The Motivation In Beowulf

There is a natural instinct to survive, no matter the cost, but Beowulf doesn’t seem to have that instinct. Throughout the epic poem, Beowulf constantly tempts fate just for a better story to tell around the table. Beowulf values glory and riches over his own life. Beowulf shows heroesque characteristics by performing brave deeds, risking his own life for glory, and being glorified for his actions.

Throughout literature all stories have specific characters that have motivations for what they do. In the epic poem Beowulf by Burton Raffel the poem explains Beowulf's motivation for fighting through the Anglo-Saxon codes. Glory, meaning one’s fame is used throughout the poem. Another word used throughout the poem is Duty, meaning you have to do it whether you like it or not. Lastly, the word hero, meaning someone who uses skills to do good when they could use them to do bad. In the poem Beowulf has three motivations for fighting the monsters: Duty, Glory, and memory.

Why was Beowulf so keen and ready to take on the legendary dragon even in his old age? Yes, he was a beast warrior but without the backup and confidence of his pals and kingdom he would never be able to climb such a mountain. Beowulf showed courage, honor, and gave everybody who knew him a reason to call him a friend. And that’s a great way to live in my perspective. Beowulf wasn’t just a powerful king, he was the people’s king. And going on after high school I’d say there isn’t a better playbook to live by than that of the mighty Beowulf. Strange how such old books and stories can have such a timelessly relatable

Beowulf is willing to risk his life by battling battles to protect the people. There are three main battles. The first battled Beowulf had to fight was against Grendel. The second battle, Beowulf had to fight was against Grendel's mother. The third battle, Beowulf fight was against a dragon. Tangible riches are things that are able to be touched or felt. Gold is an example of tangible riches. Intangible glory is something that is unable to be touched, but it is unable to be felt. Love is an example of intangible glory.

13.) In the beginning, Herot was being savagely attacked by Grendel and lives were being taken for twelve straight winters. He was “so set on murder that no crime could ever be enough, no savage assault quench his lust for evil” (lines 50-53). Finally, the brave warrior Beowulf arrives to Herot and murders the devious Grendel. Seeking revenge, Grendel’s mom slyly arrives at Herot and snatches only one victim. She had taken “Hrothgar’s closest friend, the man he most loved of all men on earth” (lines 18-19). Lastly, “she had carried off Grendel’s claw” to make her presence known throughout Herot. The great palace of Herot was stripped of it’s honor and death’s were traded between the monsters and the people of Herot. In conclusion, both the warriors of Herot and the monster’s had lost.

Comitatus, the sharing of wealth and power between a king and his subjects, is a tradition often performed in Beowulf. However, the men and warriors also fight for their own status and power. The traditions of comitatus and the desire for personal glory are opposing views that also complement each other in Beowulf.

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, the epic tale of a Danish society plagued by evil beasts, reveals many thought-provoking and admirable character traits of the main character and hero, Beowulf. Firstly, he shows chivalry through his interactions and actions towards the king of Heorot, showing him the respect and honor he deserved. Secondly, he demonstrates bravery in all battles above and beyond the standard of the times and the standard of his fellow fighters. He owes his bravery in part to his seemingly immeasurable strength, having more power in each fist than that of thirty men. Lastly, he demonstrates a trait that applies to people for his time and ours, pride. Pride plagued his times, due to warriors’ great deeds, but it haunts modern times as well. The liberator of Heorot and the champion of the tale, Beowulf, demonstrates three admirable and relevant character traits, chivalry, bravery and pride.

Beowulf’s honor and integrity can be questioned throughout the entirety of the epic poem, Beowulf. Whether or not his actions are inspired by his own pompous arrogance or confidence, one can argue that he is a hero nonetheless. Evidence and experience prove that Beowulf is more of a fearless hero than an excessively prideful man, and his hubris is more than justified due to the formidable duties he is able to execute.

A hero does not fight for fame and glory but for the greater good. A hero is someone who goes through adversity to help others in desperate times. A hero fights evil, and defends people. Beowulf should be considered a hero because he is a strong, brave warrior who defended his people and slayed evil monsters.

Everybody likes rooting for a hero. And throughout the evolution of storytelling, from stories written in stone to those in tablets, heroes have always played a huge role in the stories we tell. As literature evolved, and more legends and tales began to appear in different cultures, the idea of a traditional epic hero was established. Stories like "The Epic of Gilgamesh," and "The Odyssey," set the mold for this type of heroes, an influence that can clearly be seen when analyzing literature. In fact, most of these characters, regardless of the time and place they were created in, shared similar characteristics to the two kings. A huge number possessed skills that mere mortals didn 't have, which helped them defeat their "infamous" enemies. These

Second, the readers of "Beowulf " poem often confuse about whether Beowulf fought monsters for wealth or for pride. In my point of view as a reader I belief Beowulf fought monsters and beast for his pride and faith. So I chose "Goldgyfan or Goldwlance: A Christian Apology for Beowulf and Treasure " by Joseph E. Marshall from Studies in Philology journal as my critics to support my statement. In Marshall, Joseph E. “Goldgyfan or Goldwlance: A Christian Apology for Beowulf and Treasure.” Studies in Philology, vol. 107, no. 1, 2010, pp. 1–24., www.jstor.org/stable/25656034 Marshall point out the argument of Eugene J. Crook who state that Beowulf fought the monster for gold and wealth. In Marshall description Crook claim that Beowulf

So now Beowulf decides that enough is enough and goes to avenge his people by fighting the dragon. Beowulf gets injured while fighting the dragon. The dragon spits out fire towards Beowulf that it melts the sword that he has with him. Then the dragon bites down into his neck

Where does the idea of a superhero come from? Superheroes like Spiderman, Batman, and Superman have derived from a poem that began as an oral story during the Anglo-Saxon time. These superheroes always do good things, and make good choices and fights bad guy rather than being the villain. The question is why do these superheroes do these good things? The answer is because of this poem. In the poem, Beowulf, there are three primary motivations behind the actions that he takes that inspire the superhero stories.

At first glance, gold seems to symbolize greed. Yet in Beowulf, treasure is presented in a different light. Rather than unilaterally being an all-encompassing symbol of sin, treasure is separated by the Beowulf-poet based off its user’s purposes: to share or to hoard. For what purpose does the Beowulf-poet consistently juxtapose distributed and unused treasure? To what extent are either or both types of treasure consistent with Christian ideals? These questions guide Joseph Marshall’s paper, “Goldgyfan or Goldwlance: A Christian Apology for Beowulf and Treasure”. Therein, Marshall argues that the poet’s clear distinction between distributed and unused treasure is symbolic of the poem’s message. Marshall uses a plethora of contextualized Christian sources to assert that the Beowulf-poet’s differentiation