In this ancient story, the protagonist and hero Beowulf has three major battles that shape the course of his life, and that of all of his men and the kingdoms he saved. The first of these battles was against the monster who emerged from the swamp, Grendel. Grendel is a descendant of Cain, who killed his brother, Abel, and as a result, was banished by God. After him, all his descendants were also banished, forced to live in caves and swamps, like where Grendel resided. He was content in his existence, until the Danish leader Hrothgar built a mead hall close to his “home” if it can be called that. Hearing all the excitement and singing coming from the danes, Grendel felt pangs of different emotions, including lonliness, and jealousy. Enraged by their encroachment into his life, grendel attacked the mead hall at night, taking thirty men back to his lair and killing them. These men knew of no way to defeat Grendel, so they prayed to pagen gods for a solution, and received Beowulf, a fierce warrior from across the sea, who knew not what failure was. …show more content…
He devours several me before he reaches Beowulfs bedside, where he lies in wait, pretending to be asleep. When Grendel lays his hand of Beowulf to kill him, Beowulf leaps into action, catching Grendels arm and twisting it behind him, ripping it off. In this battle, Beowulf is presented as a youthful warrior, trying to prove his worth in a foreign land by demonstrating his strength and killing Grendel with ferocity. He fought for his fame, and to receive the glory that comes slaying a beast. He is unaware however that by slaying this beast, he has awakened another, one more fierce than the
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.
In the beginning of the book, Beowulf travels to help the Danes kill Grendel. Grendel is a aggressive monster that has been killing the Danes in the mead hall every night. During the time period, warriors would celebrate their victories and express their accomplishments through songs. The social gathering has began bothering Grendel due to the fact he could hear all the noise of happiness coming from one area, this encouraged Grendel to be annoyed at the fact that he knows that he is a descendent from Cain, and knows he will never feel or be happy. The news of how Grendel was murdering the Danes starts to spread all over the kingdom.
In 1877 life in the cities of Cheyenne and Chicago were very different. Although they differed they had few things in common such as the use of newspapers for information. Another thing that both of the cities had in common was neither city had used electric lights yet. Also,both cities used trains as a mode of transportation.
When he struggles and struggles finally Beowulf strength is too much and Grendel’s arm is ripped from its socket. He knows his horrible fate which is to bleed to death in the horrid fen.Although soon after the She demon, Grendel's mother comes back for revenge. Beowulf is prepared and more ready then he’ll ever be.He defeats the She demon triumphantly and comes home strong with pride. Soon Beowulf becomes homesick and returns to his homeland of the Geats, he fights strongly with his uncle until he dies, Beowulf is asked to be the king of the Geats but kindly declines. It is only when Heardred, Beowulf cousin dies that he accepts the position of king and rules wisely. Beowulf grows old and creates the golden age for the land but when the fire drake an evil monster who guards treasure burns down most of the land, Beowulf is ready for one last fight. Using the bees to sting it to death Beowulf and his companion Wiglaf face the beast and kill it. Beowulf's last battle is one to remember and shortly after Beowulf dies of old age but everyone knows that his spirit will live on and create peace for the land of the
Grendel’s mother kills Hrothgar’s closest advisor and took Grendel’s arm, which the Danes had hung on the wall as a symbol of victory. Beowulf takes this threat very personally and vows to defeat Grendel’s mother or die trying. Finally, Beowulf answers the call one last time, many years later in Geatland. Fifty years after defeating Grendel and Grendel’s mother, Beowulf had been king of Geatland for many years and happily rules over the Geats. A dragon destroys Beowulf’s mead hall while seeking revenge on an escaped slave who has stolen treasure from the dragon. Beowulf was an extremely prideful person and would not let the dragon go unscathed for destroying his mead hall. This is the third and final time Beowulf answers the call to his Hero’s Quest.
Beowulf, king of the Geats, engages in battles in order to protect his community from physical creatures while King Arthur’s knights engage in spiritual battles against evil temptation which lurks around every corner. Beowulf proudly displays his prowess before he must confront Grendel, the “God-cursed brute” when he declares with bold confidence that he “can calm the turmoil” (Heaney 11, 21). Beowulf boasts of his strength, pledging to kill Grendel with his bare hands. Grendel, the cursed descendant of Cain, enjoys death and destruction, ruining Hrothgar’s reputation with every attack on his kingdom. The monster kills one of his men, angering the Thanes and encouraging them to fight
In his three major battles, Beowulf fights for many different reasons. His motivation varies, and as he grows older and wiser his attitude toward these battles also changes. Throughout the epic, Beowulf bradoshously beats Grendel, then more methodically murders Grendel’s mother, and with his last breathes humbly hollers for help to slay the dragon. This shows that Beowulf’s early focuses of glory and riches changes as he becomes a weathered warrior acknowledges that he cannot defeat his enemies alone and must utilize the resources provided to him such as armor, magical items, and companions.
Upon entering the Danes' hall, Herot, Grendel is confronted by Beowulf, who immediately seizes Grendel's arms and drives fear into the monster's heart, "... [Grendel] knew at once that nowhere on earth/ Had he met a man whose hands were harder..." (lines 751-752). Through his slaughter of Grendel, Grendel's mom, the dragon, and other monsters, Beowulf proves his amazing strength to the other characters and to the readers.
Beowulf, while also being a follower of Higlac, he was known to be one of the most strongest and extraordinary geat that has ever existed that is willing to fight for honor and freedom. This caused his adrenaline to skyrocket which resulted in him gathering a total of fourteen other worthy men to go on this treacherous trip to Grendel’s home. Beowulf and his clique decides to stay in Herot where Grendel will come for them. The very next day, Grendel was hungry and he knew the location of the hunters. He began to devour his first victim and he began on the second until he realized it was Beowulf himself. One of Beowulf’s hand grabbed Grendel’s arm, while the other reaches for his mighty sword named Hrunting. Grendel knew he could not defeat
“Then when darkness had dropped, Grendel went up to Herot, wondering what the warriors would do in that hall when their drinking was done. He found them sprawled in sleep, suspecting nothing , their dreams undisturbed. The monsters thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws: He slipped through the door and there in silence snatched up thirty men, smashed them, unknowing in their beds and ran out with their bodies, blood dripping behind him, back to his lair, delighted with his nights slaughter (Narrator pg. 42 lines 30-40)”. Beowulf is a folk epic translated by Burton Raffel. Its a story about a hero with the strengths of a bear and a wolf called to a desperate town to defeat vicious monsters who have been tormenting them for the past
Beowulf watches as Grendel rips through his path on the way to get his kill. Beowulf waits and stares at what he thinks is his inevitable death. Grendel goes through ripping the people apart one by one. Beowulf knows what he must do. He is a brave and mighty warrior, but still has his fears and doubts. So, with wincing eyes, Beowulf goes after Grendel like he knows he must.
But for Grendel, Beowulf that swore that he was going to defeat Grendel and avenge the deaths of his soldiers that Grendel killed. One day Grendel went up to the mead hall to attack more of Beowulf’s soldiers, but it was a trap and Beowulf comes out attacks him. They engage in a gruesome battle and in the end Beowulf rips off Grendel's arm, which causes him to retreat. He then bled out and died on his way back
"Life is hard, but accepting that fact makes it easier." This common phrase clearly states a harsh fact that Rev. Dimmesdale, a character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, had to face. In this story of deception and adultery set in the Puritan era, Hawthorne introduces Dimmesdale as a weak and cowardly man who refuses to take responsibility for his actions. The Rev. Dimmesdale is a transitional character in that he is, at the beginning of the novel, outwardly good but inwardly deceitful and by the end of the novel he becomes both outwardly and inwardly truthful.
Beowulf’s first battle is against Grendel in an attempt to help King Hrothgar of Denmark and the Danes. The king builds a great mead-hall known as Heorot, where his warriors can gather to drink, receive gifts from their lord, and listen to stories sung by the bards. All the noise and commotion angers Grendel, who is a horrible demon that lives in the swamplands of the king’s kingdom. Grendel is an outcast who desperately wants to be a part of the Danes. He is bitter about being excluded from the mead-hall festivities. As a result of his jealousy and loneliness, Grendel terrorizes the Danes every night, killing them and defeating their efforts to fight back. The Danes live in fear, danger, and suffer death from Grendel for many, many years. Eventually, word of the kingdom’s suffering at the hands of Grendel reaches Beowulf. He feels inspired by the challenge of defeating the monster and decides to help the Danes. The king holds a big feast to celebrate Beowulf’s help,
For the final project I will compare two works of art and think about the theme they share and how they fit in with contemporary ideas and events. The visual work of art that I have chosen is Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci. He drew this around 1490 and it is considered to be a Renaissance piece. It helps explore the human body in a little more detail. The literary work I have chosen is The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, which is a collection of da Vinci’s notes from throughout his years. I will show the compare the themes of these two pieces and show the connection to and relevance of these pieces to today’s society. How have these pieces have helped with modern medicine and even formal artistic training?