Beowulf's Quest Analysis

A quest is the story of a hero’s endeavor to establish his or her identity or fulfill his or her destiny. Although the author is unknown, Beowulf is a well-established poem about a hero’s quest to fulfill his destiny. Every literary work that includes a quest follows three main sections: departure, initiation, and return. Nonetheless, there is no standard schema for specific steps a story has to follow in order to be a quest; however, most quests follow a similar pattern of events. In Beowulf, Beowulf must undergo three main trials in order to fulfill his destiny.

Before Beowulf begins his quest, the unknown author drafts Beowulf as a hero whom the people of Geatland acknowledge and look up to. For example, as Beowulf recruited able warriors and prepared to set out to Denmark to save Hrothgar’s people from Grendel, no elder denied his plan. The elders’ respect for Beowulf, demonstrates his influence in society. In his past, Beowulf stated he, “Battled and bound five beasts,/ raided a troll-nest and in the night-sea/ slaughtered sea-brutes” (lns. 420-422). Beowulf is a hero, and

In Beowulf, Beowulf heard of Grendel and his horrendous actions in Heorot; as a result, he responded to this message by obtaining a group of warriors to set out to Denmark. Since Beowulf had the option to not go to Denmark and save Hrothgar’s people, his noble action signifies the acceptance of his quest. When Beowulf set out to sea, he did not fully comprehend what he was going to be up against. Therefore, readers see another quality of a hero’s quest which is crossing a threshold into the unknown. Crossing a threshold into the known is not only when the hero goes out into the unknown, but also when he or she leaves the established limits of his or her world. By traveling to Denmark, Beowulf left the land he was comfortable in and has always