Beowulf's Three Battles

In the epic poem, Beowulf, the protagonist Beowulf engaged in three battles. In the first battle Beowulf fights Grendel to help the Danes. The second battle was between Beowulf and Grendel’s mother as a result of Beowulf killing her son. The third battle was between Beowulf and the Dragon. Although the three battles had many things in common, they also had several differences. The battle between Beowulf and Grendel was aggressive. It showed the strength between the masculine figures. When Grendel and Beowulf met in battle, Grendel Knew Beowulf would emerge victorious because he was “desperate to flee to his den and hide” (129). Beowulf dominated the fight by maintaining “a handgrip harder than…any man on the face of the earth” the entire time (129). The monster caused Beowulf no harm. He was kept “helplessly tight” and “his bodily powers failed him” (130). Even though Beowulf’s warriors were on sight and tried to help him in the battle, he did not need their help in-order to defeat the monster. The battle with Grendel's mother was more challenging for …show more content…
Beowulf was confident he would win the battle against the dragon so he opted out of using a weapon as he did in his battle against Grendel (168). However, he wore "mail-shirt and shield" to protect him from the fire (line 2524). But "his shield defended the renowned leader's life for a shorter time than he meant it to" (lines 2570-72). The dragon would have been victorious earlier on in the battle if Wiglaf's words had not given Beowulf the strength to fight on. Wiglaf's said "dear Beowulf, do everything you said you would when you were still young and vowed you would never let your name and fame be dimmed while you lived" (172). Although Beowulf's sword failed him it was the dragon's poisonous bite that lead Beowulf to his death. In the end, Beowulf did kill the dragon with the helped of