Beowulf: Who Is The Real Monster?

In the epic poem Beowulf, the protagonist, Beowulf, faces three “monsters” at different times in his life. The poem begins with Grendel, a monster who attacks only in the dark of night, tormenting the kingdom of Hrothgar. The last two sections of the epic detail the conquering by Beowulf of Grendel’s mother and the dragon. The battle between the monsters and Beowulf represent the theme of good versus evil in the poem, as well as the fusion of pagan and Christian ideals in the changing Germanic society. Grendel’s mother’s actions directly juxtapose the role of a woman in this time period, and the greediness of the dragon with his treasure contrasts with the virtues of what would be considered a good king.

In “Beowulf,” there are many concepts of good and evil portrayed in the epic poem by an unknown author. Beowulf brings good to the Geats. The people would say he was a gift from the Gods to battle and demolish the evil. The monsters, however, cause trouble to the people and bring out the evil in everything. These elements of good and evil help define this an epic poem.

In the poem Beowulf, there is a contrast between good and evil. This distinction is presented through the monsters Grendel and his mother, in parallel to the hero Beowulf. The themes of evil and monstrosity are therefore used in the story, as a way to create the notion of Grendel and his mother as monsters. Beowulf therefore appears as a character representing good. Although Beowulf shows traits of abnormal power, like Grendel and his mother, his motifs are interpreted differently.

Throughout the history of mankind there have been many books and stories written which preview a hero doing dangerous, epic deeds for the good of others. The same is true in the story of Beowulf, titled Beowulf. Beowulf was written by the Anglo Saxons by an unknown author. In the book Beowulf, Beowulf follows the role of the archetypal hero and fulfills it by going on epic quests to help, and save kingdoms. This is shown whenever Beowulf sets out to fight Grendel, an awful beast who is terrorizing Hrothgar’s kingdom. This is also shown whenever Beowulf ventures out to slay Grendel’s mother. And ultimately whenever Beowulf goes to fight the dragon in his final showdown. All of these pertain to Beowulf fulfilling the role of the hero in Beowulf.

In the epic Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, Beowulf is depicted as a heroic figure who fights monsters and defends the weak. During its time, Beowulf would be considered a great hero, however in today 's standards Beowulf would only be considered a great warrior. That’s because a hero should value the lives of the people and not seek to be rewarded. Instead, Beowulf committed heroic acts for his own selfish reasons and never shows to values the lives of the people. From fighting Grendel to slaying the dragon, Beowulf only fought because he value the fame and fortune that comes along with those accomplishments.

In the last stage of Beowulf’s epic hero journey, fatalism determines his grand finale against the dragon. The warrior king’s long journey is now coming to a close and before going into battle against the dragon, Beowulf realizes that, “After many trials,/ he was destined to face the end of his days/ in this mortal world; as was the dragon,/ for all his long leasehold on the treasure” (Beowulf 2341-2344). After facing Grendel and his mother, fate has lead Beowulf to the crisis of his journey. The dragon is the final monster he must defeat in order to complete his monomyth cycle. He is a symbol of the deadly sin, greed. The serpent has been guarding his treasure hoard from long ago, left behind in a barrow after the death of a forgotten race.

The first battle shows Beowulf’s incredible strength, he wins this battle by cutting off Grendel’s arm. Next is the second battle which is against Grendel’s mother. Grendel’s mother is defeated by a sword that is in the hands of Beowulf. Lastly, the third battle is when Beowulf is the King and also very old. During the last battle, Beowulf takes the victory however he is wounded and dies. The following quote: “This monster himself, our mighty king, fight this battle alone and unaided.” shows how other men portray Beowulf.

Beowulf is an Anglo-saxon story that would have been sung around a fire with the purpose of teaching morals and traits to the listeners. There were three separate parts to the story: the fight and defeat of Grendel, the attack and defeat of Grendel’s mother, and the fight with the dragon which resulted in the death of Beowulf. Each part of the story was added by a different author-thus making each part of the story subject to being analyzed for containing the aspects of the archetypal “Hero Quest”. In each part of the story of Beowulf, Beowulf sets out to defeat a monster, either for glory or revenge, he defeats the great beast largely without any help from the companions he brings along with him, and after the defeat of the monster, Beowulf is always honored and gifted greatly.

The monster in Beowulf, known as Grendel, is a representation of human fear, hatred, and impulse. On page 44, the narrator states, " He found them sprawled in sleep, suspecting nothing, their dreams undisturbed... He slipped through the door and there in the silence snatched up thirty men, smashed them..." Because the Anglo Saxons mainly lived on the coast of England, they feared that vikings or some other enemy will come attack them in the middle of the night. Grendel, this excerpt is a reflection of that fear,where Grendel is the enemy. On page 48, Beowulf states, "I have heard, too, that the monster's scorn of men is so great that he needs no weapons and fears none." As you can see, Grendel's hatred is strong. He is hate personified and

The epic poem, Beowulf is about a hero who comes to the aid of King Hrothgar. Hrothgar’s Mead Hall was being destroyed by a demon that lurked the boundaries of the small town. Beowulf hears the news and comes to try to defeat the demon. He performs this admirable deed because he wanted to achieve immortality by being a hero. He fought the monsters with his bare hands. He had the true characteristics of a hero, strength, bravery, and courage. Nobody would dare do the things Beowulf attempted in his lifetime. I envisage during all his battles he possesses all the traits of an epic hero. So, Beowulf, travels from Geatland to save Herot from the demons that lurk about.

Beowulf is an anglo saxon story about an epic hero it's a story with a kingdom being terrorized by a scary monster and the story about the monster spreads to other kingdoms and then this hero heard about it and lend his hand to help them out and bring back the peace to that kingdom.

ver time, humans have always created stories and conjured up personifications of evil to explain the unknown - whether it was the myth of the vampire, spurred on by Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the receding of skin that causes a corpse’s nails to appear longer, or the myth of Wendigos, a create of evil in Native American culture. Many cultures and civilizations, new and old, have their fairytales and monsters in the dark, to explain the unknown. We see this in Beowulf, where Grendel is a representation of Satanic evil in the Bible due to the heavy influence of faith in Germanic warrior society, as opposed to monsters in modern society such as the zombie, which is a reflection of evolving political fears.

“Beowulf” is an old English heroic poem written in the Anglo-Saxon Era. While the battles of Beowulf were mesmerizing, the concept of defending the civilians throughout the whole poem was self- evident. Even so, the poem contains many types of archetypes; situational, character and symbolic.

In Beowulf, a wide variety of aspects are portrayed but only one of them captivates the reader the most: Beowulf’s battles between Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon. They all share similarities and differences and each of the opponents symbolize different things.

A genuine definition of a monster is an "imaginary creature that is typically large, ugly, and frightening," but in the poem Beowulf a monster has much more meaning than just an imaginary creature. Monsters were commonly used in stories written during the pagan times. Throughout the plot of ‘Beowulf,' the protagonist Beowulf faces many obstacles that include fighting monsters: Grendel, Grendel's mother, and a Dragon. The monsters in Beowulf are present for a substantial reason to contribute towards the story, and they are symbolic of many qualities in the Anglo-Saxon culture.