Theme Of Reputation In Beowulf

Helping the once great Hrothgar, Defeating the monstrous Grendel, and proclaiming his everlasting honor are all reasons Beowulf earned and preserved his everlasting honor. Honor can corrupt the strongest minded of men, but not in the case of Beowulf. Beowulf used his greed for honor and fame to better himself and improve the reputation of his namesake. He proved himself time and time again through countless quests and deeds, spreading his name across the lands. Due to Beowulf’s

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

The poem of Beowulf follows the Geat warrior Beowulf as he saves the Danish nation and eventually leads his own. Written after 597 AD, the story was told during a period when Catholics sent missionaries to the Vikings, offering a unique view of the warrior culture, where fame was the ultimate goal of one’s life. The growing Christian movement brought about Beowulf, a Christian view of a pagan past, and while it seems as though the poem glorified Beowulf’s achievements, the poet included some passages that conflict with the warrior culture at the time, indicating a cultural shift. The poet praised Beowulf’s ability as a thane but criticized Beowulf’s inability to give up his quest for glory, causing the reader to question whether fame and glory truly fulfils one’s life.

As him and his men see the shining reflection of the Danes’ spears, Beowulf feels and interprets the uncertainty they feel, for he is this mysterious man showing up to this island filled with turmoil. As the Geats are reluctantly let in, Beowulf introduces himself and gives detailed backgrounds of his many battles, flaunting his accomplishments and emphasizing his triumphs. In the midst of his storytelling he says, “‘I had a fixed purpose when I put to sea. / As I sat in the boat with my band of men, / I meant to perform to the uttermost / what your people wanted or perish in the attempt / in the fiend’s clutches. And I shall fulfil that purpose, / prove myself with a proud deed / or meet my death here in the mead-hall’” (43).

Beowulf is a hero in the eyes of his fellow men through his amazing physical strength. He fought in numerous battles and returned victorious

As with loyalty, the importance of reputation also guides Beowulf throughout the poem. One’s reputation reflected one’s importance in the warrior culture. When Beowulf first arrives at Heorot, he tells the Danes about his past deeds that have brought honor for him and his king:

Beowulf then responds by saying that both he and Breca were neck in neck during the entirety of the contest but during the final stretch to the coast of Finland Beowulf was pulled into the water by a sea monster. In the book, it is said that he then killed that monster and nine other monsters but by the time he finished dealing with them Breca had already won. Whilst in the movie after Beowulf deals with the first few monsters he is confronted by a mermaid but then it turns out to be Grendel’s mother. Finishing off his story by rebuking Unferth saying that if he was as good a warrior as he says, Grendel wouldn’t still be alive creating chaos in Heorot of which Unferth had no answer. Beowulf’s pride really revealed itself when he defended his feats against Unferth’s claims, that even though he didn’t win the swimming match against Breca he defeated the monsters of the deep, how even though he didn’t win the match he had won in some other sense. His final insult to Unferth shows a taunting tone which heavily contrasts how Beowulf addresses Unferth with respect after defeating Grendel’s mother thanking Unferth’s ancient sword Hrunting when in reality the sword was completely useless in the

After the first victory, Beowulf’s “comrades willingly go with him because of their confidence in his ability to lead them and to achieve their objectives” (Loughman). Beowulf becomes a role model not only for his thanes, but for the Danes of Heorot as well. Following defeat of Grendel’s mother, Hrothgar gives a sermon before the celebration honoring Beowulf begins. Hrothgar says “Beowulf, my friend, your fame has gone far and wide, you are known everywhere….forever you will be your people’s mainstay and your own warriors’ helping hand” (McArthur). King Hrothgar informs Beowulf of his significance to the Danes and how he serves as the backbone of his group of warriors.

In the book Beowulf, Beowulf, the main character, is a man of great strength and ability. He is depicted as a man of wisdom, and that he is a prince that comes from a kingdom that is well respected. He fights many battles, and is seen as a hero with glory to his name, but this does not mean that he is as flawless as he seems to be. Beowulf is a man who desires to help those in need, however, he is greedy for the glory and treasure that he will receive in thanks of his success. He is truly confident, but because of this he is impulsive, never questioning his ability to take on a task. He is also brave, he has almost no fear, but this tends to make him reckless. He is a hero to many, but he believes in himself in such a way that he acts foolishly, and it will eventually be the death of him.

First, Grendel is an angry demon who has been attacking Hrothgar’s Kingdom and hurting the villagers for twelve years. Some people refer Grendel as, “Grim demon”. Beowulf is informed about Grendel destroying the kingdom and hurting innocent people. One night Grendel had struck Beowulf’s men with his brutal strength. After Grendel slaughtered all the men, Beowulf walked up to Grendel tried to grab, but Beowulf grabbed Grendel’s arm and held onto him with a firm grip. Grendel was trying his best to escape Beowulf because of his brute strength. For example, “you could hear Grendel’s claws cracking.” Beowulf through Grendel’s urge to rip Grendel’s whole arm and part of his chest off. Beowulf watched as Grendel died slowly from the amount of blood loss.

The story of Beowulf is a heroic epic chronicling the illustrious deeds of the great Geatish warrior Beowulf, who voyages across the seas to rid the Danes of an evil monster, Grendel, who has been wreaking havoc and terrorizing the kingdom. Beowulf is glorified for his heroic deeds of ridding the land of a fiendish monster and halting its scourge of evil while the monster is portrayed as a repugnant creature who deserves to die because of its evil actions. In the epic poem, Beowulf the authors portrays Grendel as a cold-hearted beast who thrives on the pain of others. Many have disagreed with such a simplistic and biased representation of Grendel and his role in the epic poem. John Gardner in his book, Grendel set out to change the

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.

Having multiple chapters of the poem dedicated to the monster Grendel, you would get the idea that he is of some importance in the epic poem. The poem storyline is majorly dedicated to monsters since the storyline is pretty much separated into three different story arcs. Grendel is described as a sin stained demon. “They have seen my strength for themselves. Have watched me rise from the darkness of war. Dripping with my enemies’ blood. I drove five great giants into chains, chased all of that race from earth, I swam 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, and I’ve come.” (Beowulf page 36). Grendel was the first monster to be introduced in the story and from the time he was introduced and the time he was defeated by Beowulf, Grendel was killing and terrorizing the Danes every day and night. When Beowulf got their he told the danes he was there to defeat the mighty beast Grendel. The King of Danes Hrothgar welcomed Beowulf and threw him a big party of sorts through the night. That was when Beowulf has the

The famous poet James Russell Lowell once said, “Reputation is only a candle, of wavering and uncertain flame, and easily blown out, but it is the light by which the world looks for and finds merit” . Reality stresses the importance to be more concerned with personal character than self reputation, because character beholds who you really are, while your reputation is merely what others perceive. The epic of Beowulf, written in Old English, describes the adventures of a great Scandinavian warrior of the sixth century. Having an outstanding reputation was an important aspect of life, and in the world of Beowulf it was no different.

Imagine that you are the hero of a village. You are the person that everyone looks up to- you have all the fame and fortune you could possibly want. But, this doesn’t just come to you on a silver platter. There are risks to take, challenges to overcome, and lives to be put at stake. You must defeat creatures of all sizes and strengths to gain this honorary title. This is Beowulf’s reality as he must conquer unbelievable tasks that nobody else would dare to face. Because of this, Beowulf is recognized as a boasting person, brave, and selfless; and rightfully so.