Qualities Of Leadership In Beowulf

Beowulf is an old Anglo-Saxon story of a terrifying monster Grendel, Grendel travels to the Danes mead hall Heorot and while the danes expect it least he attacks killing countless men purely for the joys of doing so. Hrothgar king of the Danes calls for a warrior to fight this unruly beast. After 12 long years of grendel attacking Hrothgar's calls are answered and the great warrior Beowulf comes to kill Grendel. Beowulf travels to the land of the Danes from across the seas and in the first night he kills Grendel. Sadly for Beowulf Grendel has a mother that now seeks revenge for her son's death and Beowulf is asked to kill Grendel’s mother as well. Beowulf goes to where Grendel’s mother is staying and battled her to the death , Beowulf wins

Beowulf had never been one to back down from a challenge, even though he may possibly lose his life. Beowulf, certain of his victory arrives to Hrothgar’s kingdom and assures him that he shall defeat Grendel. Beowulf eventually does defeat Grendel, but Grendel’s mother soon arrives to avenge her son. Beowulf once again arrogantly goes to fight with the mother, taking a group of both his and Hrothgar’s men. Beowulf’s fate seemed bleak as he fought with Grendel’s mother, but with his quick thinking he was able to decapitate the she-monster. Beowulf’s pride compelled him to finish his task of eliminating the problems of the Danish kingdom, refusing to be defeated by Grendel or his mother. Beowulf receives his reward from Hrothgar, who is eternally grateful for the deeds Beowulf has done for his kingdom. Beowulf selflessly gives most of his treasure away to those who helped him, because though he may be prideful Beowulf is not selfish or greedy.

Beowulf exhibits many obvious heroic qualities, such as his strength and confidence in battle. These along with more subtle diplomatic actions serve to define him as both a great warrior and leader.

Real hero knows how to communicate with people and gain their respect. Great example of true hero in the article, “Beowulf and Teaching of Leadership” by the authors Tom Loughman and John Finley. Beowulf represents a significant example of leadership. Being a hero does not require only physical strength, but it also need smart, humble person who can protect his people from any danger. Beowulf can be descried as perfect model of leadership. He had very strong personality physical appearance but he was humble with his people. His technic allows him to gain people’s respect. I realized after reading Beowulf story that not anyone can be a leader. There are too many requirements to be successful leader, which it appears in Beowulf personality. Beowulf teaches us important lesson about leadership, his character illustrates that strong leader must be fearless, wise, has strong confident personality and humble to get people’s love.

The tale of Beowulf has been taught and studied for hundreds of years. As such, it only makes sense logically that scholars should discern certain lessons from the text, relevant to the original tellers’ lives and to our own. Throughout the poem, we see examples of leaders in Hrothgar and Beowulf, both epitomizing great leadership and displaying characteristics that people could learn from today. Beowulf shows us that a great leader inspires courage in his followers, remains true to his word, can swallow his pride, and rewards loyalty and acts of valor.

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 showed leadership by making allinces with the Danes and being an effective king. To starting with, after hearing what was happening in Herot, Beowulf went to defeat a couple of creatures(Grendel and his mother) were giving problems. Then, Beowulf defeated Grendel and his mother and as an example of loyalty, Beowulf "sought Hrothgar, To salute him and show Grendels head". As a result of this combat and gift, Hrothgar honored Beowulf thus forming an allience between the 2 kingdoms. Also, 50 years after Beowulf became king, he was really old and he didnt have the same energy as during his younth, but a dragon was attacking his kingdom

Leadership skills are exemplified in the poem Beowulf through Beowulf’s characteristics and actions and his ability to lead and motivate his thanes. Unwillingness to give in to pride is also a leadership skill revealed in Beowulf. Beowulf displays courage and confidence during the battles of all three beasts of Beowulf. He ensures that his warriors trust in him enough to believe that they may be able to achieve a definite goal together. Beowulf, however, does allow his pride to obscure his vision of the future, therefore he does not possess all the necessary skills a leader should 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.

For many years there have been leaders of societies. Some have presidents, popes, and some have dictators. Throughout time there’s been many examples of a good leader and a bad leader but what exactly makes a “good” or “bad” leader? How does America compare to the Anglo-Saxon society?

The old English epic poem Beowulf contains numerous timely and perhaps timeless lessons about leadership and motivation, trust and respect, loyalty and sacrifice that could inform modern assessments of leadership. The core messages of Beowulf show courage in adversity, be trustworthy and keep your word, display generosity to your supporters aspire to greatness, achieve wealth and honor, and teach by positive example-could fit very well in most management and organizational behavior courses in US colleges of business today. Beowulf shows great feats of bravery and strength, regardless of the fact that he is, in fact, mortal and can lose his life at any moment. He is strongly driven by his sense of loyalty, but he also has a desire for fame.

Before getting in depth about a certain character, the definition of a hero and leader should be established. The two stories have two different kinds of leaders. Beowulf is more of an epic hero, while Hamlet is a tragic hero. Dr. Wheeler gives the definition of an epic hero as “The main character in an epic poem--typically one who embodies the values of his or her culture” (Wheeler). This is the perfect description of Beowulf. During the time in which Beowulf was set, men achieved hero status based on their military success. This was why Beowulf was considered a hero. He was a man who could not be beat, and would fight anyone

“[Grendel’s] mother had sallied forth on a savage journey,/ grief-racked and ravenous, desperate for revenge” (Beowulf, 1276-1278). Her desire to avenge her son is carried out, but it ultimately leads to her death. Beowulf’s desire to garner fame and respect overpowers all of the raw emotion and anger felt by Grendel’s mother. She serves the purpose of showing the purest form of revenge, and how its blindness can lead to one’s demise.

“I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.” – Alexander the Great. This quote shows the importance of leaders. If a person has a right set of mind that person can be the “trait of a lion.” When a person strives for a goal and is passion about it is seen as he is taking leadership over a group of people or even taking leadership in his own life. What I mean by the second option is that a person can either let someone else decide how their life will be played out, or they can do what they choose. The theme of leadership can be shown on Beowulf’s acceptance of the challenge to take on Grendel, in the Knight accepting the punishment of the Queen in Canterbury Tales, and in Macbeth in Macbeth.

Leadership is the ability of motivating an assembly of people to act towards a common goal and has the skill to make others want to follow in their direction (Ward). The epic Beowulf, contains various scenes of how the protagonist hero, Beowulf, shows great leadership. Beowulf portrays good leadership by his confidence, his physical strength, and his loyalty, which are important qualities of the Anglo-Saxon time.