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The Epic Hero: Beowulf As A Hero

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Anderson 1Nathan AndersonMrs. OrfanedesEnglish 4 Honors NCVPS8 February 2018Is Beowulf a Hero?Beowulf is the main character and epic hero of one of the oldest pieces of literature recorded in the English language. In order to be held at such high esteem his traits as a hero are strong and represent what the poets of the time idealized in a hero. Beowulf’s qualities, those being his brawn, faith, and courageousness, exemplify why Beowulf is considered to be one of the best heroes to date.To start, any good hero has to have certain physical capabilities that set them apart, Beowulf is no exception. If this weren’t the case, who would be able to defeat monsters that seem larger than life? Beowulf is introduced …show more content…

This will be added on to Beowulf’s other characteristics to mold him into a formidable hero.The second quality of Beowulf that makes him the wonderful hero that he is the faith that he shows through his battles and the glory he gives to God for success. This is a prominent feature of all heroes from the Beowulf Era of writing as Catholic and Protestant Christianity was very prominent. Here Beowulf can be seen exemplifying this, “I have borne from Grendel; but God still works wonder on wonder, the Warden-of-Glory.” (Beowulf, Chapter 14) This shows even during a time where Beowulf could show a great deal of pride and boastfulness, he decides to give his blessing of victory to God. This can be attributed to what the people of the time generally considered a good person, and one of the requirements of that was to be religious. Faith is just the second of three qualities that Beowulf possessed; the third is the most prominent of all.Beowulf’s final and most important heroic quality is his bravery and courageousness. Without this all of the other traits he has would fall short. This is because without bravery and courage he wouldn’t have had the chance to show his strength nor give God glory for winning. Beowulf’s bravery is matched by none and that can be seen through all of the battles and monsters he fought during his life. This is the crux of what heroes are supposed to do, that

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