Five Steps In The Departure Of The Hero's Quest

Beowulf proclaims “In the blackness of night, hunting monsters out of the ocean, and killing them one by one; death was my errand and the fate they had earned. Now Grendel and I are called together” (liens 156-160). Beowulf claims that he must go to defeat Grendel, as it was his errand, or his duty, and his fate. This speech he makes to King Hrothgar reinforces his true reason to come to the King, not for any pride. Another vow Beowulf makes is when he says “That this is one favor you should not refuse me—That I, alone and with the help of my men, many purge all evil form this hall” (lines 163-166). In this line, Beowulf is pleading for the King to do one thing, which is to give him the permission for him and his men to go and fight Grendel, what Beowulf had arrived for. The fact that Beowulf asks the king for only one thing, which is to fight Grendel, shows Beowulf’s selflessness and concern for the safety of others. At no part does he ask for a reward, but even says that if fate is in favor of Grendel to give his armor back to his family. These words help paint the image of Beowulf being concerned for others, not for his

Beowulf is tested when Grendel’s mother retaliates to her son’s death. She lashes out and kills Hrothgar’s best man. Then, Beowulf goes down into her cave where he duels her. He nearly loses his life when both his sword and armor fail him. “No sword could slice her evil skin , that Hrunting could not hurt her, was useless now when he needed it.” (1521-24) He took a magical sword that was hanging on her wall and killed her with it. Beowulf’s helpers in this stage would be the sword and God. Without the sword he would not have been to kill Grendel’s mother. Beowulf relies on God’s help and often gives Him thanks after a battle is over. The next stage in his journey is the climax or final battle. After defeating Grendel’s mother, Beowulf returns to his hometown where he reigns as king for fifty years. He is a good king, keeping peace in his country. After fifty years of peace, a fire-breathing dragon is awoken, so he must go protect his people. Beowulf and his warriors venture out to the dragon’s lair. He goes in alone, confident that he can defeat the beast. He is sadly mistaken; Beowulf’s armor starts to melt and his sword breaks against the dragon‘s scaly back. He was left there to die when all of his fellow warriors ran away cowardly into the woods. Only one brave soldier remained: Wiglaf. The final stage in initiation is the hero’s flight. This story’s flight is Wiglaf saving Beowulf.

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’.

Early in the epic poem Beowulf, Beowulf begins his mission to kill Grendel “Strongest of the Geats set sail across the sea to Hrothgar on a mission to help the people of Herot and kill grendel” (Ln 110). Beowulf heard of the deadly attacks that Grendel was bringing upon the people of Herot, and knew his call was to go and be the hero and saving grace of Herot. The next piece of evidence from the Epic proving to us that beowulf stays on his missions until completion is whenever he has to go kill Grendel’s angry mother. “And struck with all the strength he had left caught her in the neck and cuti it through, broke bones and all” (ln 641-643). This was one of the last battles that Beowulf fought in and throughout each and every one that he fights in he shows us to never give up on our goals and the missions we are trying to

Throughout a hero's lifetime, a quest is typically accomplished. A quest is a long and occasionally strenuous search for something of great value. In Beowulf the hero, Beowulf, completes a quest like any other hero would. What makes the story of Beowulf a quest is the following: Beowulf travels to an unknown land, in this unknown land he faces a great danger, after he accomplishes his goal he is rewarded, and finally the hero returns home.

Beowulf's victory over Grendel should be considered as “crossing of the first threshold”. Prior to his victory, Beowulf had only triumphed over man. This victory over monster provides him with more (personal) glory, and causes a bit of a dip into the next major step of the Hero's Journey, the initiation. Beowulf is interesting in that he combines two distinct events into the initiation stage of the hero. The appointment as king is the obvious choice for pinpointing the exact point of the story in which the hero undergoes the greatest change, but really it is the entire time from after Grendel's death to when Beowulf actually becomes king. His core character changes, a maturation from warrior to leader possible only because of his trial and ability to overcome hardship and challenge. The seeds of a true leader are planted however, and the reader begins to see the change from his focus on himself and his glory, to that of his people. His focus will begin to switch to that of others, not just himself. This however will take time to take root and really change his character. For the time

When most people do something heroic it’s usually for a certain reason. Everyone has motivations by just about every single thing they do. Some people choose to do heroic things like become a firefighter for example these men and women choose to do this is by volunteering they could get killed it’s very dangerous and they still choose to be in the line of fire literally for some reason or another. When they choose to do something heroic like this they usually have some sort of one or even various different reasons for it. Beowulf is an epic hero himself he goes to the land of the Danes and basically kills a monster named Grendel for them without any reason behind why he actually went. Some people may say well Beowulf is just a hero and that’s what he’s supposed to do without and real reasoning behind it. Although if you read the epic for each monster Beowulf fights there is a motivation behind it. For each different monster there is a different motivation behind Beowulf fighting first is Grendel, next is Grendel’s mother and finally the dragon.

In the epic poem Beowulf is about a powerful hero that takes a journey to Herot to help restore peace within the mead hall. Herot is suffering because Grendel keeps attacking its people due to the noise they create. It is chaotic until Beowulf makes his appearance in Hrothgar’s place of meal. Beowulf seizes to amaze me by the way he overcomes

To begin with, quests are a multi-step process; and in order for Beowulf to become an epic hero, he must follow the main structure of a quester. In Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines he states, “The quest consists of five things: a quester, a place to go, a stated reason to go, challenges and trials en route, and a real reason to go there” (Foster 3). Quests are no simple matter, and in order for a hero to be considered epic, they must pass the series of different characteristics. First of all, an epic hero must be someone who does something outside of his daily routine. Foster states, “A quester is just a person who goes on a quest, whether or not he knows it’s a quest” (3). The epic hero must be exceptional, there must be something remarkable about him. In the same way, an epic hero should be leaving somewhere to do something. Foster also says, “A place to go and a stated reason to go there should be considered together: someone tells our protagonist, our hero, to go somewhere and do something” (Foster 3). The hero must venture out of the comfort of his home for him to be considered epic, that way he is not selfish in what he is accomplishing. The hero must also have some reason to go on this journey, some threat or mission he must fulfill. Adding to that, challenges must be overcame for your hero to be considered epic. Foster quotes, “A knight, a dangerous road, a Holy Grail, at least one dragon, one evil knight, one princess” (2). Whatever challenges he may face, he must face them for the betterment of humanity. And finally, an epic hero must be on this journey not just because it is necessary, but because he is trying to find something along the way. Foster notes, “The real reason for a quest never involves the stated reason” (3). The quester is not going on this journey simply because he is asked to, there must be some reason pushing them to make these decisions. Foster’s description of a quester proves that epic heroes must be on a quest for glory and self-knowledge.

Going in to the swamp himself showcases Beowulf’s leadership style. He wants to make sure all of his men return home safely, and the only way to do this is to only endanger one life, his own. This also lends itself to the idea that Beowulf is in his line of duty for glory. Here in this scene he takes the approach of “If I want it done right I will do it myself.” As the leader of this band of Geats he wants them to live to recant his legacy in the off chance of his death; to be immortalized in history as a brave warrior who died in the line of battle. The swim down to Grendel’s mother’s lair exemplifies Beowulf’s super-human qualities. It was said that he swam for the better part of a day, a deed which by human standards is impossible. Once at the bottom he faces the swamp hag in a battle which once again ends with his victory. When has a story ever had the hero die in the middle of the book? The fact that Beowulf just happened to see the giant sword on the wall shows that he is a hero because things go his way. As one of the oldest written stories of a warrior hero, Beowulf was the basis for all male warriors from this point on. Everything goes their way, the adversaries are defeated, and a celebration is had.

Beowulf’s triumphs are short lived due to another attack on Herot. This time, Grendel’s mother comes to the great mead hall to avenge her son. The battle between Grendel’s mother and Beowulf differs greatly from the previous battle with the beast’s son. After another attack, Beowulf now must seek out his new enemy, and fight her on her own turf. As it stood, the scores were even between the monsters and the Danes, but Beowulf now looked for victory over the monsters, not revenge. Beowulf also had to regain his reputation. He had just won a trophy, when the bigger, badder bully came up to him and took it straight from his grasp. Now Beowulf traveled to the burning lake, which proved a test of its own. He then swam to the bottom of the lake where the monster resided. All of this just to get to the monster shows that this brave hero would do anything to set the scores right for his people and for the glory that came with it.

Beowulf journeyed “into the lake…for hours he sank through the waves” (line 468-469, p.52) in order to reach the lair. The last and final example that shows that Beowulf was on a quest was when he needed to slay that dragon that was coming to harm Denmark. “Then Beowulf rose, still brave, still strong…strode calmly…toward the tower under the rocky cliffs: no coward could have walked there” (line 650-653, p.57). The quote shows an example that Beowulf was not only on a quest, but also a strong epic hero. Beowulf had a strenuous journey in order to reach where the dragon was and it also took great courage and belief in him in order to do what no one else would have

After defeating Grendel Beowulf enjoys the celebration and rewards that Hrothgar has treated him to. Beowulf earns the respect of the whole kingdom of Heorot. A few nights later Grendel’s mother learns that her son was killed by a human. She comes angrily back to the mead hall where she will take vengeance for her son. “But now his mother had sallied forth on a savage journey, grief-racked and ravenous, desperate for revenge” (pg. 89). Grendel’s mother is another stage in Beowulf’s step toward an older warrior. Before the great battle with Grendel’s mother, Beowulf was a little bit more mature and was not as confident. “Beowulf got ready, donned his war-gear, indifferent to death; his mighty, hand-forged, fine-webbed mail would soon meet with the menace underwater.” (pg. 101) He needed armor because he feels that it wasn’t the kind of battle he would face without his necessity to survive. After a long fight Beowulf finds the strength in him to grab the weapon that would kill Grendel’s mother. Once again good has defeated evil. Beowulf comes through as a hero one more time before his departure from Heorot.

In the story of Beowulf, it starts as a town hall being attacked by a demon named Grendel. Grendel strikes at night and is feared by all with his razor claws. Beowulf is a known hero, brave, Nobel and strong. There are three different points to the story of Beowulf. The points are Beowulf’s bravery, trust in god, and being remembered.

Beowulf repeats the structure of an epic twice, the first being during his time in Heorot. Beowulf is introduced as a man of great power, as is common for protagonists of literary epics. The author states that, “There was no one else like him alive. / In his day, he was the mightiest man on earth, highborn and powerful" (196-198). When Beowulf arrives in Heorot, he is tasked with defending the Shieldings from the threat posed by Grendel, which is the quest that a hero is often charged with in an epic. Beowulf proves himself worthy of defending Heorot when he defeats Grendel, dismembering him and driving him away from King Hrothgar’s hall, and is rewarded with the admiration of the Shieldings and even Hrothgar’s adoption. However,