Beowulf As An Epic Hero

Every epic hero possesses certain heroic characteristics. The epic poem Beowulf describes the most heroic man of the Anglo-Saxon times. Beowulf is the hero. He shows that he is a great man by always putting other things before his own needs. He is important and needed by his people and is known by many as a strong, courageous and a helpful person. He shows all of the qualities and traits that a true hero possesses.

He kills Grendel's mother by cutting of her head. When the fight is over Beowulf swims back to through the lake to his men. The men rejoice with Beowulf and they all go back to Hrothgar's battle hall. When they arrived back Beowulf shows, "Grendel's head…dragged across the floor…. They stared in awe. It was an astonishing sight" (113). Hrothgar rewards Beowulf with gold and important advice about being a king. Beowulf's defeat of Grendel and Grendel's mother certifies his reputation for bravery and establishes him as a full hero.

What makes an individual an epic hero? An epic hero is a hero who is very brave and honorable. “Beowulf” is one of the oldest English poems; also Beowulf shows characteristics of being an epic hero. Beowulf is best displayed as an epic hero in the written poem better than the demonstrated Beowulf due to Hollywood themes. In the novel, Beowulf shows characteristics of courage, loyalty and generosity.

In the epic Beowulf, translated by Burton Raffel, there are many warriors but only one is an epic hero. Beowulf, the main character, uses his abilities to defeat different opponents. However, Beowulf is not a normal warrior. He uses inhuman abilities to perform brave honorable actions. Many of his characteristics show how Beowulf is easily characterized as this poem’s epic hero.

The killing of Grendel is very significant especially in regards to Beowulf’s legacy as a warrior due to the fact that before Beowulf no one was brave enough to stop Grendel, as a result of Beowulf's bravery he was awarded many treasures by King Hrothgar. All is good and well in the land of Danes until Grendel’s mother decides she wants to avenge her son by terrorizing the mead hall. As a result, Grendel’s mother ends up killing more citizens but fled upon seeing warriors. Beowulf finds Grendel’s mother in an underwater cave and battles her until he finally defeats her and arose victoriously. After Beowulf establishes his presence as a brave young warrior he returns home and after a series of events becomes the King of the Geats. Beowulf reigned as King for fifty years as he bravely protected his kingdom from invaders and ensured safety to his citizens. In Beowulf’s 50th year as King, his last brave act is his face off with an angry dragon that terrorizes his kingdom. As he fights the Dragon with his right-hand man Wiglaf, Beowulf “rallies to use his knife and is able to cut into the monster's entrails, killing him. Realizing he is dying, Beowulf speaks his final words as Wiglaf attempts to comfort him." which means that Beowulf manages to kill the Dragon even at his old age but also dies in the end. The killing of Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the Dragon prove that

An Epic Hero, a brave and noble character who is admired for great achievements. Beowulf is an epic poem revealing how Beowulf was a strong and responsible leader. Beowulf performed brave deeds and was glorified. Beowulf was a noble born warrior with great strength. Fought many battles for the greater good of society. Beowulf risked death for honor and wealth.

Beowulf, a record of Anglo-Saxon history, is a British literature story that includes the people called the Geats and the land of the Danish. The Geats is the homeland of Beowulf and is where he became a warrior. He, unlike other warriors, had extra qualities and heroic characteristics that helped him achieve glory.

“Hero’s weren’t necessarily good, but they were always extraordinary” (Labarge). Heroes don’t always have to be these great over idealized people. They can be characters from a book or the person from the bank. They are real people just like you and I. They exist to make a change in the world or in your life. Heroes; Beowulf and Sir Gawain are both legendary heroes, but my real life hero is my mom, Regan.

Now that Grendel’s mother has arrived to bring havoc on everyone Beowulf takes on the duty to kill her. The task is not easy to beat Grendel’s mother since she is far more stronger and evil than Grendel himself, but during the fight Beowulf kept in mind of his god given strength. Beowulf goes to battle Grendel’s mother ready to win as the author states “An ideal weapon, one that any warrior would envy, but so huge and heavy of itself only Beowulf could wield it in battle” (Heaney 107). This quote just goes to show the kind of requirements a warrior must have to beat evil. Not just any weapon can be used to beat Grendel’s mother, not even a average warrior could use it. Beowulf’s supernatural strength is shown throughout the book. Its stated in the book “she lunged and clutched and managed to catch him in her brutal grip, but his bod, for all that remained unscathed” (Heaney 105). What makes Grendel’s mother more powerful than Grendel is she is driven by one emotion, revenge and is out for blood.

In an Anglo- Saxon culture an epic hero must also be a warrior. A hero must be have courage, bravery, and be intelligent. Throughout the poem Beowulf it is very noticeable that Beowulf is becoming well defined and maturing into a hero. Some of the Anglo- Saxon hero characteristics can be seen defined by the actions of Beowulf. Whether he is fighting sea monsters or a dragon, Beowulf shows that he is a warrior and an epic hero. He becomes one the most honorable and a much more humble warrior than some the ones around him. In the poem, Beowulf has four virtues. These virtues are being loyal, showing generosity, physical strength, and love for one another.

What is a hero? The technical, dictionary definition of a hero according to the EOD (English Oxford Dictionary) is “a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, and noble qualities” (“Hero”). While this seems like a fairly reasonable definition, do all heroes possess all of these qualities?

saving lives and spreading good to its community. The hero is essential to the story because he provides a shield to his people. The existence of this hero is necessary to any epic poem. In order to qualify for this designation, a character must fulfill the basic requirements of being an epic hero. Such characters are those who grows up in the community destined to be supreme warrior, they are gifted with superhuman abilities and strength they'll use to bring peace to the world. In the epic poem Beowulf, the hero Beowulf functions as an epic hero because of his courageous ability to take on evil along with his superhuman strength.

Beowulf, an adventure story translated by Burton Raffel and Seamus Heaney, is an Old English epic poem about Beowulf, a hero who falls into the category of an epic hero due to his willingness to die for others or glory, his performance of brave deeds, and his skills as a leader. Beowulf's willingness to die for glory or society is shown when the translator writes, "He had traveled to the bottom of the earth… and died there if that shining woven medal had not helped." (Raffel 27). This shows how he valued the life of others and the potential of greatness above his own. It is possible to argue that Beowulf assumed this fight would be similar to his fight with Grendel and therefore did not think his life was at risk until

An epic poem is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. An example of an epic poem is, Beowulf. The author of the epic poem is unknown. An epic hero is a brave and noble character in an epic poem. In the poem, Beowulf, the character Beowulf is an epic hero.

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word epic? Something epic could be associated with an event or action of something heroic or impressive. This is similar to what an epic poem is. Beowulf is an epic poem, a long narrative poem that is usually about the deeds of a heroic figure. Occasionally stories that are passed down orally through different generations are transformed into epic poems. The people who heard the story of Beowulf experienced it not be text, but by hearing it from scops. Scops were poets who entertained people by memorizing and telling stories like Beowulf. These poets memorized 3,200 lines of the poem. Beowulf is on of the first works of English literature. It might have been recorded in writing in Old English around 700 A.D. by an Anglo-Saxon poet. Since Beowulf originated