Importance Of Weapons In Beowulf

Was Beowulf an honorable hero? Absolutely! He was an honorable hero. In this essay I will tell the reason for his titled name. The reasons that will be explained includes: the actions he did, the type of person he was and what he believed him, and his relentless fighting efforts towards every monster/creature around. Honorable means bringing or worthy of honor which Beowulf show within my reasons.

The appearance of the sword hilt exemplifies Christian influence. According to Richard Bodek, the hilt had “engraved a scene from the Hebrew Bible showing God’s destruction of the race of giants” (130). The scene depicts the introduction of war into the world and the punishment the giants received for it. Beowulf himself is in a battle against giants—Grendel and his mother. They are fearsome and have been terrorizing Heorot. Beowulf states that they “suffered a terrible severance from the Lord; /” (1691). One of the giants in the context of the text is Grendel — a descendant of Cain, according to Bodek (131). He has been separated from God and is only capable of his actions because of his hatred of mankind. The hilt of the sword not

    People often have very different reasons to do something than others. Sometimes, people wonder why others do the things they do. Generally, motivations come in the form of advantages allowed after the completion of the task. This is such an important concept to humans because they are inherently greedy. Power, wealth, status, there are many motivations; however, when it comes to Beowulf, he takes a different approach for his fighting. Beowulf has motivations that follow the Anglo-Saxon code in which he fights for glory, duty, and honor.

Normally, a hero is humble and refuses to admit how great and impactful he/she has been in his/her life, but not Beowulf. Beowulf has been striving since he was young to build his legacy and glory. Another way in which Beowulf stays constant in his quest to build his name is the fact that Beowulf fights Grendel without any weapons in order to show off to his companions and Hrothgar’s king. When it says, “fastened those claws/ In his fist till they cracked” shows, not only Beowulf’s incredible strength, but also his desire to flaunt to others and to Grendel (Lines 283-284). How great would one seem to defeat their dreaded enemy with only his bare hands? To conduct a feat this incredible would surely boost his image and legacy. Lastly, as Beowulf has grown old and before he fights his final death, he utters the words “I’ve never known fear, as a youth I fought/ In endless battles. I am old, now,/ But I will fight again, seek fame still,/ If the dragon hiding in his tower dares/ To face me,” (Lines 607-609). Even as an old and frail man, Beowulf would still fight in any battle, even if he is doomed to lose, to build his legacy even further. Also in that quote, Beowulf even admits that throughout his whole life, from young to old, he has only cared about fighting in battles, seeking fame, and defeating his enemies.

Reminiscing about the fight fought against Grendel’s mother, Beowulf says he fought her using an enchanted sword that disintegrated after one fatal strike. This shows how Beowulf has developed his way of dealing with evil, as this time he actually uses a weapon to kill his

How does Beowulf’s faith and confidence change as these battles unfold and what might these changes signify? In each battle with Grendel, Grendel’s mother and the dragon, Beowulf had shown different strength, motivation and goals. Beowulf’s faith and confidence changes when he fights these three characters and these signify changes means Beowulf is getting old which means he didn’t have the same strength as he had during the fight with Grendel.

He has true honor and respectfully distributes treasure and gifts to those whom he believes rightfully deserves them. Beowulf’s loyalty to the Danes helps shed light on his true character. He expresses that he believes he may die in battle between Grendel, but that does not dissuade him from fighting the beast. Another example is when Hygelac dies, Beowulf is asked to take the throne. In doing so, that would mean the the son of Hygelac would be stripped of his own inheritance, which is dishonorable in Beowulf’s eyes, and thus he declines the offer. The continued honor shown in Beowulf’s character shines through when Beowulf never mentions that Unferth’s trusted sword was no match for Grendel’s mother. Beowulf could have simply boasted how the sword was useless and ineffective against the female beast, yet he was silent out of respect for Unferth. Finally, during Beowulf’s time as ruler (fifty winters), another beast arrives: a dragon. This time, Beowulf is much older and is in a much weaker state than when he first defeated Grendel and his mother. However, that does not deter Beowulf from going out and defending his kingdom. This scene is relevant due to its differing plot from the other two slayings. During the killing of Grendel, Beowulf tears off his arm and ultimately destroys the wretched monster alone and without frivolous weapons. When the duel between Grendel’s mother arises, Beowulf

Near the end of his life as a king, Beowulf found that his citizens were being terrorized by a dragon. Although he was old and grizzled, the king took it on in battle. He showed tremendous courage even when knowing the odds were not in his favor. Previously, during his time in Denmark, Beowulf killed Grendel’s mother with the sword made for a giant. This showed his superhuman strength because as an ordinary human being Beowulf was able to handle and control the giant’s sword. In an earlier battle, Beowulf was able to once again exhibit his enormous strength by single handedly tearing off the arm of an enemy giant, Grendel. Lastly, before all of the battles, Beowulf displays his extreme intelligence. After being unjustly embarrassed by Unferth, Beowulf decided to reply in a civil manner. In his reply, he accurately refuted all of Unferth’s claims and turns the embarrassment on him. By responding cordially, he was able to dissolve any potential tension between the Geats and Danes.

“...So massive no ordinary man could lift its carved and decorated length. He drew it from its scabbard, broke the chain on its hilt, and then, savage, now, angry and desperate, lifted it high over his head and struck with all the strength he had left, caught her in the neck and cut it through, broke bones and all….” Pg72. With ancient understandings and tales in the early times, Beowulf sings of times long forgotten, the times where the only tombs men sought was the battlefield, and their legacies, glory from the most extraordinary of feats. Eras filled with monsters, demons and selfless devotion towards the Glory of God.

What defines an epic hero? Beowulf is anything but a normal human being, he poses extremely large amount of strength and great leadership techniques. When Beowulf set his mind on a task in battle he never gave in to evil. It all began as a quest to defeat Grendel. Beowulf also possesses superhuman strength and is the smartest of any warrior. While performing these great deeds he proves himself a great and valuable warrior. A real warrior would risk his life before allowing someone else risk there's. These are all reasons Beowulf would be considered a great and valiant warrior.

One of the first displays of pride and strengths in Beowulf can be seen in the first battle with Grendel. It is a wide known fact that Grendel is an evil and despicable creature. However, in order to assert pride and strengths throughout the battle, Beowulf decided to use no assistance during the combat. As seen in lines 433 to 440, Beowulf declares “I hereby renounce sword and the shelter of the broad shield, the heavy war board: hand to hand is how it will be, a life and death fight with the fiend.” This statement shows how the warrior decides that he would go into battle without armor or sword to display his strengths and gain

Beowulf bravely follows her back to her home, where he must find a way to slay her. She also has a spell placed on her, so Beowulf’s sword does not harm her. Just as all hope seems to be lost, Beowulf spots a giant sword on the wall that can be used against the beast. The sword is “so massive that no ordinary man could lift [it]”, but Beowulf uses what strength he has left to lift the weapon (Beowulf 54). This scene in the story represents the Magic Weapon archetype. Beowulf uses the sword to fulfill his second task of the story, which essentially saves his life but would have been useless if not for his persistence and strength.

However, after Beowulf kills Grendel using his inhuman strength to rip his otherwise impenetrable arm off, causing him to bleed out, Hrothgar rewards him “Then Beowulf was given the brand of Half-Dane, the golden banner in reward of victory, the adorned standard, helm and byrnie; the renowned treasure-sword many saw brought before the hero; Beowulf took the full flagon from the floor; of the reward-gift he did not, for as payment, need not be ashamed...the head-guard was wound with wires the re-inforced crest guarded from without..”(Slade 1020-1032). Gifts represent success and the heroism of the character, adding to the glorified epic hero quality yearned by all warriors of the Anglo-Saxon

One of the first examples of the not-so-subtle symbolism in Beowulf we see is when Beowulf prepares for his fight against Grendel. He is well aware of how many men Grendel has killed and just how dangerous this monster is, yet Beowulf refuses to use any armor or weapons when he fights the beast. Later, in the second act of the story, Beowulf seeks out and faces off against Grendel’s mother. This time, Beowulf is fully equipped with chainmail armor and Unferth’s family sword, Hrunting. However, in the actual battle, Hrunting cannot even scratch the beast and Beowulf only survives because his armor saves his life and he then

Beowulf manifests the features of a literary epic by reflecting the Anglo-Saxon warrior culture from which it came from, and containing great, descriptive language and plots that include great battles and conflicts. The warrior culture is evident from the explanation of the story in Journeys where Beowulf, along with his group of warriors, sails to Denmark, ready to defeat Grendel to the very end of the excerpt where defeating Grendel brings Beowulf honor, pride, and glory. “He was happy with his / nightwork / and the courage he had shown” (826-828). Great battle and conflict, as well as descriptive detail, can be seen in this line from Beowulf and Grendel’s battle, “Every bone in his body [Grendel’s] / quailed and recoiled, but he could not