Beowulf And Greed

Throughout the poem, Beowulf’s deeds seem marvelous and good, yet in end his deeds are shown to be done solely out of lust for glory. The first indication of this occurs when Unferth interrogates Beowulf on Beowulf losing a simple race. Beowulf immediately counters this criticism with a boast stating he lost the race to save sailors, “From now on sailors would

Not only is Beowulf honorable and well respected, he is brave as well. His courage is shown by not hesitating to risk his own life to pursue the Dane’s enemies. By being self-assured, Beowulf is able to successfully defeat the fiends, Grendel and his infamous mother. At the time Beowulf is planning to pursue the vindictive dragon, the epic poem states, “I’ve never known fear, as a youth I fought in endless battles. I am old now, but I will fight again, seek fame still, If the dragon hiding in his tower dares to face me.”(ll. 2511-2515). He feels no fear, is confident in fighting the dragon alone, and has no qualms in risking his life to save others. He declares his bravery by saying, “When he comes to me I mean to stand, not run from his shooting flames, stand till fate decides which of us wins... No one else could do what I mean to, here, no man but me could hope to defeat this monster.”(ll. 2525-2534). In his actions, Beowulf’s bravery is clearly shown throughout the poem.

Beowulf son of the famous soldier Edegtho, comes to the rescue of Hrothgar. Hrothgar king of the Danes, which his land is being attacked by a treacherous monster named Grendel. Beowulf is described as a vigorous, fearless man of the Anglo Saxon times. Beowulf comes from a past generation of tenacious warriors. Like Beowulf’s dad, a famous soldier known far, and leader of many men. The Danes now see why Beowulf is such a fearless warrior. In Beowulf, the hero decides to fight without a weapon for three reasons he wants to be glorious, he is fearless, wanted to help the people of noble place and he wants to honor his people. Beowulf faces many conflicts fighting these dangerous monsters, but manages to defeat Grendel and his mother.

The story of Beowulf is an ancient one, and one that has been passed down for generations. The ideals and themes are traditional and its message is clear throughout the entirety of the epic poem. Beowulf is told from the third person omniscient point of view, his conflict was always what one would call “the bad guy” or “the villain,” and though he died in the end, he won gold and victory for his kingdom; all bad guys defeated. John Gardner, author of Grendel, decided to take the classical story of good and evil, and tell a new story from the villain’s perspective. Grendel explores varying literary elements which exposes the character of Grendel to readers along with various themes represented throughout each page.

This helps reassure Beowulf as an mighty, valiant hero rather than portraying him as a mediocre, ordinary mortal. The kingdom of Hrothgar is agitated and frightened by the attacks of the vile Grendel, who is unable to be defeated nonetheless harmed by a warrior's sword. “I have heard, too, that the monster’s scorn of men is so great that he needs no weapons and fears none”(Beowulf Poet 38). Grendel shrieks at the sound of jubilant music as well as the sounds of joy coming from Hrothgar’s mead hall. To compensate for this agonizing pain, Grendel decides he is going to kill some of Hrothgar’s men. Grendal murdering Hrothgar’s men reassures Grendel’s evil nature and his constant intent to carry out malice. Hrothgar looks far and wide for a brave, noble warrior who will help rid them of this behemoth. Beowulf accepts the strenuous task of obliterating the malevolent Grendel in order to retain the kingdom of Hrothgar and his people. Beowulf accepts Hrothgar’s task not for the wages he will receive, but for the bravery and honor that come with killing such a magnificent beast. The acceptance of this challenge bolsters the fact that Beowulf is willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good of the people rather than a person of greed who is in it for their

Theme is the central topic of a given text. In Beowulf, war is the theme that is presented thrice within the progression of the story. The first of the three wars is with the monster, Grendel, the second is with the monster’s mother, and the final battle is with the dragon. Within each of these battles, the author subtly questions the reasons for each of them, and whether or not they are actually practical and necessary. The first of the monsters that Beowulf faced had his grievances plainly stated in lines 104 through 105 when it reveals that Grendel “had dwelt for a time in misery among the banished monsters.” This revelation, although it does neither condone nor justify his actions, provides his reasoning for feasting upon the sleeping men. Some may argue that Beowulf, himself possesses many undesirable qualities for a hero. Chih-chiao Joseph Yang addresses this argument in his essay entitled “Humanizing the monsters: a schematic reading of Beowulf” when he states that

“Beowulf” is a medieval heroic epic. The poem originated on the basis of ancient traditions related to pagan times. The poem represent an early example of precisely moral heroism, but not the one that is caused by the desire for fame and power. The main character of the poem, Beowulf, is capable of sacrificing himself and courage in the name of justice. He is a true hero by honoring his country and exerting his power and strength to protect others. His courage is shown by not hesitating to risk his own life to pursue the Dane’s enemies. By being self-assured, Beowulf is able to successfully defeat the fiends, Grendel and his infamous mother. At the time Beowulf is planning to pursue the vindictive dragon, the epic poem states, “I’ve never known fear, as a youth I fought in endless battles. I am old now, but I will fight again, seek fame still, If the dragon hiding in his tower dares to face me.” (ll. 2511-2515). He feels no fear, is confident in fighting the dragon alone, and has no qualms in risking his life to save others. He declares his bravery by saying, “When he comes to me I mean to stand, not run from his shooting flames, stand till fate decides which of us wins... No one else could do what I mean to, here, no man but me could hope to defeat this monster.” (ll. 2525-2534) In his actions, Beowulf’s bravery is clearly shown throughout the poem. As king, Beowulf is the

“In my youth I engaged in many wars”, Beowulf boasts to his warriors, which is certainly true. Throughout his life, he faces many deadly foes, all of which he handily defeats, save one. His story focuses on the most challenging, as well as morally significant of foes, Grendel and the dragon. These creatures reveal much about society as well as Christian virtue at the time. Even after Grendel and the dragon are defeated physically, the two monsters pose a new threat to the hero on a higher plane. Beowulf is not only at risk of losing his life, but his humanity, virtue, and even spirituality.

The first battle in the poem occurs between Beowulf and Grendel who best embody the Anglo-Saxon value of courage. Beowulf is the perfect representation of this value due to his insistence on fighting Grendel without weapons; “No weapons, therefore,/ for either this night: unarmed he shall face me” (Heaney 683-84). Thus when Beowulf proclaims that he is not using weapons he displays both honor and courage since it takes guts to fight a monster without a pronounced advantage. Anglo-Saxons respected this quality and made their epic hero a perfect fit for this trait. Grendel however, is the complete opposite of Beowulf. He is an archetypal outcast; a, “grim demon/ haunting the marches, marauding round the heath… condemned as outcasts” (36-45). The purpose of using this archetype is to show the distinction between good and evil. The people in the mead hall are the supporters of good. They follow the Anglo-Saxon warrior codes and are on Beowulf’s side. Grendel is opposite of this ideal. He lives in solitude in a cave at the bottom of the lake and upon hearing of the partying in the mead hall feels enraged. To further emphasize the archetype, he raids Herot only during the nighttime. This shows the degree to which he is ostracised from society since appearing in daylight is off bounds to Grendel. When Beowulf rends his arm, Grendel runs away, showing his cowardice since he runs instead of finishing the fight on the spot. For the Anglo-Saxons, death in battle was the most glorious type of death, thus Grendel’s retreat reinforces the quality of courage and makes him a laughingstock in Anglo-Saxon society. When the battle itself begins, Beowulf’s comrades stay to help him fight. The author states that he is, “Beowulf’s warriors worked to defend/ their lord’s life” (794-95). This ties into the theme of loyalty to one’s kin because although the weapons do no damage, Beowulf’s brethren stay by his side to help. This emphasizes the Anglo-Saxon warrior culture as the battles serve to show the listener the deep cultural significance of the kinship of the warriors. They are one; not only because of their

Beowulf showed his honor as he traveled from his homeland to battle the vicious monster Grendel, who was terrorizing the Danes. Grendel “Raided and ravaged” the mead hall, showing no honor by killing intoxicated men in their sleep. Beowulf knows that there is a chance that he may die in his great battle against Grendel when he says, “If death does take me, send the hammered mail of my armor to Higlac…”, yet he is still willing to attempt to defeat Grendel. A hero in the Anglo-Saxon time is always very confident, as well he should be. It would serve no purpose to face battle with doubt of ones ability to do so, and with fear of all that awaits him. Beowulf’s morality came also in the form of loyalty to people and his word. Promises by Beowulf were kept . Acceptance of death, and care for the welfare of his people were Beowulf’s greatest virtues. His

Greed can corrupt the strongest of people who ever you are it’ll find a way to get to you. Greed isn’t just about money it just has to be something you really desire. Greed is the root of all evil it got to a strong fearless warrior like Beowulf also to a noble thane named Macbeth it even got to three normal guys. Once you get greedy it’s difficult to stop being greedy.

Unferth wanted to remain the hero for his people, and felt challenged by the arrival of Beowulf

The first half of this dual ordeal is the internal conflict of human nature to be overcome by pride and greed. The characteristic of pride and its contradiction to Christian values gives a first look at the dichotomies of pride vs. humility and sacrifice vs. greed. In Herot, King Hrothgar reminds Beowulf that pride, untempered by humility, will result in the tragic fall. He also shares with Beowulf a second element of Christian philosophy; “wealth, accumulated through the grace of God, must be shared unselfishly.” The characteristic of greed is contradictory in Beowulf. At first, Beowulf is made out to be a selfless warrior; he fights Grendel and Grendel's mother to ensure safety for his people, even if it means he will die. However, once the greed of Beowulf mixes with his pride, he loses that trait of selflessness. Beowulf lets his pride consume him, and begins to brag about what he has accomplished. Beowulf says “Grendel is no braver nor stronger than I am! I could kill him with my sword; I shall not...” (Beowulf 376) Beowulf starts to call himself the best soldier in the world, and that he is the only one that could kill Grendel. At this point, Beowulf is no longer fighting for the protection of his people, but rather for his own personal glory.

Not only is Beowulf extremely courageous but he is the mold that hero's model themselves after he is noble, true to his word and his unquestionable trust in his skills. When Beowulf gets to Heorot and they begin to feast, Unfearth goes up to Beowulf, and questions the race that he and Brecca had in the fierce open sea saying that no matter what he had done before that he would not be able to defeat Grendel because many great warriors had come before him and his fate would be no different; however, Beowulf has trust in his skills that God has graced him with just as he did when he raced Brecca in the open sea. By Beowulf saying this, he is letting Unfearth know that now as well as when he raced Brecca he is the best and will not be beaten. Beowulf then begins to challenge Unfearth's skills by saying if he was really as courageous as he has been saying he is, then Grendel wouldn't be

In Beowulf, the conflict between good and evil is the story’s most universal theme. The storyteller is very clear who is good and who is evil, Beowulf represents the good and the ability to act selflessly when help is needed from others. Good is also shown throughout the epic as having the ability to abolish villainy. Evil is presented by Grendel, his mother, and a dragon, whose purpose in life is to make the lives of humanity a little more miserable.