Figueiredo, 1
Anthony Figueiredo
Dr. Mendenhall
English 12
18 October 2018
Epic Hero Beowulf
What Man defeats two monsters and a dragon with little to no armor or help? The Beowulf novel was translated by Burton Raffel. A general synopsis of the poem; King Hrothgar’s people were being attacked by Grendel. Beowulf, wanting fame and treasure, defeats Grendel with his bare hands. Grendel’s mother is aggravated and wants to avenge Grendel’s death. Under Kings order Beowulf was told to defeat Grendel’s mother. It is believed that Grendel is the outcome of an affair between the King and Grendel’s mother, scandal. When Beowulf “defeats” Grendel’s mother, King Hrothgar passes his power down to Beowulf. Decades have passed and a dragon now attacks the kingdom and Beowulf being thy king must defend his kingdom. Beowulf completes a hard fought victory between himself and the dragon almost costing his life in the beginning of the battle. Once the dragon is defeated, Beowulf is able to die peacefully knowing he has done his best to defend the kingdom. He passes on his power through hilt of winning sword of last 2 battles on to Wiglaf. Beowulf was the perfect example of an epic hero due to his heroic attributes.
Starting with Beowulf’s first battle with Grendel, the threat of an attack had been apon the Kingdom and heard across the lands. Beowulf sought this threat as a chance to prove himself and gain not only fame but as well as treasure. The epic hero arrived to the kingdom wanting to prove the King that he is well capable to take on Grendel. Grendel did cause fear in the kingdom but it did not cause fear in Beowulf. King Hrothgar, skeptical, allowed Beowulf to take care of Grendel. That night, Beowulf and his men received the presence of Grendel. The battle came sooner than Beowulf expected. Grendel began deliberating the men of Beowulf causing Grendel to receive a beating. Beowulf had to then take matters into his own hands , literally. Due to Grendel bewitching all weapons that belonged to Beowulf and his men, he had to take down Grendel with his epic supernatural strength and caused major damage on Grendel causing Grendel to flee the kingdom back to his lair where eventually died out. The epic hero took a journey to defeat the threat opposed towards the kingdom, defeated said threat using his supernatural strength.
Beowulf the epic hero gained fame and glory from his battle with Grendel. It is not over yet, he had more to overcome. Enraged, Grendel’s mother now wanted to s...
