Theme Essay Beowulf

They praise sir Beowulf, thanking him greatly. Yet little did this town or Beowulf know the agony yet to come. Grendel was indeed a monster, but a monster who was the spawn of a cruel creature. The slain monster’s mother, a she-wolf would be the hero’s next challenge. He would travel to the home of the monster’s mother, to yet again engage in the act of battle. They shall meet in the deep depths of the marshy hell. Beowulf would try to defeat the she-wolf with his sword but would not be enough. As he begins to become beaten, and weak, he sees a sword that may be to his advantage. “A heavy sword, hammered by giants, strong and blessed by their magic, the best of all weapons but so massive that no ordinary man could lift its carved and decorated length” (page 54 line 530-535) He raised thy mighty sword and struck the devil in the neck, cutting the entire head off. Hrothgar’s men watch the monster’s lake filled with blood. Thinking all hope and gone and mighty Beowulf had been killed. Yet as the old men begin to whisper the mighty hero rises from the lake, only holding the she-wolfs head and the giant’s sword. The Beowulf would return with the head and place the monsters head in front of the

When she sees warriors coming at her with swords, she panics and takes Aeschere, Hrothgar’s friend with her to the swamp. Different from the first battle, when Beowulf and his men get to the swamp. Different from the first battle, when Beowulf and his men get to the swamp and see Aeschere's head lying on the ground, he dresses in his armor and carried his weapons. One of his men gives Beowulf Hrunting, a sword that never fails in battle. Rather than worrying about the magical, dark, burning lake water, and that even animals are afraid of the swamp. Beowulf also tells Hrothgar not to worry. Beowulf dives into the water and swims to the bottom which takes a whole day. When Beowulf finally reaches the bottom of the lake, Grendel’s mother waits for him at the bottom, his armor prevents her from crushing him, so she brings him to her court. Along the way monsters claw and grab at him, meanwhile Beowulf gets out Hrunting, and tries to cut off Grendel’s mother’s head off. When he sees that the sword will merely cut through her skin, he tries to fight with his hands, but does not match up to Grendel’s mother. He notices a sword against the wall, a huge sword made for giants, swings it at Grendel’s mother, and her head comes tumbling off, he also cuts off Grendel’s head for the pain he has caused. The swamp is no longer infested, and Beowulf spears Grendel’s head and brings it back to Heorot. The next day, Beowulf and his men must return to Geatland. When they return, his city gives treasure and land of his own for Beowulf to rule. The first and second battle most closely relate to the fact that it is based around Grendel. But the second battle justifies itself more than the first, after Beowulf kills Grendel, this puts Grendel’s mother in a revenge seeking state of

Once his mother tries getting the revenge on him that he did on her son by getting him to the point where he can’t handle her strong grip, the “holy God decided the victory (1553-1554).” He returned back on his feet getting a good grip of the heavy sword swings it and results in him cutting through her neck. Accomplishing another big victory, Beowulf and the guards return to land with Grendel’s head and the melted sword surprising everybody by their return. Beowulf stated, “if God had not helped me, the outcome would have been quick and fatal (1657-1658),” allowing the people to know that he almost did not return. Proud of Beowulf, Hrothgar speaks highly of him after being presented with the remains of the sword informing him of the powers and responsibility he has. As he gets older, he begins to realize his responsibilities and that he can no longer fight and protect the people like he used to when the dragon arrives and he refused it, but then states that, “I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning, if the evil one will only abandon his earth-fort and face me in the open (2513-2515).” Once again going through the tough time, “he could not hold back: one hand brandished the yellow-timbered shield, the other drew his sword (2609-2910),” and with the help of Wiglaf, they defeat

Hrothgar, the king of the Danes is faced with the issue of a horrible monster, Grendel tearing apart his soldiers and causing bloodshed. This is where Beowulf comes along, he is prepared with his men to defeat this monster and when the time comes Beowulf is more than ready to face him. Beowulf

Beowulf sees Grendel's mother in a cave. He tries to hit her with his sword, Unferth's Hrunting, but it fails to pierce her skin. So he throws the sword away and attacks the mother with his bare hands. He trusts "in his strength, his mighty hand-grip." Beowulf manages to throw Grendel's mother down; however, she quickly retaliates and is soon sitting on top of him. She tries to kill him with a dagger, but Beowulf's armor protects him this time. Beowulf managed to throw her off of himself and sees a sword of enormous size, which he immediately grabs.

Beowulf immediately sets out to track the “she-wolf”, as she is referred to in the poem (574), while the other warriors show cowardice. Beowulf shows great courage and dares to face the evil that no man has ever faced before. During the battle with the ferocious mother, conventional tactics prove to be useless. Beowulf’s sword hrunting could not pierce her skin. On the contrary, Beowulf seems to be relying more on equipment than previously as shown in the epic, “She welcomed him with her claws, clutched at him savagely but could not harm him, tried to work her fingers through the tight ring-woven mail on his breast, but tore and scratched in vain.” (578-582). This shows that Beowulf is growing more towards the old and wise king that he later becomes. The battle concludes when Higlac’s follower uses a magic sword that “appeared” on the wall to defeat Grendel’s mother. His trophy here is Grendel’s head, of which he brings back to the king to show the people that the battle has been

Beowulf son of the famous soldier Edegtho, comes to the rescue of Hrothgar. Hrothgar king of the Danes, which his land is being attacked by a treacherous monster named Grendel. Beowulf is described as a vigorous, fearless man of the Anglo Saxon times. Beowulf comes from a past generation of tenacious warriors. Like Beowulf’s dad, a famous soldier known far, and leader of many men. The Danes now see why Beowulf is such a fearless warrior. In Beowulf, the hero decides to fight without a weapon for three reasons he wants to be glorious, he is fearless, wanted to help the people of noble place and he wants to honor his people. Beowulf faces many conflicts fighting these dangerous monsters, but manages to defeat Grendel and his mother.

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

Beowulf’s sword, Hrunting, does not damage Grendel’s mother. Luckily, Beowulf finds “a heavy sword, hammered by giants… And then, savage, now, angry and desperate, lifted it high over his head and struck with all the strength he had left, caught her in the neck and cut it through, broke bones and all” (Raffel 530-531 and 536-540). Beowulf would have died if he did not find the magic sword. Fate is certainly on his side during the battle. The author acknowledges that “At this moment of impending defeat and death it was by divine aid that Beowulf regained his feet and seized an ancient sword from among the war-gear lying in the cave. Though the blade was heavy beyond the strength of other men, he struck with fury and slew the hag” (Kennedy xvii). Beowulf’s superhuman strength is impressive. Beowulf knows he must get rid of this menacing creature. After, Beowulf searches for Grendel. He finds Grendel “armless, exactly as that fierce fighter had sent him out from Herot, then struck off his head with a single blow” (Raffel 559-561). Beowulf chops off Grendel’s head just like he did Grendel’s mother’s. Beowulf seeks revenge for Grendel’s destructive attacks. He is determined to get rid of all of his enemies. Beowulf risks everything by traveling to his enemy’s underwater lair hoping to defeat the terrifying

Shes waiting for him in a great battle hall. They begin to fight and as he swings at her with his great sword he sees that it will (being made by man) cannot harm her. So he throws it aside and starts fighting her with his bare hands, but this is not working. Beowulf notices a great sword hung up on the wall and knows that was a sword crafted by giants. Beowulf grabs the sword and all its weight and power, with all his strength he swings the giant sword and

Beowulf also ripped off Grendel’s arm and hung it from the ceiling in the Herot so his legend would beremembered.One of the most persuasive parts of Beowulf that makes him seem heroic is after many years another monster would arise terrorizing the Geats. It was a great fire breathing dragon, Beowulf aftermany years of not fighting and at a much older age would return to battle against a much greater opponent than Grendel, the beast was so massive and powerful that Beowulf would break his sword on the dragons massive scales. In this battle Beowulf would kill the great beast and he would be forever remembered as a hero. In the quote “ The brave geats build me a tomb when the funeral flames have burned me , and build it here, at the waters edge, high on this split of land so sailors can see this tower and remember my name, and call it Beowulf’s tower and boats in the darkness and mist crossing the sea will know it.” This is a good example of his legend being carried on and him being remembered furthering his reputation as a hero and insuring him being remembered.In conclusion Beowulf was a great hero and a great protector of his people. Beowulf always looked to further his reputation as a hero and insure that he would be remembered. So to finalize my thoughts I feel like that Beowulf was a true

After Beowulf threw her to the ground, the war was not over. Beowulf finished off the fight with a heavy sword hammered by giants. The narrator states, “He drew it From its scabbard, broke the chain on its hilt, And then savage, now, angry And desperate, lifted it high over his head And struck with all the strength he had left, Caught her in the neck and cut it through, Broke bones and all” (37). After a long fight with Grendel’s Mom, Beowulf still had enough strength to hold a big sword over his head and kill

Beowulf’s people describe him as the strongest and he has the Geat's trust; therefore, when he found out about Grendel, Beowulf knew he was capable to fight. This shows that he was a hero of high status and legendary importance. His goal was to “purge all evil from this hall.” (Beowulf 48) and that was what he did. The Geats saw Beowulf as confident and he saw himself like that as well. The gasconade exemplified Beowulf as greedy “they have seen my strength for themselves, have watched me rise from the darkness of war, dripping with my enemies’ blood” (Beowulf 152). The qualities of a hero are noticed in Beowulf throughout his first two battles.

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.

Before Beowulf goes into the sea, Unferth offers him his sword, Hrunting. During the ensuing battle Grendel's mother carries Beowulf to her underwater home. After a terrible fight, Beowulf kills the monster with a magical sword, probably put there by the Al-Weilder, that he finds on the wall of her home. He also finds Grendel's dead body, cuts off the head, and returns to