Beowulf: An Epic Hero's Journey

A hero's place in society has remained relatively consistent since the very beginning of time. Throughout the years, people have seen many different versions of larger-than-life heroes, who have completed seemingly impossible tasks and persevered through immense adversity. The common denominator between all of these heroes has always been that each and every one of these beings has put his/her own life in danger and fought great battles in the pursuit of a better life for mankind as a whole.

What is a hero to you? Is it someone who wears a cape and runs around saving people from the “bad guys”? A Hero’s Journey is the form Joseph Campbell created from his book The Hero With A Thousand Faces it is a more detailed transformation or inner journey of a character throughout a story. A hero in an epic which is a long, narrative poem from ancient oral telling. In the epic “Beowulf”, Beowulf is the epic hero. He performed many heroic deeds during his life including the killing of Grendel and his mother, he did what many were not willing to take on. Beowulf takes on a Hero’s Journey by having encounters in the Ordinary World, Special World, and back into his Ordinary World. The Hero’s Journey is prevalent in anybody’s life you don’t

My son and I haven’t had the best life, his father has not been around for a very long time, and ever since people found out that he is the “seed of Cain,” they treated him horribly and did not see how good of a boy he was. I could tell Grendel was getting tired of the way he was being treated because all the goodness that was once in him was no longer there, he soon started lurking in the shadows, like you might consider a “monster” to do. I always wanted more for him, more friends, and to be well liked. Although Grendel and I never had the best life I always tried to be kind to him and show him what he may have to do to survive our way of living and what it would take for people to stop looking down on him. Nobody can understand what it is like to be us, and I would not want them to feel

For the well-being of his people, Beowulf should have let his warriors fight the dragon in his place in order to win the hoard. Even though Beowulf gains all the treasures of the dragon hoard, his people suffer a greater loss from his death. Beowulf’s death would lay out the welcome mat for eager conquerors to come and attack his land. However, like Sigemund, Beowulf’s glory will always remain and grow with his death.

In Beowulf, he values respect and bravery, but even more then that he values work, praying, and fighting more than life it’s self I mean the guy dies knowing that he remained brave and respected. On page 191 it says, “His soul fled from his breast to it destined place among the steadfast (Loyal or faithful) ones” That’s an insightful way to write “he’s dead” most people get an R.I.P. Beowulf see’s honor in his work but doesn’t require him to do much to make things happen for himself. Such a hero should be praised however many people want to know the hero. It shows that Beowulf observes many of the codes that warriors were expected to live by and exhibits an astringent staunchness that is virtually nonpareil. In the Middle Ages God was certainly in the mix as we see in Beowulf he was a believer lines 12-17 “Afterwards a boy – child was born to a shield, a cub in the yard, a comfort sent by God to that nation”. Beowulf was made with a plan already

In Beowulf's lifetime, he killed three terrible monsters. One of these monsters was a great fire breathing dragon that was hurting his people. The other two monsters were killing people in a different kingdom. Beowulf is a great warrior and went to assist the other kingdom. Throughout the epic poem, there is a theme of how will people remember you once you die? This is important to Beowulf because he needed to set a good example to the warriors, and leave a legacy for once he was dead. After Beowulf dies in the story, it reads, “Crying that no better king had ever lived, no price so mild, no man so open to his people, so deserving of praise.” (867-869) This is Beowulf's warriors mourning over his death. He had set such a great example to the warriors on how to be a true warrior that they wept over his death. They have been extremely mournful since the greatest example, they had ever seen had died. Beowulf’s motivation of becoming an example to the Anglo-Saxons before he died through being a great warrior and king was fulfilled. The example that Beowulf left became a legacy to the Anglo-Saxon warriors. Beowulf was an individual that others aspired to be like. The motivation of Beowulf's to be an example to all the Anglo- Saxon warriors is pure.

It is true, at times of Beowulf’s journey he becomes greedy and has a thirst for fame and glory.”...Bring me ancient silver, precious jewels, shining armor and gems, before I die. Death will be softer, leaving life and this people I’ve rules so long, if I look at this last of all prizes.”(762-765). This shows that at his time of death he finds himself pleased being around his prizes and precious jewels.

Beowulf is a man who desires to help the kingdoms around him with monsters they face. He has fought with sea monsters, ending their reign in the seas with ease, and he has taken on the task of ending Grendel’s rule over Herot, the mead-hall that belongs to an ally kingdom. He has taken on these challenges for the sake of helping the kingdom, however, at the end of chapter twenty-one it is said that, “Only Beowulf would risk his life in that lake; Unferth was afraid, gave up that chance to work wonders and win glory and a hero’s fame,” (Burton 64), hinting that he has also done it for the glory and treasure he will get in payment for his deeds. In chapter

Beowulf has been translated from long ago, so no one knows if he was a real person or just a story. There are nine values that give strength to the inner self and respect for others and the community. Anglo Saxon’s were community and family based people. Their value included Courage and Selflessness, Truth, Honor, and Perseverance. Beowulf was a normal man who worked hard to achieve his goals and make life better for those around him.

A specific trait of a noble and heroic king is that of the ability to remain loyal to his people and provide protection for them when in crisis. Beowulf embodies this trait to a strong extent and this is evident when the Dragon destroys Beowulf’s throne-hall and endangers his kingdom. Despite his old age and weakened body, at the first sight of danger Beowulf is willing to return to his heroic warrior persona and defend his kingdom. After receiving news that Beowulf’s throne-hall “has been burned to a cinder” by the dragon, the narrator states “the war-king planned and plotted his revenge” (Beowulf 2326; 2336). In doing so, it is evident that despite other noble kings employing younger, braver warriors to fight their battles, Beowulf’s embodiment

Although Beowulf is dying he is happy to have these jewels for his people. Again, he proves himself as a leader who care for the people he serves and is willing to die for them. He is filled joy knowing that the jewels will bring wealth to his kingdom and in this moment close to death, thinks about others before himself. After this he is now accepting the fact he is dying and gives his last words to Wiglaf and gives him gifts for his bravery. Beowulf dies a heor to his people and a strong leader.

Her we see Beowulf embarking on a journey in which he easily could not have survived the trip simply because Hrothgar needed help. This show how selfless Beowulf is and the fact that this is included within the first passage is very deliberate as it serves to set the tone for the rest of the story. Essentially this is the first impression that the reader gets of Beowulf so naturally the author sought to make it a good one. Also the author includes a bit of foreshadowing within this quote. By including the line “no elder denied him, dear as he was to them.” This shows his importance to the Geats even before he has become king. This seems to indicate that he had some predisposed inclination for greatness. Essentially the author is telling us that Beowulf will be more important to the Geats in the future than he already is. Beowulf’s life ends on a very similar note. When he slays the dragon at the end of the story he is also mortally wounded. Upon Wiglaf bringing

There are a lot of different influences on the world that we live in today, especially in America. America is the melting pot of the world. People from all over the world come here to live, so we have adapted to different cultures all around the world. One of the biggest influences in our society today is Greece and Rome. They influenced our alphabet, language, entertainment, laws, architect, religion, and calendar.

When reading Beowulf, there are many different passages with many different contexts. The passage I chose to analyze is from is in the lines 1384-1391 which reads “we sir, do not grieve. It is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning. For every one of us, living in this world, means waiting for our end. Let whoever can, win glory before death. When a warrior is gone, that will be his best and only bulwark”. From a warrior’s point of view, he (Beowulf) is explaining that they fight for glory and the legacy that a warrior strives to leave behind instead of living to get to a better afterlife.

Monsters, in the epic poem Beowulf, a hero does morally bad things for good reasons. Beowulf's violence is not justified. He wants to be seen as a hero and get rewarded. Therefore, the Anglo Saxons accept murder and an individual is not that important to them. Monsters need to be stopped, If there was no one to stop the monsters then there would not have been a story. Beowulf, the hero in the story killed monsters just to be rewarded and praised. How far can the hero go before he is considered a villain? All he wanted to do was kill the monsters and be rewarded. The Hero's would be rewarded with possessions like gold and money. Grendel killed many people and was seen as a villain, then beowulf killed him. It raises the question what is Beowulf now? He is now a hero and a villain. Beowulf was a hero, he saved people but had to do morally bad things for good reason.