Harry Potter Vs Beowulf Research Paper

A tall, skinny boy with jet black hair and a lightning bolt scar on his forehead may not look like the ideal hero but it is. Harry Potter may be one of the best heroes out there alongside the brave, mythical Beowulf. Although Harry and Beowulf have completely different lives, they both fight misunderstood villains, have to face adversity multiple times before succeeding, and they have very passionate followers. Harry Potter and Beowulf fight very terrible, murderous villains, but each of their villains are misunderstood. Neither Grendel nor Voldemort have any friends which makes them very secluded and leaving them alone with their thoughts. They both just want to be accepted. For instance, Grendel was not invited to the feast at the mead

Success does not come easy, and Harry and Beowulf can both confirm that. Beowulf has to kill three terrible monsters to finally reach succession. First, he has to sail all the way to Denmark to kill Grendel. Beowulf proclaimed that he, “Would sail across the sea to Hrothgar” (Raffel line 115). After he kills Grendel, Grendel’s mother wants revenge, so he has to swim through a lake with deadly serpents trying to kill him to kill Grendel’s mother. Finally, he has to wait until he is very old to face his greatest enemy, the dragon. Beowulf kills the dragon and becomes completely successful right before he dies. Harry’s journey, on the other hand, started when he was a little over a year old when Voldemort tries to kill him but fails. Though Harry does not face Voldemort again until he is eleven years old when Voldemort has attached his soul to another human. After that, he faces Voldemort many other times like when a diary comes to life, or when Voldemort is reborn, or at the end of his journey when Harry has to die in order for Voldemort to die. Harry overcomes adversity time after time again. Harry and Beowulf both had a long and hard journey before they were successful, but they could not of done that without great followers by their

In Beowulf’s case, he gained many followers after he killed Grendel, and his heroic story is spread around various countries. Many people admired him and even say they would die for him, “We sat in the mead-hall, drinking and boasting of how brave we’d be when Beowulf needed us” ( Raffel Lines 745-747) . Although they all may not also have been loyal like when he faced the dragon, he at least had one strong follower at his side all of the time, Wiglaf. Harry also had many followers like the whole house of Gryffindor. Even though he also had some followers that drifted from him at some points, he never lost Hermione. Without these followers neither one of them would have been successful heroes. Harry Potter and Beowulf might not seem so alike, but they both have to fight misunderstood villains, have long adversity ahead of them, and they have passionate followers. Harry and Beowulf are both heroes with very similar stories that both take place in British Literature and inspired countless number of people around the