Germanic Culture In Beowulf

Beowulf Essay Revised - Meir Lazar

Each monster Beowulf fights against represents the adversary of what the Germanic culture deems as righteous and good. Grendel, the first monster, did not like the fact that there were parties in the mead hall so he tried to put an end to their pleasure and happiness. After Grendel, the people of Herot were peaceful and comfortable but Grendel’s mom took that peace away by instilling fear in the citizens. Later on, the dragon is also represented as an adversary since the Germanic culture generally loves and has a need for gold but the dragon took that away by hoarding the gold. In the epic poem Beowulf, the text stresses the fact that Hrothgar and his people loved to party. The parties represented the citizen’s comfort and happiness, but in the depths amongst the mystery of the caves, Grendel got very angry towards the men that were partying. Since Grendel got angry, he wanted to take away the happiness of the people and the ability to party, implying that Grendel was the adversary of the people’s pleasure.
Grendel's mom took the ability to celebrate away by scaring the citizens of Herot and terrorizing them. Grendel’s mom put fear right back in the hearts of the people implying that the she is fear which is the opponent of comfort, and the citizens of Herot love their comfort. Years later another obstacle arises that Beowulf has to face, the dragon. The dragon is the hoarder of gold and gold is crucial to the Germanic culture. The fact that, in the epic poem Beowulf, the dragon kept and guarded the gold implies that the dragon is the antithesis to gold, which the Germanic peoples hold very highly in their