Beowulf Is A True Hero

Christopher Reeve once said “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endures in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” In other words, a hero is a normal person who is able to be strong and persevere despite difficult obstacles preventing them. In the book, Beowulf, the the nephew of the king of the land of the geats, helps Hrothgar, another king, kill a series of monsters that threaten his kingdom. He helps Hrothgar kill Grendel, Grendel’s Mother, and The Firedrake. Beowulf is a hero because he is just an ordinary person who finds the strength to persevere and endure despite the overwhelming obstacles preventing him from doing so. Beowulf embodies Christopher Reeve’s definition of a hero because he defeated the flesh-eating Grendel, who could not be stopped even by groups of elite soldiers. Beowulf also killed Grendel’s mother, a much eviler being who lived in a cave in an endless pool of blood that led to hell. Finally, he defeated The Firedrake, who swelled up and breathed fire when angry.

Beowulf displays bravery several times throughout the story. He shows bravery by coming to Herot to help Hrothgar and his men by offering to fight Grendel. He stated “Now Grendel and I are called together, and I’ve come, grant me then, lord and protector of this noble place, a single request” (pg.48). He again shows bravery when he goes down in the water to fight Grendel’s mother, after she attacked and

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.

Last of all, Beowulf is not scared when his weapons break or they do not work on the monster. “The shining blade/ refused to bite. It spared her and failed/ the man in his need”(1523-1525). Even though the blade failed him he instanly throws it away continues to fight. Beowulf continuing to fight is showing that he has the courage not to give up.

The next example of Beowulf being a hero, are his acts of friendship. Beowulf is able to relate to the people more through his friendship. He shows this when he talks to the king and the king says, “Beowulf you’ve come to us in friendship, and because of the reception your father found at our court” (Beowulf 222-223). This shows that the king was very grateful that Beouwlf made the journey and as a result the king saw Beowulf as a great friend. Beowulf shows his trait of friendship by coming to save the people of Hrothgar even though he did not have to. He wanted to because the people of Hrothgar are his friends and wanted to get rid of Grendel. All of these characteristics and examples show that Beowulf is a true hero by showing his trait of friendship.

Throughout the story, Beowulf displays many attributes of a hero. In the story Beowulf shows many characteristics of hero such as strength, courage, and intelligence. In the story, Beowulf displays these qualities of a hero in battles that he is involved in during the story. The battles Beowulf is involved in is how Beowulf earns his fame and gains these characteristics. In the story, Beowulf fights and defeats monsters around the different kingdoms in the story protecting the other humans in the story which leads to him being king.

In the epic poem, Beowulf truly exhibits bravery and courage. There is no doubt that Beowulf is a brave man. As soon as Beowulf is summoned by Hrothgar, he doesn’t hesitate to take up the challenge to battle with Grendel. Beowulf is valiant as he said,“ my hands alone shall fight for me” (Beowulf 38). He intends to fight Grendel with his bare hands not knowing what the outcome will be. Beowulf is willing to risk his life for others which makes him courageous and brave of them all. As a young warrior, Beowulf has proven

A true hero does not fear death or, but instead risks all that he is for what he believes to be right, moral, and just. Beowulf is an epic and tells the story of a legendary hero, conquering all obstacles as if he was immortal. Up until the end of Beowulf’s life he was constantly looking to be the hero. However, his humanity is exposed by his death. Heroes all share the characteristic of their willingness to die in their effort to accomplish their heroic act, thus making the act in itself heroic. Throughout the epic, Beowulf in many ways exhibited all the qualities and characteristics needed to be a true hero.

He never felt that he was not strong enough to defeat anything that came his way. When he saw Grendel for the first time he had no fear in him and the way he fought was prove of that. But that was what made Beowulf fearless was the fact that he didn’t over think his way of doing his actions; he went at it with

Courage is certainly a trait which every hero must possess, particularly because no one wants a hero who is a coward. Thankfully, Beowulf is no coward. When Beowulf hears of Grendel’s exploits in Denmark, he travels to the “distant” land, without hesitation, to rid the Danes of that “demon…conceived by a pair of those monsters born of Cain, murderous creatures banished by God”. Beowulf’s courage is displayed even more when he chooses not to fight with weapons, despite knowing

After reading the story of "Beowulf," I think Beowulf is a hero. He was strong, fair, an outstanding fighter and very loyal to all who came into his presence. The story gives examples of his great courage and his fierce strength. In the story, Beowulf took on sea monsters and crushed them in his grip. When Beowulf went into battle, he believed in a fair fight.

Beowulf wanted to revenge the deaths of all his men and all those whom lost their lives to the dragon. Beowulf speaks for the last time by saying, “I risked my life many times when I was young and now I am older and king I will fight for glory of winning” (93). Now here he is being boastful and full of himself as if he knows he will win the fight against the dragon. As a honorable and brave man he chooses to fight the dragon with no weapons just as he done with Grendal. Revenge is not of a hero.

Hero vs. a Fool Heros can partake many different qualities, such as courage, selflessness, patience, and passion. Beowulf is viewed as a hero, but when compared to those of these characterics, he falls short. In every story there is the good guy who comes out on top.

This shows that Beowulf is still showing no signs of fear at the point where others would have run away. All in all, Beowulf is a very brave person that can succeed at almost anything he is faced with.

In Beowulf the classic epic, Beowulf, the hero of the epic, and other major characters reflect heroic ideals and beliefs of courage, generosity, unquestioning loyalty and devotion. Courage is most evident throughout Beowulf Beowulf does not back down from any challenge that stands in his way whether it be Grendel, Grendel’s mother, or the dragon. His bravery is most evident in his preparation for his fight with Grendel, Beowulf, “took off his shirt of armour, the helmet from his head, handed his embellished sword, best of irons to an attendant,…” He chose to bravely fight his foe, man to beast without weaponery for he knew it would be “cowardly” to defeat Grendel with a sword and armor when Grendel himself had none. Even in his