Why Is Beowulf An Immortal Hero
Khang Vo
Miss Easter
English IV
22 February 2012 Beowulf: The Immortal Hero “Hwaet!” (“Pay attention”!) So begins Beowulf, one of the oldest surviving works of literature in English. Poet-singers sang about remarkable deeds of an immortal hero named Beowulf for centuries. The voice of the epic poem still resounds today. Beowulf tells about the life and accomplishment of a revered hero – its titular character. In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats in Scandinavia, comes to the help of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall (Herot) has been terrorized by a troll-like monster called Grendel. Beowulf defeats both Grendel and his mother. After a period …show more content…
What inspires courage? What drives a hero to go so far? Why does the hero choose his exhausting, dangerous path with no visible outcome? Does he even regret being a hero? In an epic work of literature, a hero’s motivation can be fame, righteousness, justice or even vengeance. In the case if Beowulf, he embraces his heroic path to help humankind get rid of living terrors, named and unnamed. He sails across the ocean to a foreign country and battles a fearsome, unfamiliar monster just because he wants to help the Danes end their sufferings “He who had come to them from across the sea, bold and strong-minded, had driven affliction off, purged Herot clean” (lines 347-350). It is not his obligation to embrace such a dangerous mission for the sake of a neighboring country. Yet he is willing to risk his life (and almost lose it) to exterminate an enemy of humankind along with his monstrous mother “He’d traveled to the bottom of the earth, Edgetho’s son, and died there, if that shining woven metal had not helped” (lines 507-509). May be Beowulf wishes to seek fame for himself, too, but in the most part he hopes to make use of his strength and valor for the greater good of the society he lives in “ Ended the grief, the sorrow, the suffering forced on Hrothgar’s helpless people” (lines 353-354). Though Beowulf has to face not only one but many terrifying supernatural monsters, he takes a great resolve to shrink from no difficulty, following his path till the dark lake or even the end of his life. In his final battle Beowulf sacrifices his life for his people as their hero and their king. He has been ruling his country in peace and prosperity for fifty years “ I’ve worn this crown for fifty winters…ruling as well as I knew how” (lines 744-750) and he ends his reign with the most heroic act: sacrificing himself to restore peace to his land “Leaving life and this people I’ve ruled so long” (lines
Miss Easter
English IV
22 February 2012 Beowulf: The Immortal Hero “Hwaet!” (“Pay attention”!) So begins Beowulf, one of the oldest surviving works of literature in English. Poet-singers sang about remarkable deeds of an immortal hero named Beowulf for centuries. The voice of the epic poem still resounds today. Beowulf tells about the life and accomplishment of a revered hero – its titular character. In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats in Scandinavia, comes to the help of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall (Herot) has been terrorized by a troll-like monster called Grendel. Beowulf defeats both Grendel and his mother. After a period …show more content…
What inspires courage? What drives a hero to go so far? Why does the hero choose his exhausting, dangerous path with no visible outcome? Does he even regret being a hero? In an epic work of literature, a hero’s motivation can be fame, righteousness, justice or even vengeance. In the case if Beowulf, he embraces his heroic path to help humankind get rid of living terrors, named and unnamed. He sails across the ocean to a foreign country and battles a fearsome, unfamiliar monster just because he wants to help the Danes end their sufferings “He who had come to them from across the sea, bold and strong-minded, had driven affliction off, purged Herot clean” (lines 347-350). It is not his obligation to embrace such a dangerous mission for the sake of a neighboring country. Yet he is willing to risk his life (and almost lose it) to exterminate an enemy of humankind along with his monstrous mother “He’d traveled to the bottom of the earth, Edgetho’s son, and died there, if that shining woven metal had not helped” (lines 507-509). May be Beowulf wishes to seek fame for himself, too, but in the most part he hopes to make use of his strength and valor for the greater good of the society he lives in “ Ended the grief, the sorrow, the suffering forced on Hrothgar’s helpless people” (lines 353-354). Though Beowulf has to face not only one but many terrifying supernatural monsters, he takes a great resolve to shrink from no difficulty, following his path till the dark lake or even the end of his life. In his final battle Beowulf sacrifices his life for his people as their hero and their king. He has been ruling his country in peace and prosperity for fifty years “ I’ve worn this crown for fifty winters…ruling as well as I knew how” (lines 744-750) and he ends his reign with the most heroic act: sacrificing himself to restore peace to his land “Leaving life and this people I’ve ruled so long” (lines