...the evolution of society. In the days of Beowulf and the Vikings, a hero was a man who was strong and courageous, willing and able to protect his tribe and provide for his people. But today, since our culture has vastly changed, so has the meaning of this word; now it is used for the brave and selfless people of the world. Though Beowulf may have acted in ways that were not so heroic, he should be recognized as a hero. Many people recognize Beowulf as the hero of Anglo-Saxon times. Beowulf was the first poem told in Anglo-Saxon England sometime between the 8th and 11th centuries, but it's not actually set in that time and place. It's actually set several hundred years earlier, in the 5th or 6th century. Beowulf does not take place in England, instead, the action happens in the land of the Danes what is known as the nation of Denmark and the land of the Geats which today is known as the nation of Sweden. The main action of the story is set around 500 a.d. Judging by Beowulf’s many feats and strengths, Beowulf’s heroism is not hard to believe. When Beowulf slays the monster Grendal in the classic tale," he was considered a great hero. The slaying of Grendel required courage, bravery, intelligence, perseverance, and mental and physical strength. Certain passages in the story support the opinion that Beowulf has all these qualities. However, in the epic, Beowulf explores the great lengths the character had to go through to succeed. Beowulf did anything in his power to prevail, leading...
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...short story Beowulf, he was considered a hero because he was brave and stood up for himself. Consequently, in the Iliad, Achilles was seen as a hero by many for the battles he fought. People do not understand that there is more to it than just saving a person from danger and defeating bad guys to be a hero. Some people believe to be considered a hero, they must have the courage and be brave. In both the Iliad and Beowulf, the characters exhibit heroic qualities such as strength, bravery, and be independence. Beowulf showed his strength when he fought Grendel’s Mother. In the quote “If weapons were useless he’d use his hands, the strength in his fingers. (line 489).” For example, this means that Beowulf would continue to show how strong he is with or without a weapon. To have strength means to be strong and be able to put up a fight. In the Iliad Achilles shows strength when he encountered Hector. In the quote “Achilles drove his point straight through the tender neck, but not cutting his windpipe, leaving Hector able to speak and to respond (line 166).” Additionally, this means that Achilles used his strength by putting his sword through Hector tender neck and by putting up a fight. To have bravery means to not be afraid and...
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...Taylor Armendariz Mr. Ryan English 4 9/20/17 Beowulf The epic Beowulf is by an unknown author. It is an epic about a warrior named Beowulf, who helps king Hrothgar defend his land against an ogre named Grendel. Another story by an unknown author is the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It is a romance about a green knight who goes to a dinner party and desires to play a game. Both Beowulf and sir Gawain show bravery, courage, and strength in all that they do. Beowulf’s bravery is certainly not in question throughout this epic. From his victory over Breca in a swimming contest, to his final fall as a glorious king defending his kingdom, we see that bravery is an important aspect of his life. We see some of this bravery when...
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...The topic that I am going to talk about is the importance and benefits of loyalty, bravery, and leadership in Beowulf. I am going to start by saying that Beowulf seemed like he could conquer anything. Beowulf is very strong. He is almost stronger than anyone, but he is deciding to face a monster that killed every soldier and warrior in his way. Beowulf then decides not to use any weapons against the monster and only use his body. This decision was very risky for him because he almost lost the fight and had been almost killed by the monster. Now I am going to start off by talking about the importance and benefits of loyalty, in Beowulf. One example of the importance of having loyalty in this story was when Beowulf was nice to the soldiers....
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...Beowulf is actually one of my favorite poems. He exercises strength, skills and some help from the Gods and Goddesses to prevail a number of events of deadly and evil adversaries. Beowulf‘s righteousness, bravery and fearlessness in combat distinguishes him as a great epic hero. By Beowulf battling with his antagonist, he deliberately positions the field of battle and supplied Grendel with an honest shot of triumphing. Being relentless and bold is a challenging task to be burdened with. Bravery is indispensible to any hero, whether it is an epic hero or modern day hero. Beowulf is able to establish no shortage of this; this is seemingly apparent with the fighting of him and Grendel with no weapon is one of many occurrences to show his bravery. This is where the similarities and comparison of the heroes of the Iliad’s and Aeneid comes in, they all share the same characteristics of being courageous and brave. His bravery and heroism is demonstrated in this quote, “Indifferent to death, does death not lie and the root of all fear? Do we not shrink from darkness, from poison, from gunfire, because we fear death.” Beowulf goes into battle fearlessness, with the utmost self assurance in him. An important aspect of every epic hero is the competence to overcome and carry on, bravery, courageousness, self-sacrificing, relentless and boldness in war or battle. These are the bona fide qualities that a hero must maintain. The story of Beowulf is a great one indeed. Beowulf, like other epic...
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...complex thing to illustrate, since it varies between each person. Anyone can be a hero. No matter the immensity of a event, even an act of kindness can make someone a hero to someone else. A hero is a title earned by someone who exhibits bravery in ones actions for the well being of someone else. Whether or not someone is a hero is based upon the opinions of others. Acquiring the title of "hero" is not always a simple task furthermore, it is more often obtained when someone images chivalrous mannerisms and virtues. One characteristic that is crucial for a hero to have is compassion. The most compassionate people are those who are selfless and do anything for others. Passion is what drives a person to go to extreme lengths to pursue what they think is right. Whether it is right for them or right for someone else. For example, in the...
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...Anglo- Saxon hero, Beowulf, most perfectly fits into this category and truly defines what it means. At all times, Beowulf is never afraid to put his life on the line for the sake and protection of his people, which helped him gain approval from the people of his area. Throughout the course of the adventure and journey, Beowulf exemplifies what it means to be an epic hero showing loyalty, courage, intelligence, and selflessness in his efforts to save his people and achieve immortality. Beowulf proves that he is a great Anglo-Saxon epic hero through his loyalty. Loyalty was held paramount by...
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...great heroes from the early classic to medieval periods are Beowulf, Achilles, and Sir Gawain. The paper will look at the similarities and differences of literary heroes in order to discover how heroes changed over time. Beowulf and Sir Gawain are romantic heroes full of bravery, loyalty, humility, courage, and virtue. Beowulf and Sir Gawain were both involved in battles of great magnitude and admired for their super human strength. Both of them battle with the intent to bring honor to the King: Sir Gawain to honor King Arthur and Beowulf to honor Hrothgar. The battles they fight are against good and evil, “Grendel is a shepherd of evil” and the Green Knight represents pre- Christian tribal paganism. The custom of the time period was to keep their word and honor the one who helped them rise to knighthood. Beowulf kept his word as seen in the poem as he returns from the adventures and presents all his gifts to Hygelac as a sign of loyalty (line 2145). Sir Gawain keeps his word with Lord Bertilak, by agreeing to exchange their winnings at the end of each day (Sir Gawain 1105-1113). Beowulf and Sir Gawain differ as heroes in several ways. First, Sir Gawain is an Arthurian Hero and as such holds to a Christian faith while Beowulf holds to the pagan history of Britain. Sir Gawain draws strength from his devotion to Christ and the five social graces of generosity, brotherly love, chastity, courtesie, and piety. Beowulf believes in fate: “Fate...
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...Is Beowulf a hero? Beowulf is strong, determined, smart, and willing to protect the innocent from evil. He’s also an ethical person who obviously believes battle should be fair between two opposing sides. He has superhuman qualities that could also prove his power. Beowulf is a mighty hero that shows all of a hero’s qualities. When you think of Beowulf, what comes to mind is usually strength and power. You may also think of bravery and someone that’s heroic. Beowulf is definitely someone who fits these descriptions because this is all Beowulf is; a mighty and strong hero that is ready and willing to defend the innocent from evil at any time. The story even said, "Nor have I seen a mightier man- at-arms on this earth than the one standing here." This obviously shows...
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...My modern day hero I am comparing to beowulf is a soldier, my seem like they don't have a lot in common, but they really do. Like soldiers, beowulf love to fight, and show off their strength. Both do things that other people wouldn’t, to protect people they don't even know. Beowulf has supernatural strength, and soldiers don't but they still risk their lives for their country. Both of them are really brave, and save lives. Beowulf fights off grendel to protect the danes, as the soldiers fight to protect their country. Beowulf, and soldiers accomplish missions others would not attempt in their lifetime. “A path for his evil soul, but their points could not open hurt him, the sharpest and hardest iron could not scratch his skin.”(line 360-361 pg 32). Like in this quote, beowulf has powers to help him during a fight. A soldier is a regular human being with a substantial amount of bravery. They both fight with honor, and the will of fire in their hearts for a peaceful world....
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...Beowulf is a story about a village that has been getting disturbed and messed with by a monster named Grendel. The tales of Grendel had been told and spreaded by word of mouth, mostly by monks. The tales eventually were heard by a man named Beowulf fourteen winters since the terror started. When beowulf heard the news him and some of his men rode to herot and he was set on ending the terror and killing the monster Grendel. Beowulf will eventually defeat the monster in battle and be Herot’s courageous hero. Throughout the story Beowulf shows many qualities of being a hero. One of the qualities he posessed was being courageous. Beowulf was very brave and would risk his life to fight battles others wouldn’t. One quote from the story that showed...
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...you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right” (Ford quotes). This quote expresses how one should always keep a positive mindset because the outcome of a situation depends solely upon on ones mindset. It can also help people establish a certain type of attitude one should keep when going through obstacles in life. Anglo-Saxon hero, Beowulf, and modern day hero, Nelson Mandela can be characterized as archetypal heroes from the characteristics that define them. Ancient hero Beowulf along with present day hero Nelson Mandela similarly have comparable quests during their time. Both heros during their quests experience great struggle and obstacles which they had to overcome in order to achieve their goals. Beowulf’s quest dealt with him having to defeat the monster, “Grendel, who haunted the moors, the wild Marshes, and made his home in a hell” (Raffel 44). The Anglo-Saxon hero may not have used weapons on his quest but he did use his Geats to his full advantage. In his epic quest to slay the monster, Beowulf realizes he cannot be successful alone and that he will need the aide of his loyal Geats. When faced with adversity he always had his men at his side. By succeeding in defeating the monster, Beowulf would have freed people of their nightmare. They showed their gratitude by holding ,“...a banquet in [his] honor, [and toasting to his] victories..."(Raffel 49). Like Beowulf, Nelson Mandela had a difficult quest to fulfill as well, “Mandela's main agenda...
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...Beowulf Values The story of Beowulf holds many interesting values about each character. The characters value their fathers names, their armor and treasures. These values are clearly shown throughout the story and affect the plot dramatically . Beowulf truly cares about his father Edgetho and his appearance in his armor because of how he presents himself when meeting new people stating his father's name right away, and treasures because he lost his life for a treasure. The value of a man's fathers name is very important to the men in this time period. In my perspective if a person had a well respected father and was well known and he stated his name, people would like you better. ''So the living sorrow of Healfdanes's son/Simmered, bitter and fresh, no wisdom(104-105)''. This quote is talking about Hrothgar. Instead of just saying Hrothgar they state his father's name and add son to the end to represent Hrothgar. Another example is ''We are Geats/ Men who follow Higlac. My father/ was a famous soldier, known far and wide/ His name was Edgetho (173-176) ''. This example is when Beowulf arrives to Herot and is introducing himself to the sentinel. Characters in Beowulf value armor a lot. The guard of Herot see's Beowulf and his men arrive on the shore and almost automatically welcomes and respects due to their flawless armor. I think the characters take value in their armor because of how much pride they have fighting and how brave they are. ''With gleaming armor/Going...
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...Beowulf in Relation to Anglo-Saxton Beliefs and Values In the epic poem, Beowulf, there are many references of Anglo-Saxton beliefs and values and the effects they have on the characters and the outcome of the story. As the setting of the story takes place in Anglo-Saxton times, these beliefs and values were well represented and well valued by the many characters of the story, such as Beowulf, Hygelac, Hrothgar, and Wiglaf. The Anglo-Saxton values consisted of generosity, friendship, loyalty, and bravery. Anglo-Saxtons also desired their kings to be chivalrous, powerful, and daring. Most importantly, the epic reveals the values of Anglo-Saxton society in its chivalry code, as well as the code of knighthood. Beowulf demonstrates Anglo-Saxton values and beliefs by strengthening...
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...Do you have a hero or role model that you look up to and strive to be like? In Beowulf’s time, he was the hero to many of his warriors and the type of person each of them wanted to be similar to before the end of their lifetime. Heroes like Beowulf had to be willing to face any challenges thrown their way and risk their lives for their people. Beowulf displayed all of these traits while still being respectable, kind, and intelligent. Beowulf was a true epic hero because of his bravery, loyalty to his men, and his strength. Beowulf was viewed as a hero by many because of his super strength and appearance. For example, in lines 109-113, the quote says “In his far-off home Beowulf, Higlac’s follower and the strongest of the Geats – greater and...
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