Wiglaf

Structure of the Epic Poem Beowulf An Analysis of the Structure of the Epic Poem Beowulf Every single piece of literature has structure, for without structure, there is no piece of literature. Every single piece of literature whether it be a poem, an essay, a research paper, etc. They all have some sort of structure to them that makes what they are. For example, poems have stanzas. Stanzas break up the poem into parts instead of the poem being one whole piece. Essays and short stories may have…

Often, heroes are remembered throughout history. Beowulf has been remembered for centuries, and his story has been told again and again, time after time. This alone, is another example of the legacy this epic hero has left. During the time period that this epic story was created, Anglo-Saxon’s would tell many stories where fate would be determined by the heroic nature of one individual, and their ability to battle monsters that they would face, or other obstacles that would occur throughout…

Beowulf What causes each monster’s attack on humanity? And once you’ve defined the cause(s), figure out what each may say about society’s progression or downfall. Grendel attacks because he hears the people in the mead hall sing and celebrate, but it is never made clear whether those are his true intentions or not. His existence and attack might symbolize someone who has lost all of their humanity. He is described as a descendent of Cain, the Biblical character that murdered his own brother.…

Beowulf and his warriors. When Beowulf fights grendel his own warriors stood strong beside him. But when it came time to fight the dragon everyone abandoned Beowulf except for one person, Wiglaf. This is a perfect example of comitatus, even though everyone else left Beowulf to battle the beast by himself, Wiglaf was loyal to his king and stayed to help him.…

Good prevails over all known evil. Beowulf an epic poem follows the adventures of a hero who wishes to vanquish all evil. Through his constant battles,the hero, Beowulf becomes more prideful. Beowulf’s hubris leads to his downfall and shows the audience hubris can lead to corruption and can happen to everyone no matter their status. Beowulf’s victories cause him to become egotistical and lose his heroic qualities. In his first battle, Beowulf’s intentions were good and honest. Despite the…

was terrorizing the Geats, so Beowulf had a duty to go and kill the dragon so he would stop terrorizing the Geats. Beowulf was burned badly while trying to kill the dragon, and all of the men with him got scared and fled except for one man named Wiglaf. Wiglaf helped Beowulf finish…

The poems hero Beowulf, demonstrates honor as well as bravery. As Beowulf heads to his fight against grandel he leaves behind his sword and armor stating that his opponent grendel “has no idea the arts of war, or shield or swordplay”(47) and chooses that there will not be any “weapons, therefore, for either this night”(47). This shows beowulf’s value of honor because he does not go into this battle against grendel unfairly, and using his knowledge of war and swordplay to his advantage. He…

Beowulf’s Motivations Before we get into Beowulf’s motivations, for why he challenges and purifies the world of Grendel and Grendel’s mother and later on a dragon, let’s discuss the poem itself. Of course, it is an epic poem. That type of poem, an epic poem, is a long narrative poem that tells a story. They always have an epic hero and in Beowulf it is pretty evident that Beowulf, himself, is the hero. It even says, in the Beowulf packet on line 910 “For the heartening words the hero had…

challenge. However, he also speaks of fate and accepts whatever happens to him, knowing he will be providing his best efforts. When he gives his second speech, Beowulf is aware that death is on his heels, and he passes on his battle gear and throne to Wiglaf in an respectable manner. He dies at peace that he has said and done all that he can for his nation. These two speeches present an image of an ideal hero…

The heroic tale of Beowulf is an example of one of the oldest known works in the Old English. The poem consists of 3,182 lines and is believed to be over 1,000 years old. The poem’s author remains unknown. This may seem very hard to believe because the poem is an epic tale of a King of what is now known as Scandinavia at a time when monsters and dragons roamed the Earth. The tale is centered around “The Great King Beowulf” and his epic battles. King Beowulf is believed to be great by many, but…