In the culture displayed in Beowulf, the bonds of friendship and kinsmanship are very important to the characters. As Beowulf has a bond to Hrothgar because of his relationship to his father Ecgtheow, he chooses to journey to her realm which is under gloomy monster-infested waters and face her. Beowulf is a warrior who is bold, brave, and unafraid of challenges. In this grueling battle Beowulf comes close to perishing, as his sword Hrunting fails him. However he finds an ancient sword in the cave and uses it to kill her.
Beowulf is considered a legend in the English Literature world. Batman is considered a superhero in the DC Comic industry. However, even though they’re from different times and put in different situations, they have as much in common as they have different, especially in courage, smartness and the willing to fight evil. Beowulf displayed first displayed his courage when he went to Danish to help King Hrothgar and his village. The kings village was being tormented by Grendel.
Beowulf possessed the poised demeanor necessary to defeat all evils by the arrogant swing of his sword. The commitment shown by lending his life to the welfare of his people was imperative in order to be called a flawless warrior. Beowulf embodied the determination that Anglo-Saxons saw as unmeasurably valuable. If nothing more than just fiction, Beowulf is the ideal hero of the people from who he originated. “They said that of all the kings upon the earth he was the man most gracious and fair-minded, kindest to his people and keenest to win fame.” (Heaney
In today’s world, Beowulf is viewed as an irrelevant hero since he displays poor qualities of arrogance and selfishness. Beowulf reveals an act of arrogance throughout the epic poem Beowulf; therefore, it makes him an irrelevant hero. Beowulf claimed “that he needs no weapons and fears none” when fighting the monster. Stating that he can defeat a monster with his bare hands makes Beowulf very boastful. This quality of boastfulness expresses Beowulf’s thoughts on heroism.
Beowulf is extraordinary. The name sake and hero archetype of the epic poem Beowulf, transcends what it means to be a king reaching the title of hero and champion of the people. When he first is described in line 196 of the epic, the writer says,“There was no one else like him alive. In his day, he was the mightiest man on earth, high-born and powerful.” Beowulf will always be the time’s mightiest hero, whether he is king or not. However when pondering if Beowulf himself, would rather be a hero or a king, the answer would be the former.
This situation proves how in the Anglo-Saxon culture the hero had to have physical excellence without any help from either the heroes' followers or his armor. Secondly, for Beowulf to be a hero of his time, he needed to have a lot of courage. Beowulf proves he is courageous by diving into Grendel's mother underwater lair alone, which we know because "as his words ended he leaped into the lake, would not wait for anyone's answer;" (Burton Raffel: Beowulf, 467-468), and promises to not fight with armors as it would not be fair to the monster. Furthermore in the modern days, heroes like Malala Yousafzai are showing excellence and courage differently than the heroes in the old age. Malala is a Pakistani girl who got shot by a terrorist group, known as the Taliban, on her way to school to get an education.
“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. Beowulf hears the monstrous acts of Grendel and sets forward towards a quest to conquer the wild beast. “ So Beowulf chose the mightiest men he could find, the bravest and best of the Geats… he knew the sea, would point the prow straight to that distant Danish Shore” ( L.120-124).
Also, Beowulf would never bring harm to his own kin or even his fellow thanes. Unferth appears to be a parallel of sorts to the biblical figure Cain, who is an ancestor of Grendel and Grendel’s mother. While the two characters are strikingly different, they are both strong and seem to fluctuate between being humble and boastful. Beowulf demonstrates enough of characteristics to be considered a true Anglo-Saxon hero, but Unferth could hardly be considered an individual to look up to. They both share qualities with an archetypal hero, but they do not exhibit all of them or reveal them
In terms of subjectivity, Beowulf has human flaws that can be said to have led to his downfall, but he is also the perfect hero who exhibits only the proper values of an Anglo-Saxon warrior. The scop who wrote this story depicted Beowulf in only a positive intended light, as this epic is meant to be the warrior?s story retold, highlighting their great feats and accomplishments. This being said, a hero to the Anglo-Saxons only had faults if they were unfaithful to their people or greedy, and Beowulf displays none of these qualities. Beowulf only acts in accordance to what he feels would be best for his people, his altruism exceeding those before him, and setting a precedent that no other could reach. While it is possible to interpret Beowulf as a hero with faults, he was not originally meant to be depicted that way.
What makes Beowulf an epic hero? Well, first, Beowulf is the Prince of the Geats, he's a strong warrior who is said to have the strength of 30 men in each hand. Beowulf also possesses the ability to breathe underwater, he is a great warrior in his lands and has earn glory by winning many fights. Although, having inhumane strength and winning many fights does not make you a hero; a hero is a person who can overcome adversities for the sake of others. With this in mind, Beowulf has many outstanding achievements that certainly makes him qualify as a hero.