Beowulf By Seamus Heaney: A Character Analysis

Many people would like to be known for achieving something great in their lives. Many others believe that being true to others are the most valued. Some think that their kinship is what really matters. Many characters in the story Beowulf by Seamus Heaney emphasize qualities of being “great” in their time of being: the importance of material wealth, loyalty, and kinship. Material wealth is obviously not the most important thing in life to us, but in the time of the Anglo-saxons material wealth was so emphasized because it was a way of showing economic status and how happily one was living at the time. When the protagonist of the story, Beowulf, first landed to help the Danes the coast guard challenges him saying, “where do you come from, carrying these decorated shields and shirts of mail, these cheek-hinged helmets and javelins? I am Hrothgar’s herald and officer. I have never seen so impressive or large an assembly of strangers. Stoutness of heart, bravery not banishment, must have brought you to Hrothgar” (Beowulf 334-339). After the coast guard saw Beowulf’s armor and weaponry, he knew that Beowulf …show more content…
Imagine being gnawed on by a giant dragon and no one was there to help. How loyal does one really have to be, to help kill an undefeated dragon? In Beowulf’s last fight, loyalty is emphasized to be one of the bravest and courageous things someone can show to another. When all of Beowulf’s helpers left, only one stayed to help, except Wiglaf, “No help or backing up was to be had then from his high-born comrades; that hand-picked troop broke ranks and ran for their lives to the safety of the wood. But within one heart sorrow welled up: in a man of worth the claims of kinship cannot be denied. His name was Wiglaf, a son of Weohstan’s, a well-regarded Shylfing warrior related to Aelfhere” (Beowulf 2597-2604). Even long before Beowulf was a king to his people, he has been loyal to many people himself. When