Beowulf Essay

Beowulf, a story of an extraordinary warrior who fights off supernatural beings in the form of evil in order to save his people and his enemies. This story is a representation of an epic due to its various forms of interaction with gods, the inclusion of kennings, and its demonstration of a hero with no fear. Beowulf represents the hope of the Geats and the Danes. His actions that take effect throughout the narrative are characteristics of an epic narrative poem. The word choice that the author…

example of this idea of the hero is seen particularly in the story of Beowulf. Beowulf exemplifies the ideas of an Anglo-Saxon society in the idea of paying a wergild, the value placed on a person’s life. In addition to wergild there is also defending one’s people against their enemy, in this story, Grendel. The final way in which Beowulf exemplifies a hero is through being remembered…

In Beowulf, the author states on Page 41, Line 689 that when the dragon came, “The people suffered, everyone Lived in terror, ...” The story remains the same when wildfires come near human settlements. Obviously, society should expect an extreme wildfire to occur once or twice a year, but with wildfires so commonplace they burn millions of acres every year, there has to be change. According to www.nifc.gov, since 1960 there have been four years where wildfires have burned over 9 million acres,…

The most crucial role of women throughout the epic of “Beowulf” would be that they are mediators. Their job as mediators causes them to be accountable for making sure that the tribes come together as one, whether they are in war or at peace, and make sure that their relationships are maintained. This is a very significant job, considering the fact that it is crucial for the tribes to be at peace with one another. In the epic of “Beowulf,” women have a very important role, although the men didn’t…

Deciding on whether Beowulf is flawed or is fundamentally good is a decision that has many possible answers, and mostly is not able to be decided fully upon. I believe Beowulf may have begun fighting as a reason to do good, but once he realized how much praise and fortune he would receive from the fights, he began to risk himself time and time again simply for the glory. It seems he may be blinded from this truth, however, since he believes himself to be the only hope of winning, specifically…

Beowulf is a story about heroes. Traditionally, heroes are people who sacrifice for others when needed; they do as much as they can even when not asked. Heroes are found through all walks of nature, they could be a normal pedestrian or the local fireman. In the story Beowulf heroes are defined as men who are loyal, proud and accept their fate. A hero is someone who’s loyal to his men, his followers and kingdom. Beowulf’s loyalty is demonstrated when he is willing to risk his life for the…

Beowulf, a Geat, comes to the king of the Danes, Hrothgar, and explains that he will step up to protect his people from the horrid monster that has been terrorizing the Danes land for twelve winters. Bravery is quite important when it comes to being a great leader. To be a leader one must not appear to be cowardly. He ought to stand tall and strong to defend his friends, such as Beowulf did. He proves his bravery by fighting off the appalling monster, Grendel, with his bare hands creating a…

kingdoms were capable of subduing others, both through intimidation and in battle. In Beowulf, violence is a key part of maintaining society’s stability. The hero, Beowulf, is the epitome of the physically imposing, battle-triumphant warrior that is highly idealized in medieval culture. Just as a sound king indicates a sound kingdom, Beowulf’s presence increases the power of Hrothgar’s rule; individuals such as Beowulf and Hrothgar rely on violence to better their reputations, equating to a rise…

From the stories that we have read, many themes are portrayed, and one of these is being influenced by their cultural surroundings, among these influences is religion and how it was practiced and present throughout the stories. In Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Lanval and The Wife of Bath, religion has a large contrast in each story from each other such as it being a totally different belief or how it was portrayed in the story. In some of these stories, religion was an obvious role…

attaining adoration and fame. Proper portrayal of this culture is important in understanding the evolution of the English language. This idolization of their cultural beliefs is best depicted through the archetypal Anglo-Saxon epic hero. The epic, Beowulf, translated by Burton Raffel, and Grendel, written by John Gardner, tell principally the same story through two different points of view. Due to disparate narrations, the epic hero and Anglo-Saxon culture are illustrated in unlike views.…