Beowulf As An Epic Hero

"Epic" is a word can be very confusing. In ordinary conversations, one could refer to an epic hero as just a hero possessing remarkable strength, and personal characteristics, which are considered timeless. However, a true, literary epic hero has to meet a given set of criteria concerning his character and abilities: qualities, which make him to be different or at a level that is above other great people.

According to Cascio (n.d), epic heroes are heroes who are on a mission, and they exhibit various kinds of superhuman powers displaying generosity, loyalty, as well as courage. The epic story Beowulf is generally an epic that is well known and is described as one of the best epic stories. The epic hero Beowulf in the novel Beowulf illustrates

In most instances, epic heroes generally have superior strength, and besides, they always show very strong love towards their people. They do not fear death, and besides, they are highly ethical. In the Anglo-Saxon times, Beowulf is generally described to be a heroic man. He is a seemingly invincible individual having numerous extraordinary characteristics that are always exhibited by epic heroes (Trask, 1998). It should be noted that Beowulf is generally a perfect example of epic hero of his time due to his super-human strength, the strong love that he has for his people, his lack of fear of death, as well as his ethical personality that includes his strong moral features (Cascio,

The man Grendel had terrorized the Danes for several years and could not be defeated without the use of various kinds of weapons. As Grendel was battling with Beowulf, he noticed the extraordinary strength that he exhibited. Grendel had not come by a man having very hard hands like Beowulf. This made his mind to be flooded with fear. In proclaiming his victory, as well as triumph over Grendel, Beowulf hanged Grendel’s arm, which he ripped from Grendel. Later, he goes on to kill the mother of Grendel, who was more viscous in comparison to Grenadel. When battling the mother of Grendel, another super human strength of Beowulf came out when he lifted a big, as well as a massive sword in killing her. The sword was so big that no ordinary person was capable of lifting it. Beowulf boasted of his strength several times all through the poem. For instance, as he argues with Unferth, he points out that no individual can swim in the sea the way he does and he also points out that no strength can match his strength (p. 28, 265-267).

Beowulf boasts about his far-reaching bravery, as well as initiative in battle through naming his highly impressive accomplishments. “‘In the blackest of night, hunting monsters / out of the ocean, and killing them one by one; death was my errand and the fate / they had earned ’” states Beowulf (Beowulf 235-238). In this case, he brags concerning