The Tragic Elements Of Crisis In The Hero Of Thorin And Beowulf

Most heroes, if not all, go through a cycle of unordinary events where they are forced to break the barrier of their abilities. The journey begins with a call to an adventure and ends with a resolution. Between the call to the adventure and resolution are different check points a hero must reach and complete such as departure, trials, and approach, but the element of a hero that is most commonly eluded to is crisis. This includes facing death or even dying. Two historical fiction heroes, Thorin and Beowulf, have a connection in this key heroic element of crisis, meanwhile they also have their differences during their final minutes before death. While Thorin’s desire for vengeance against smaug and reclaiming his ancestor 's treasure lead to …show more content…
Correspondingly both Thorin and Beowulf’s final battle that lead to their deaths reflected their crave for treasure. From the start of the book Thorin’s desire was to reclaim his treasure that Smaug stole. “But we have never forgotten our stolen treasure. And even now, when I will allow we have a good bit laid by and are not so badly off … we still mean to get it back, and to bring out curses home to Smaug – if we can” (Tolkien 33). Thorin let Bilbo know before they went on their journey that no one was guaranteed back a live. Putting your life on the line for treasure and vengeance really says a lot about a character 's greed for treasure. Beowulf’s situation isn’t entirely the same, but his crave for treasure still was a part of his death like Thorin. After Beowulf slayed and defeated the dragon Grendel, he came across Grendel’s mother who was much larger than him. As Grendel’s mother was defeated with some help from Wiglaf, Beowulf knew this was his final moment. “Wiglaf, go quickly, find the dragon’s treasure: we’ve taken it’s life, But it’s gold is ours, too. Hurry, bring me …show more content…
Before I die, death will be soft.” (Anonymous Line 755). As Beowulf motives weren’t entirely built for treasure like Thorin, he still showed how claiming it will fulfill his needs before death. While treasure played a role in Beowulf and Thorin 's death, they both also were wise in their final moments to their inferiors as they had a final message. Thorin was wounded multiple times in The Battle of Five Armies and knew this was the end of him. Before his death Thorin had uttered his final words to Bilbo. “Farewell, good thief, he said. I go now to the halls of waiting to sit beside my fathers, until the world is renewed. Since I leave now all gold and silver, and go where it is of little worth, I wish to part in friendship from you, and I would take back my words and deeds at the Gate. There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure.” (Tolkien 336). Thorin didn’t despise Bilbo during their journey, but he didn’t show many signs of him really liking Bilbo and believing in his abilities. When it came