Beowulf is a Hero Beowulf is a hero because of his actions in the novel. Heroic traits includes determination, physical strength, courage, loyalty, and leadership, which Beowulf demonstrated throughout the story. A quote from Beowulf shows an example of his determination, “…Fought with fate against him, with glory/ Denied him. He knew it, but he raised his sword/ And struck at the dragon’s scaly hide,” (Beowulf-Translator). Beowulf realized that there was a chance he would not win the battle, however his determination did not stop him from trying. Another quote from Beowulf shows his courage, “Alone shall fight for me, struggle for life/ Against the monster,” (Beowulf- Translator). Beowulf fought against Grendel without any weapons, just his …show more content…
The first trait, determination, is prevalent throughout the whole story. Each time Beowulf would go into Battle, he would be determined to win for his people because he was fighting for them. The next trait, physical strength, comes up in all of the battles. For example, when Beowulf was fighting Grendel’s mother he picked out the sword that no one else could pick up because it was heavy. Another example of Beowulf’s strength happened when he defeated Grendel and ripped off his arm. Another trait is courage, which Beowulf had before he faced every battle. In the last battle, Beowulf was not as strong anymore and he was fifty years older, however that did not stop him from fighting. It was very brave of him to fight in his condition. The next trait that Beowulf showed was loyalty. Beowulf was loyal numerous times for different things. When he fought he was loyal to helping the people of Geats, and he was loyal to the people he fought, especially Grendel. When Beowulf fought with just his hands against Grendel it came across as loyalty. Beowulf fought against Grendel the only way Grendel could fight. Even though weapons cannot hurt Grendel, Beowulf could have walked away from the fight, but he stayed loyal to fighting on the same terms as Grendel. The last trait, leadership, was prevalent throughout the story as well. Beowulf led his soldiers through each battle and …show more content…
There was an attacker at supermarket taking hostages who “claimed allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group,” (news). The attacker took three hostages, one including a female who a police officer switched places with, “The French policeman who swapped himself for a hostage in Friday's attack has died of his wounds,” (news). The police officer died a hero. He was very brave to switch places with the female not knowing what could have happened to him. He also showed leadership by putting himself out there to protect the women. Another heroic trait not mentioned before is selflessness. This police office showed his selflessness by putting the woman first. The heroic act that he did had no benefit to himself; he was just trying to save a
Beowulf has shown many characteristics of a hero. Where as Grendel has shown characteristics of being an outcast. The role of the hero in Beowulf was portrayed by Beowulf himself. Beowulf was the leader and took on three quests for the people. Most heros would need some form of preparation before they complete quests, but Beowulf on the other hand did not need any. Beowulf had a calling when he was leader. These callings were the three quests that Beowulf needed to complete for the greater good of Hrothgar’s people, defeating Grendel, defeating Grendel’s mother, and attempting to slay the dragon that had burned the houses and land of the Geats’.
Taylor DavisKathleen Orfanedes8 Feb. 2018Is Beowulf a Hero? I would consider a hero as someone who being very brave, loyal, one who never gives up, and one who protects or saves others. I believe Beowulf has all of these traits. Beowulf is a hero because he fought off a lot of people for a town of people he did not even know and had never even met. He even came across the seas for them. He is very loyal because he was willing to risk his life for Hrothgar’s people day in and day out. Due to Beowulf’s loyalty, super strength and bravery to come fight off people, many people would say he was a hero. Beowulf is loyal because he did not even hesitate to go fight a huge monster that nobody thought he had a chance against. He went across the sea to a new country and knew nobody there and went to go save all of their lives just
In the beginning of the book didn’t think anyone else was a little cocky about himself really he thought that he was better yet he would also say that he wasn’t cocky. For example he says "Not that I fool myself with thoughts that I'm more noble."(Gardner Chapter 1, pg. 6).yet as the story progressed his way of thinking and acting started to change. He himself was starting to think differently about everything. At one point in the story Grendel meet up with the dragon at first Grendel didn’t like the dragon and he was scared of him but later on Grendel get use to the dragon and they start taking. The dragon starts to give advice to Grendel and at one point he says to Grendel “You want the word. That's what you've come for. My advice is, don't ask! Do as
Beowulf was a hero not only because of his physical strength, but also for his concern for other people. “The hero must move beyond human limits in order to have the capacity to combat the monstrous forces that threaten the social order;” (Sharma 264) Beowulf has been deemed by most to have superhuman strength, but his superhuman strength alone does not make Beowulf any more a hero than Grendel’s strength makes him a hero. Beowulf rises above the limits of a regular human being
A hero is one who is not only strong, but one who uses his strength to uphold others. A hero is humble, philanthropic, magnanimous and selfless, a humanitarian at best. In the unprecedented epic Beowulf, the tale’s namesake exemplifies every characteristic befitting an Anglo-Saxon hero. He is honest, loyal, and courageous. He portrays these characteristics in the battle against Grendel, the affray with Grendel’s mother, and the fight against the dragon that inevitably ended his life.
In the epic poem Beowulf, which is more prominent … Free will or fate? Burton Raffel conveys that free will is more prominent for the key characters in this poem because on various occasions, the key characters acted on pure instinct, according to the particular situation at hand. Likewise to how Beowulf made his decision to travel to the Danish shores to take care of the menacing Grendel. Beowulf himself, decided to go across the Danish shores and take care of the havoc that Grendel had brought upon Herot; this was under his own free will and was not destined. Raffel translates how Beowulf’s heroism comes into play when he hears about the turmoil in Herot.
“It’s not about having the absence of fear, it’s about having dominance over it” (Steve Maraboli). This quote reveals that dominance can provide strength to overcome adversity. Everybody has a fear that is holding them back, but it is the people who overcome those apprehensions who achieve success. For instance, in Beowulf, by anonymous, and The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the characters looking for dominance are constantly dealing with hardships. Dominance is hard to earn, although easy to lose, even when you feel undefeatable.
Beowulf started out his battles confidently and brawny. By the end of his battles he is less confident and wasn’t as brawny as he started out. Beowulf started out with no weapons, but by the end he is beginning to become weaker so he had to rely on weapons to help him. Beowulf enters the battle with Grendel brawny and confident because he has killed so many other people.
People everyday struggle with problems comparable to the ones in Beowulf. That is one of the reasons why this poem is still so popular even one thousand years after its release. It has been translated into many different languages and by many different people throughout the years because of this reason. It also shows that people back then dealt with the same problems people still deal with today. Whether it is lust, greed, fame, fortune, arrogance, or even sticking to your own customs and tradition, people have dealt with these problems long before my time and will deal with them long after.
Beowulf had come to realization that he was not stronger than the dragon, but he still did not back down. One last heroic characteristic that Beowulf possesses is his absolute righteous justice of sense of duty. In explanation this means Beowulf was always devoted to his people, his king, and their protection. What would be a great example of this is when he goes face to face with the alone when his soldiers abandoned him, he realizes that he will probably not be returning victorious from the battle. Beowulf's fate was soon to run and he would die in battle. Beowulf had to and did go along with this because he was the king and it was his duty of responsibility to protect his people. Beowulf did not have to do stay and fight the dragon he could have ran away like the others. Overall, a true hero is a person that has distinguished qualities that goes against adversity to accomplished good deeds despite the consequences of what could happen to them. Beowulf committed things out of honor, bravery, duty, and much more, not for any rewards. Beowulf the hero of Anglo-Saxon is someone who is a true hero that reaches out and accomplishes good
A characteristic of Beowulf is courageous. Courage is the ability to do something that frightens you. Beowulf wasn’t necessarily frightened, but he did do something that frightened the men of Hrothgar. Beowulf does many things to show his courage to the people of Hrothgar. One way he shows his courage is when he fights Grendel, the monster who was killing and eating the men of Hrothgar, without any
Therefore, Beowulf endangered the lives of all in the kingdom and giving Grendel the high chance of success. It was heroic of Beowulf to fight Grendel but the overall reason as to why he wanted to fight, was to prove his own physical strength rather than being honorable. Which, according to the definition is necessary to be considered a hero. Therefore, it is clear that Beowulf is not considered the most heroic based on the actions he committed.
Society a hero had many defying qualities. A hero had to be of noble blood. He had to be loyal, brave, have supernatural strength, and the desire to do well no matter the risk against their life. Beowulf showed his loyalty and desire to risk his life for
Beowulf was an exceptional leader, every epic has a leader who exhibits skillful authority, and the ambition to protect their people. As the leader of the Geats, Beowulf had to be the strongest, and most courageous of the men. He displayed his superhuman strength and courage when he battled Grendel. For example, when Grendel wished to retreat due to Beowulf’s grip, the narrator expresses,“Had he met a man whose hands
In Anglo-Saxon literature and culture, to be considered a hero was to also be considered a warrior/ soldier. To be a hero, you had to not only be strong but you also had to be smart, and have plenty of courage. These warriors were willing to face any type of trials and tribulations at any odd. These types of heroic warriors would fight to the death to obtain glory and save their people. The Anglo-Saxon hero needed to possess all of these characteristics, and still be kind hearted and humble regardless. Beowulf, arguably is, the best example of an Anglo-Saxon hero that we have in modern literature. Beowulf's most important traits as an epic hero are as follows; superhuman physical strength, bravery, honor, loyalty, and the readiness to risk his life in order to benefit a greater cause. These many characteristic traits are exemplified in Beowulf's heroic and epic deeds. Most infamously when Beowulf killed the horrendous monster Grendel and his mother to save the Danes.