated, goes to retreat but is interrupted as Beowulf rips his arm clear off. The Danes erupt with cheer as the Beowulf raised the arm of the once great Grendel. Grendel then retreats back to his swamp. After Rothgar, King of the Danes congratulates Beowulf on his victory they hang the arm in the center of the mead hall for all to see.…

    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays