The poem explores his heroism in two separate phases mdash youth and age mdash and through three separate and increasingly difficult conflicts mdash with grendel, grendel rsquo s mother, and the dragon. Although we can view these three encounters as expressions of the heroic code, there is perhaps a clearer division between beowulf rsquo s youthful heroism as an unfettered warrior and his mature heroism as a reliable king. These two phases of his life, separated by fifty years, correspond to two different models of virtue, and much of the moral reflection in the story centers on differentiating these two models and on showing how beowulf makes the transition from one to the other. In his youth, beowulf is a great warrior, characterized predominantly by his feats of strength and courage, including his fabled swimming match against breca. He also perfectly embodies the manners and values dictated by the germanic heroic code, including loyalty, courtesy, and pride. His defeat of grendel and grendel rsquo s mother validates his reputation for bravery and establishes him fully as a hero.

In first part of the poem, beowulf matures little, as he possesses heroic qualities in abundance from the start. Having purged denmark of its plagues and established himself as a hero, however, he is ready to enter into a new phase of his life. Hrothgar, who becomes a mentor and father figure to the young warrior, begins to deliver advice about how to act as a wise ruler. Though beowulf does not become king for many years, his exemplary career as a warrior has served in part to prepare him for his ascension to the throne. The second part of the story, set in geatland, skips over the middle of beowulf rsquo s career and focuses on the very end of his life.

Through a series of retrospectives, however, we recover much of what happens during this gap and therefore are able to see how beowulf comports himself as both a warrior and a king. The period following hygelac rsquo s death is an important transitional moment for beowulf. Instead of rushing for the throne himself, as hrothulf does in denmark, he supports hygelac rsquo s son, the rightful heir. With this gesture of loyalty and respect for the throne, he proves himself worthy of kingship. In the final episode mdash the encounter with the dragon mdash the poet reflects further on how the responsibilities of a king, who must act for the good of the people and not just for his own glory, differ from those of the heroic warrior.

In light of these meditations, beowulf rsquo s moral status becomes somewhat ambiguous at the poem rsquo s end. Though he is deservedly celebrated as a great hero and leader, his last courageous fight is also somewhat rash. The poem suggests that, by sacrificing himself, beowulf unnecessarily leaves his people without a king, exposing them to danger from other tribes. To understand beowulf rsquo s death strictly as a personal failure, however, is to neglect the overwhelming emphasis given to fate in this last portion of the poem. Rather than a conscious choice, the battle can also be interpreted as a matter in which beowulf has very little choice or free will at all. Additionally, it is hard to blame him for acting according to the dictates of his warrior culture. Likely the poem rsquo s most memorable creation, grendel is one of the three monsters that beowulf battles.

Though he has many animal attributes and a grotesque, monstrous appearance, he seems to be guided by vaguely human emotions and impulses, and he shows more of an interior life than one might expect. Exiled to the swamplands outside the boundaries of human society, grendel is an outcast who seems to long to be reinstated. The poet hints that behind grendel rsquo s aggression against the danes lies loneliness and jealousy. By lineage, grendel is a member of ldquo cain rsquo s clan, whom the creator had outlawed / and condemned as outcasts. While the poet somewhat sympathetically suggests that grendel rsquo s deep bitterness about being excluded from the revelry in the mead hall owes, in part, to his accursed status, he also points out that grendel is ldquo m alignant by nature rdquo and that he has ldquo never show n remorse rdquo 137. Our writers can help get your essay back on track, take a look at our services to learn more about how we can help. Essay writing service essay marking service place an order when beowulf arrives to the land of the danes, as soon as they dock and get off of their ship beowulf shows his courage instantly by taking the lead and explaining to the guards that watched out for raiders and enemy ships approaching who they were and where they were from so that they may advance to the heorot which he had heard much about.

After they get inside heorot beowulf truly shows his courage when he tells hrothgar about all of the triumphs he had when he was younger and how when he heard of their problem with grendel and how he planned to be a match for him so that he could be the one to bring peace back to heorot. The news of grendel, hard to ignore, reached me at home: sailors brought stories of the plight you suffer in this legendary hall, how it lies deserted, empty and useless once the evening light hides itself under heavens dome. â€¦ now i mean to be a match for grendel, settle the outcome in single combat. 410 414 amp 425 426 he also explains how he isn't afraid of death because if he is going to die it will happen whether he wants it to or not and by doing this he gives king hrothgar peace by knowing that he is courageous enough to take on this challenge and not be afraid by the terror that his people have been facing for the last 12 years.

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Whichever one death fells must deem it a just judgment by god â€¦ fate goes ever as fate must. Not only is beowulf extremely courageous but he is the mold that hero's model themselves after he is noble, true to his word and his unquestionable trust in his skills. When beowulf gets to heorot and they begin to feast unfearth goes up to beowulf and questions the race that he and brecca had in the fierce open sea saying that no matter what he had done before that he would not be able to defeat grendel because many great warriors had come before him and his fate would be no different, however beowulf has trust in his skills that god has graced him with just as he did when he raced brecca in the open sea. The truth is this: when the going was heavy in those high waves, i was the strongest swimmer of all 532 534. By beowulf saying this he is letting unfearth know that now as well as when he raced brecca he is the best and will not be beaten. Beowulf then begins to challenge unfearth's skills by saying if he was really as courageous as he has been saying he is then grendel wouldn't be able to get away with killing all of hrothgar's people and that beowulf will show grendel different and that he will show him his skill.

He knows he can trample down you danes to his heart's content, humiliate and murder without fear of reprisal. 599 603 beowulf by saying this is showing that he has great confidence in his skill as a warrior and that he do what unfearth has been unable to do, which is free heorot of their burden of grendel. Later in the story grendel appears in the night to eat the bodies of the soldiers that are in the middle of their slumber inside of heorot and beowulf is waiting for him to do as he said he would.

After their battle grendel had been beaten by beowulf grendel was driven under the fen banks, fatally hurt 818 819 by defeating grendel beowulf was true to his word and accomplished what he had set out to do the geat captain had boldly fulfilled his boast to the danes: he had healed and relieved a huge distress 827 829. Beowulf has many things inside the story that a symbolic of god and how he can deliver us from our demons, or grendel in this case that constantly torment us and cause us dismay in our everyday lifes. When beowulf is at the feast when he arrives at heorot he is sitting at a bench when the helming woman came by to give him a drink with measured words she welcomed the geat and thanked god for granting her wish that a deliverer she could believe in would arrive to ease their afflictions. 625 628 when she tells him this it gives a kind of godly presence to beowulf that he is their savior and he will relieve them of their transgression that is grendel and his murderous ways. In the beginning of the story it talks about how a leader will come one day that would be set apart from others that had come before to deliver the danish people from all their problems.

It also states that the shield was still alive when it was the man's time to go into the lords keeping. Shield was still thriving when his time came and he crossed over into the lords keeping. 26 27 this is symbolic of how the shield is god's word and god's protection over us how when we have it with us in our lives we will be taken by him when our time comes to spend eternity in his kingdom. Another interesting symbol in the story is grendel the story often refers to him as god cursed 711 which is similar to the devil who was banished and cursed for the rest of eternity just as grendel was as he was always living in torment and all that would ease him is the pain and suffering of others such as when he arrived at heorot and saw all the men sleeping there.

Narrative Essay Synonyms

â€¦ his glee was demonic, picturing the mayhem: before morning he would rip life from lib and devour them 730 732 grendel enjoyed causing misery in the lives of the danes much like the devil enjoys seeing suffering in our lifes. The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example benjamin disraeli. Disraeli is saying a hero is anyone who will be remembered for the dignified examples they set for others.

Pros And Cons of Homeschooling Essay

The epic poem of beowulf, rewritten in english by seamus heaney, is a grade a caliber source of how people viewed a hero’ back in anglo saxon times. The geat hero, beowulf, leads his people through his examples of fearlessness and pure strength. In both modern times and anglo saxon times society has places significant stress on the one unifying truth that forms a hero, their heroic deeds. However, we seem to disagree on the other factors of being a hero including humility and the physical aspect of being a hero. When unferth speaks exclusively of the fails in beowulf’s great race with breca beowulf rebukes him by saying, however it occurred, my sword had killed nine sea monsters beowulf 574 575, pg 39. This fearless quote by beowulf not only shows his confidence in himself, but clearly exemplifies one of his many great accomplishments.

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However, throughout the story it seems as if beowulf is never entirely satisfied with himself. He spends his whole life battling gruesome monsters for the safety and security of the people. Today, heroes may not stand out as much as they seemed to back then, but they do share in accomplishing noteworthy tasks. Chesley sullenberger, an american airlines pilot became a nation wide hero on january 15, 2009. That day his plane, us airways flight 1549, flew into a large flock of birds that blew up the plane’s engine. With quick thinking chesley crash landed the plane in the middle of the hudson river.