The Three Monsters In The Epic Of Beowulf

Grendel was the monster that was killing all of Hrothgar’s men. Grendel was evil, smart, and stealthy making him dangerous. Beowulf stopped Grendel but not before he killed many of people.

Grendel’s mother, a swamp-hag, comes to the mead-hall seeking revenge for the death of her son. She murders one of Hrothgar’s most trusted advisers, before running away back to the swamp. To avenge the death of the trusted advisor, the company travels to the murky swamp, where Beowulf dives straight into the water without hesitation. Beowulf then begins to fight Grendel’s mother in her underwater lair. He kills her with a sword that was made for a giant, and then he ends up finding the corpse of Grendel. Beowulf decapitates Grendel’s head to bring back to Hrothgar as another trophy. After Beowulf has defeated Grendel’s mother, the Danish countryside now find themselves free of its treacherous monsters. This is a great battle for Beowulf because he has now saved the Danes, and he has revenged them. The Danes were obviously overjoyed by Beowulf’s victory once again, and this time his fame was spread across the kingdom. Beowulf had a lot of pride for his past victories, so winning these great battles have backed up his prideful spirit and

In the epic poem Beowulf, the protagonist, Beowulf, faces three “monsters” at different times in his life. The poem begins with Grendel, a monster who attacks only in the dark of night, tormenting the kingdom of Hrothgar. The last two sections of the epic detail the conquering by Beowulf of Grendel’s mother and the dragon. The battle between the monsters and Beowulf represent the theme of good versus evil in the poem, as well as the fusion of pagan and Christian ideals in the changing Germanic society. Grendel’s mother’s actions directly juxtapose the role of a woman in this time period, and the greediness of the dragon with his treasure contrasts with the virtues of what would be considered a good king.

ver time, humans have always created stories and conjured up personifications of evil to explain the unknown - whether it was the myth of the vampire, spurred on by Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the receding of skin that causes a corpse’s nails to appear longer, or the myth of Wendigos, a create of evil in Native American culture. Many cultures and civilizations, new and old, have their fairytales and monsters in the dark, to explain the unknown. We see this in Beowulf, where Grendel is a representation of Satanic evil in the Bible due to the heavy influence of faith in Germanic warrior society, as opposed to monsters in modern society such as the zombie, which is a reflection of evolving political fears.

Beowulf, a skilled warrior and was believed to be the strongest of all the lands, heard about the distress in Heorot and decided to make the voyage to assist King Hrothgar. When Beowulf and his men arrived in Heorot, the natives were intimidated by the appearance of his ship and his men, which showed the first act of pride in Beowulf. Beowulf and his men had successfully proved to the people of Heorot that Beowulf believed that he could kill the monster and save the land of Heorot. Hrothgar assigned the duty of killing Grendel to Beowulf and his men, and told them to party, which attracts and angers Grendel, and wait for Beowulf. Grendel entered the mead hall while Beowulf laid patient and observant, waiting for the perfect time to attack, with his bare hands. Beowulf attacked and tore off the arm of Grendel, mortally wounding him.Beowulf, not only upheld the warrior code of conduct, to trust in himself, but took the fight against Grendel to the extreme. He decided to fight without the use of a

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.

The monster in Beowulf, known as Grendel, is a representation of human fear, hatred, and impulse. On page 44, the narrator states, " He found them sprawled in sleep, suspecting nothing, their dreams undisturbed... He slipped through the door and there in the silence snatched up thirty men, smashed them..." Because the Anglo Saxons mainly lived on the coast of England, they feared that vikings or some other enemy will come attack them in the middle of the night. Grendel, this excerpt is a reflection of that fear,where Grendel is the enemy. On page 48, Beowulf states, "I have heard, too, that the monster's scorn of men is so great that he needs no weapons and fears none." As you can see, Grendel's hatred is strong. He is hate personified and

Being an epic hero, Beowulf was very brave and battled many immortal creatures. One monster he came across was Grendel. “Conceived by a pair of the monster born of Cain, murderous creatures banned by God..,”(44), Hrothgar’s men would say. This is a reference from the Bible, showing the evil portrayed in the monster Grendel. This monster went to Herot and killed thirty men just because he was hungry. The battle between the good and evil was vigorous, but

“A villain is just a victim whose story hasn’t been told” (Colfer) can be related to the three so-called bad guys from the poem, Beowulf. Everybody sees the mighty and magnificent hero as Beowulf, Hygelac’s great Thane, but people seem to neglect the antagonist’s points of view. The three main statements that most of the audience have in mind are: Grendel, a demon who kills 30 men in one night, along with controlling people with fear for 12 winters, Grendel’s mother that kills Hrothmund’s dear friend, Aeshere, and the dragon that burns down villages. From their perspective, these three fiends are pure definition of a villain, where as Beowulf is the great vanquisher. The antagonists that the audience claims from the poem should be reconsidered

In the halls of Heorot, an evil presence terrorizes its people. An evil presence known as Grendel. Grendel is assumed to be a descendent of Cain, who is destined to be evil. Even though he is full of corruption, he is a lonely creature who seeks companionship by killing the people of Heorot. Every one in the castle is terrified of Grendel as well as the King’s warriors. There is only one man that is not afraid to confront this enormous beast, Beowulf. Beowulf is fearless and eventually rips the arm off of Grendel and brings it upon King Hrothgar. The people are overjoyed and feast in the great hall. Grendel’s mother however is furious about the death of her son. Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother with his sword. After retuning home, Beowulf has

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.

Monsters are born in literature through their words, origins, thoughts, and actions. Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, as well as Burton Raffel’s Beowulf, contain such monsters that are large impediments to the hero’s quest. Also the expeditions or quests are affected in terms of intimidation by the monsters who are always overwhelming at first to the pessimistic eye such as how the Israelites viewed Goliath, the Philistine, when David went to fight him.

Since his appearance in Beowulf, Grendel has come to conclusion that no matter how hard he tries no one will accept who he is. Besides being presented as a monster, he was also seen as a coward and an insensitive character and referred to as “spawned in that slime”, a biblical allusion to the story of his antecedents. According to the Bible, all of Cain's descendants were punished by God because of his sins. Moreover, in Beowulf, Grendel was illustrated as “insensible pain and human sorrows”, or “incompetent” of any mental feeling. He is not aware that his actions affect other people as well as him being unaffected by the pain and suffering of others. Despite his evil motives, he is determined to do the best and overcome any obstacle that interferes with how bad he wants people to see he means no

In the poem Beowulf, there is a contrast between good and evil. This distinction is presented through the monsters Grendel and his mother, in parallel to the hero Beowulf. The themes of evil and monstrosity are therefore used in the story, as a way to create the notion of Grendel and his mother as monsters. Beowulf therefore appears as a character representing good. Although Beowulf shows traits of abnormal power, like Grendel and his mother, his motifs are interpreted differently.

A genuine definition of a monster is an "imaginary creature that is typically large, ugly, and frightening," but in the poem Beowulf a monster has much more meaning than just an imaginary creature. Monsters were commonly used in stories written during the pagan times. Throughout the plot of ‘Beowulf,' the protagonist Beowulf faces many obstacles that include fighting monsters: Grendel, Grendel's mother, and a Dragon. The monsters in Beowulf are present for a substantial reason to contribute towards the story, and they are symbolic of many qualities in the Anglo-Saxon culture.