Beowulf Essay

Improved Essays
The epic poem, Beowulf, is one of the most famous poems in old English. In this poem, Beowulf, a great hero, sets out to bring help to Hrothgar, the king of Danes. His objective is to defeat the monster, Grendel, who is attacking the kings land and killing Danish warriors. Grendel is set off by the sound of happiness coming from the Mead Hall, Heorot.
Once again, Grendel sets out to the Mead Hall planning on another attack, except this time the ole mighty warrior Beowulf was awaiting him. Beowulf succeeds in this battle, defeating Grendel by ripping his arm off with his bare hands. This proves his strength and bravery. After the death of Grendel, his overprotective mother is furious. She then comes back with a vengeance and attacks Heorot Hall while the warriors were sleeping off the celebrations of Grendel’s death. The
…show more content…
Once home, Beowulf becomes the King of the Geats and served in his royalty position for fifty years. While in duty, he finds that his castle is being terrorized by a dragon, who had stolen treasure. He attacks the dragon with the help of his people, but they fail. After, him and Wiglaf, a servant, follow him to his lair. There, Beowulf slays the dragon, but ends up with a fatal wound, ending in his death. He is then laid to rest by the Sea.
In conclusion, Beowulf is an epic poem that expresses strength, bravery, and courage. In an epic poem, superhuman abilities are shown. Beowulf provides us with each of these things all throughout the poem. For example, his strength and superhuman abilities are represented when Grendel’s arm is ripped off with Beowulf’s bare hands, during the first battle. Not to mention, he fought three battles that no one else would, showing an example of courageousness. Furthermore, the primary theme of this poem is good, represented as Beowulf, vs evil, represented as the three

Related Documents

  • 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 has encountered many great foes and bested all of them, however; Beowulf proves his dominance over any foe after defeating the great ogre, Grendel. The author uses Beowulf’s struggle for dominance to move the action of the poem. Beowulf’s constant need to prove his power is the force that moves the story forward. Beowulf comes to the aid of Hrothgar when he hears of the monstrous ogre Grendel who terrorises the people of Heorot. Upon his arrival, he proudly lists his vast accomplishments as a great hero.…

    • 384 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As the fight begins the unthinkable happens, all but one of his men had left him, he expresses his admiration for the one soldier by his side. The two defeat the dragon but Beowulf is left fatally wounded. He tells the soldier, Wiglaf, that he shall be the new king and requests to see the Dragon's gold. Soon after he passes and is given…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He slays the dragon, but dies in battle, unable to see the glory he would have received. As soon as Beowulf is introduced, an air of confidence is ushered in alongside of him. He gives a speech to Hrothgar,…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The poem Beowulf tells the story of Beowulf and his life, the poem starts out with his as a young warrior and ends as an aged king. Beowulf shows great amount of strength and courage throughout the poem. In the beginning of the poem Beowulf is this fearless warrior who thinks he can do anything. Later in the poem after he becomes king he becomes a matured man who understands the weight on his shoulders and only makes decisions that will benefit his kingdom, not him. During the beginning part of the poem Hrothgar helps him become the successful king he is at the end of the poem.…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Just like in the stages of the hero's journey, Beowulf has made new enemies that came along and challenged him to new tests. When the warriors begin to awake, Grendel's mother flees back to her cave in the nearby lake, where she is followed by Beowulf and his army. Beowulf takes the first dive into the water, showing his driven mentality, and swims down to the bottom where Grinels’ mother is hiding. Beowulf courageously attacked her with his sword but her poisonous skin melts the blade. Beowulf doesn't give up, he then uses hand to hand combat but fails again.…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Greed And Envy In Beowulf

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages

    When Beowulf returns home he is announced to be king of the Geats. Fifty years later Beowulf is forced into another heroic battle. This time Beowulf must defeat an awakened dragon. With the help of another warrior Beowulf kills the dragon but dies at the end of the battle. Although Beowulf is depicted as an almost divine individual throughout the story, he is merely…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Monsters In Beowulf

    • 374 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Grendel's mother attacked the Herot in hoping to seek revenge. When Grendel's mother found out about her son, she took her grief out on Hrothgar by killing his best friend. Grendel’s mother was coming for Beowulf with Grendel's claw and Hrothgar's best friend, her plan was to claw Beowulf to death. Beowulf ventures out into the lake, where Grendel's mother lives, and kills her with the magical sword he finds. During the second battle, while he is fighting Grendel's mother, he shows more signs of defense.…

    • 374 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Evolution Of Beowulf Essay

    • 1084 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The dragon soon perishes and so does Beowulf. At the beginning of the poem we met a young arrogant Beowulf who, at the end of the poem, became a great king who perished for his people. Throughout the story of Beowulf we see Beowulf’s character progress within each battle from foolish to more wise. Beowulf goes from fighting Grendel with no armor or weapons to fighting Grendel’s mother with armor and various weapons and finally to the dragon whom he battles with armor, weapons, a shield and even some help from Wiglaf.…

    • 1084 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many people think that Beowulf is a epic hero because of the traits he possesses. Epic heroes need certain characteristics and traits that are different from the norm. Traits of an epic hero include a great amount of bravery, strength, and courage that no other could possess. Beowulf showed us as the reader those heroic characteristics in the battle against Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and also the dragon. He is indeed a epic hero because of defeating those three monsters with the traits that would define an epic hero.…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Beowulf Epic Hero Essay

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The first step of Beowulf's journey as a hero he decides to kill Grendel, the monster that slaughter 30 Danes in their sleep. He does this so without the Hrothgar, the king of Heorot, asking him to. When the battle begins between Beowulf and Grendel he tell his soldiers to not fight, and he does not use his armour or weapons. Beowulf wants the fight to be between him and Grendel’s brute force.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Beowulf is an epic poem revolved around the theme good versus evil and how Beowulf is considered a hero. To begin with an epic poem is a narrative about heroic deeds. Beowulf demonstrates this by Going on the hero's journey. He is brave and skilled warrior that once hearing of Grendel's destruction goes to slay him. In the narrative Beowulf, warriors follow the heroic code: having strength, courage, generosity, and honor.…

    • 1757 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout the epic, Beowulf ages fifty-plus years. He goes to several battles, becomes a great warrior, establishes a name for himself, and eventually becomes king of the Geats. In order for Beowulf to establish an identity and prove to his people that he is trustworthy, he fought in a series of battles including Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon. He claims to have the strength of thirty men in one arm and often gives gifts of great measure. He proves, time and time again, that he is an exceptional warrior, as he brought and maintained peace between the Geats and the Danes, but often shows wlenco.…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    What Makes an Epic Hero? The story Beowulf is England’s earliest masterpiece originated from the Anglo-Saxon poem. Beowulf is considered as the longest and greatest surviving Anglo-Saxon poem. Through Beowulf we can understand what the Anglo-Saxons valued.…

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    When Beowulf returns back to his land he becomes king. After ruling for 50 years, he finds out he has one last trial, he must slay a dragon. During this battle Beowulf is the only man proving noble enough to try and fight off this dragon. He knows he might die, but goes off to kill it anyway. The odds are not in Beowulf’s favor, but before Beowulf is killed Wiglaf, a young kinsman, comes to his aid. Beowulf’s sword cannot pierce the skin of the dragon and while trying to do so he is bit.…

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays