Beowulf the Epic Hero Beowulf is a thrilling, daring, and exhilarating epic poem of the past written by an anonymous author in a single manuscript passed down through many generations. Being the protagonist of the poem, Beowulf is also a noble role model. He shows the true qualities of an Anglo-Saxon epic hero through various acts of courage, strength, and loyalty.
Beowulf proves himself to be an Anglo-Saxon epic hero by being courageous. Courage is described as the mental or moral strength to persevere through difficulties, pain, and danger while having no fear. Beowulf shows his first example of courage when he explains how he will fight Grendel with his bare hands, leaving his fate up to God and courage, He shows this in the following quote from the text “Go where my feet were afraid to, if I hid Behind some broad
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Against the monster. God must decide Who will be given to death’s cold grip.” (Lines 170-175). Next, Beowulf proves himself to be courageous, in lines (165-169), Beowulf says “May purge all evil from this hall. I have heard, Too, that the monster’s scorn of men is so great that he needs no weapons and fears none. Nor will I.” Beowulf shows courage by explaining, if Grendel doesn't need a weapon and fears no man, Beowulf doesn't fear Grendel or need a weapon to fight him. Again, in lines (312-315), Beowulf shows courage when he holds Grendel and won't let go, giving him no escape when the author states “That mighty protector of men Meant to hold the monster till its life leaped out , knowing the fiend was no use To anyone in Denmark.” Another example of Beowulf’s courage is shown when he says “Great king. They have seen my strength for themselves, Have watched me rise from the darkness of war, Dripping with my enemies’
This shows bravery because he is fighting a creature who has sharp claws that have snatched up and killed 30 men with ease. One final trait that Beowulf shows would be strength. Beowulf demonstrates strength when in the epic poem it says '' That shepherd of evil,
We have heard of those princes' heroic campaigns.” (1-3) These lines show that courage is seen as a type of greatness. If Beowulf would have not been blessed with the courage that he has, the kingdom would not have viewed him the same way as a hero. It takes a lot of courage to be brave enough to stand up to a demon that has been terrorizing a kingdom for twelve years. Luckily, Beowulf had this courage and defeated Grendel which made him a
Beowulf showed courage when he decided to fight Grendel with his bare hands, and stated that god would decide who the victor would be. This shows that Beowulf is brave enough to fight a monster with his bare hands because the monster doesn't use weapons and to go into battle not knowing what the outcome would be. Beowulf exhibited this courage by saying “ That I alone with the help of my men may purge all evil from this hall. …….. god must decide who will be given to death’s cold grip”(Pg 44 L. 165-174).
He eagers to try his strength against the monster while he heard the evil monster, Grendel, invade Hrothgar’s hall. And before that, no one can defeat the monster. Nevertheless, Beowulf still wants to kill the fierce and cruel monster. After he decided, he chose fourteen loyal comrades and kinsfolk, and took a cheerful farewell of the Geatish royal family. When the night fighting against Grendel coming, Beowulf took off his mail, unbelted his sword, unhelmed himself, and gave his
An epic poem is a long narrative poem with heroic deeds and events that are significant to culture. Beowulf is a story of a Scandinavian hero. Beowulf gains fame and glory when he first kills Grendel, then his mother, and lastly the dragon. Through his journey, he starts of as a young man and by the end, he is the king. Although he did kill the dragon he did not do it alone, after being horribly hurt he wanted to have a tomb as a lighthouse where he wanted people to remember him.
The hero in the epic poem Beowulf is the main character, Beowulf. He demonstrates heroic qualities as soon as the readers are introduced to his character. Beowulf proves himself to be courageous and brave by voluntarily fighting the “undefeatable” monster, Grendel. He is greatly admired by both the Danes and Geats for his courageous acts. Although his motivation is altered to only benefit himself with the title of the greatest warrior, his plan to save the Danes is greatly appreciated by all in the land.
Heroism is bravery, honor, courage, and daring. People who are believed to be a heroe usually serve as someone who defeated or made an impact on someone or something. Throughout the epic, Beowulf shows heroism by going to willingly defeat Grendel. This was Beowulf's choice to go, "there was no one else like him alive. In his day, he was the mightiest man on eart, highborn and powerful" (196-198).
Once again Beowulf's confidence and ego aren't there but his bravery is. Beowulf knows he will most likely die
Beowulf is a historical poem that was made in the 8th century. Beowulf has taught many people in the world that we should always fight and succeed when it comes to our obstacles. Beowulf is a story that is mostly fighting the people that Beowulf fights for is his king and allies after all he is a strong warrior.he fights lot in the story and someone he fight is grendel a evil monster he fights and dies as a loyal soldier. Beowulf is a wonderful book that poems admiration and loyalty in every way possible. Beowulf was a strong warrior to show how he was i have this quote directly said by beowulf himself”If death does take me send the hammered mail to Higlac and return the inheritance i had from hrethel l and he from wayland fate will unwind
Beowulf told “Hrothgar to salute him and show Grendel’s head and carried that terrible trophy by the hair.” (lines 853-855) This explains beowulf’s evidence to show his victory against Grendel. This also happens when he is talking to Herot beowulf arrives with his geats to show herot his trophy which was grendel's head to prove that he overcame that challenge. This is an example of courage because he knows that he will win the victory no matter what
Beowulf definitely displays multiple examples of courage, such as fighting Grendel barehanded and going to fight a dragon alone, but the most pronounced example is when Beowulf goes to fight Grendel’s mother, his second trial. Her home is a disgusting, murky lake that’s “infested with… sea-dragons / and monsters” (1425) and so deep that “the mere bottom has never been sounded by the sons of men” (1367-1368). Even the creatures that live around it would rather die than dive under the water’s surface. Beowulf makes a big deal out of how terrifying her home is, expressing how the warriors who arrived at her home were “not man enough / to face the turmoil of a fight under water / and the risk to [their] life” (1468-1470). But Beowulf is willing to.
Beowulf embodies many universal societal heroic values that are signified in the modern world like courage, bravery, and strength. In the poem, Beowulf displays courage. “Now, I mean to be a match for Grendel, settle the outcome in single combat” (Heaney 425-426). This quote shows courage because he’s telling them that he can fight Grendel and wants to weather he wins or loses.
The novel Beowulf: A New Telling by Robert Nye conveys that courage shows one that even if there is something one has never done before, taking risks will provide new experiences to one as expressed when Beowulf ate the apple and fought Grendel. It was first seen when Beowulf ate the apple that he already knew contained evil. The narrator states, “Beowulf was eating an apple. He bit into it with cheerful determination.” Even though Unferth had warned him that the apples were wicked, Beowulf still took the risk, ate the apple, and found that it was delicious.
Bravery, defined as, courageous acts of one’s character. The main person in this epic poem to demonstrate the act of bravery would be, Beowulf himself. Beowulf’s battle with Grendel shows true courage. Beowulf then “took off the helmet and handed the patterned sword”. (672-673)He was completely unarmed as described in the lines previous.
He was brave because he went to the kingdom to defeat Grendel, a monster from Hell, then to defeat Grendel’s mother, and then a dragon. He was strong because he ripped off Grendel’s arm with his two bare hands, used a huge sword to cut off Grendel’s mother’s head, and he cut open the part where the flames come out of. He then reached in and grabbed the dragon’s heart and ripped it out. The courage that Beowulf had was by him going to king Hrothgar waning to help him. Wanting to kill the monster named Grendel.