Personality And Character Development In The Character Of Beowulf

Not only is Beowulf honorable and well respected, he is brave as well. His courage is shown by not hesitating to risk his own life to pursue the Dane’s enemies. By being self-assured, Beowulf is able to successfully defeat the fiends, Grendel and his infamous mother. At the time Beowulf is planning to pursue the vindictive dragon, the epic poem states, “I’ve never known fear, as a youth I fought in endless battles. I am old now, but I will fight again, seek fame still, If the dragon hiding in his tower dares to face me.”(ll. 2511-2515). He feels no fear, is confident in fighting the dragon alone, and has no qualms in risking his life to save others. He declares his bravery by saying, “When he comes to me I mean to stand, not run from his shooting flames, stand till fate decides which of us wins... No one else could do what I mean to, here, no man but me could hope to defeat this monster.”(ll. 2525-2534). In his actions, Beowulf’s bravery is clearly shown throughout the poem.

Beowulf’s virtues of courage and strength appear throughout the poem during his life as a warrior and as a king. He begins the story with courage and “the strength of thirty / in the grip of each hand” (380-381), which are vital to his accomplishments as a warrior. His courage and strength are apparent when he fights Grendel without the use of weapons. Both virtues are crucial to his success in that battle and lead him to become a leader of wisdom and stature. As king of Heorot he uses his courage and strength in the battle against the dragon. Before the fight he has a feeling of uncertainty and it is stated “He was sad at heart / unsettled yet ready, sensing his death. / His fate hovered near, unknowing but certain: / It would soon claim his coffered soul.” (2419-2424). His sense of forthcoming death may illustrates a lack of confidence in his ability to slay the dragon; however, it also shows tremendous courage by involving himself in an unevenly matched fight. Although his physical strength may have abandoned him in his last fight against the dragon, his courage and wisdom intensified his glory beyond his death.

In the poem, Beowulf, the poet says “Hand to hand is how it will be, a life and death fight against the fiend, and he whom death bears off shall submit to the judgement of the lord.” (Line#) This quote is a piece of how Beowulf will fight Grendel to save the townspeople. He then is led to fight Grendel’s mother, who retaliates on the end result of Beowulf’s fight with her son. Before Beowulf says goodbye to his people forever, he fights a fire breathing dragon, who is terrorizing his people. Throughout each of these fights, Beowulf changes his character and each fight shows the growth of Beowulf as a hero.

The tale of Beowulf follows one of history's oldest heroes as he ventures throughout Nordic Europe on a quest to kill the infamous monster Grendel, however in contrast with many of the regaled heroes of the past Beowulf remains constant in every aspect of his character. His goals, values, and actions never undergo even the slightest amount of alteration, even throughout his unusually long life, he remains static, Why? Some would argue that Beowulf’s unchanging personality could be contributed to poor penmanship by the author of the tale, or that it simply could have been lost throughout the ages of the story being retold orally, but despite all of that, it seems most likely that Beowulf was intentionally portrayed this way in order to set an example for those who would encounter his story, in all senses of the Nordic Culture that he came from, Beowulf is the Paragon of what a nord should aspire to be, his values encompassed everything their culture held dear in this world: gold, glory, the well-being of his people, and an aspiration to have his name ring out for the rest of eternity.

The main character in the epic poem “Beowulf” is Beowulf. An epic hero is one that has superhuman qualities and who beholds values of his society and is braver than life. “Epics are stories told on a grand scale, with armies, heroes, gods, and the brutal forces of nature depicted over long character arcs and sweeping landscapes.” (Rebecca Ray 1) Beowulf is a selfless warrior that puts the kingdom of Herot first and tries to rid evil for the people.

Beowulf shows many attitudes and emotions throughout his many fights with the monsters. He is continually challenged throughout the story, and the challenges get increasingly harder as the story progresses. As his fights change, so does his attitude. When he fights Grendel, he is out for glory and honor. He then goes and fights Grendel’s mother, which he does out of vengeance for Hrothgar.

In my opinion Beowulf gradually changed over a fifty year period from a young fearless warrior to a wise ruler. His experiences over his lifetime prepared him for the difficulties that he would face, each more difficult than the last. Beowulf exemplifies the traits of the perfect hero. The poem explores his heroism in two separate phases, youth and age, and through three separate and increasingly difficult conflicts, with Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon. Although we can view these

Peter Nguyen Professor Mary Stahoviak English 2322 Fall, 2014 Epic Hero of Beowulf Beowulf is an old English epic poem that portrays many themes such as loyalty, glory, and revenge. These themes are reflected through the characters, events, and dialogue of the work. The characters in the poem all possess individual traits that set them apart from others, especially the epic hero, Beowulf. With his loyalty, and heroic traits, Beowulf mirrors the integrity of a true epic hero.

Beowulf is a brave, selfless and strong modern day hero. When Beowulf came to help Hrothgar and his people, it was hard for Beowulf to fight Grendel. It wasn’t an easy task to kill him but he didn’t give up. Beowulf is brave enough to keep trying to kill him. He is a selfless hero, who risked his life for others. Beowulf is a strong hero who has killed a lot of evil before, he knows he is strong enough to kill Grendel. He's not afraid of anything, he knows he can beat anything. Throughout the poem, Beowulf shows how he is brave, strong and selfless. He doesn’t give up when there is evil around him. He fights it off and protects others around him. Beowulf is a modern day

Beowulf takes it upon himself to report a few awesome deeds that he will perform to help nations in need. One of these deeds is his offer to King Hrothgar, in which he proposes to kill Grendel. Beowulf states, "solitary I 'll settle the strife (37). In this announcement Beowulf is just expressing that he will murder this detestable animal, Grendel. Another benevolent act Beowulf states is that he will kill Grendel 's mom. Beowulf announces, "And I give you promise, she Grendel 's mom should not in security departure to cover (42). Beowulf guarantees to see to it that Grendel 's mom will be executed. After Beowulf gets to be lord in Geatland, he demonstrates his incredible capacity afresh by promising to execute the flame monster. "The ring ruler hated to strike the mythical beast," the artist said (43). Beowulf is said to have vowed to

“When I was younger, I had great triumphs. Then news of Grendel, hard to ignore, reached me at home;” (408-410) Once he heard about this opportunity for immortal glory, he took it. He went to save the Danes because he wanted to defeat the terrifying monster and then be known for his heroism. He was already known locally for his great abilities; “So every elder and experienced councilman among my people supported my resolve to come here to you, King Hrothgar, because all knew of my awesome strength.” (415-418) Other respected individuals thought highly of Beowulf, showing his hard work at his home too. Before battles, he explains that he ultimately has no control over what happens and that “Fate goes ever as fate must.” (455) He does have lots of confidence, but this shows him defending his name more than a lack of fear. By saying this, he is ensuring that he isn’t known as a loser if he is defeated because it isn't his fault, rather, it's fate's

In The epic poem Beowulf, the characters are as psychologically complex as today's hero's and villains. From my perspective, the characters are emotionally and psychologically traumatized. In the epic poem Beowulf, demonic monster by the name of Grendel goes on a killing spree of The Danes in the midst of nights. Years later the epic hero, Beowulf comes to defeat the horrible creature. Once the monster is killed, Beowulf has to go battle the creatures mother.

Beowulf is an epic hero who enjoyed challenges and feeling adrenaline while fighting battles. He was not afraid of death so risk taking was no problem for him. Like he said “and if death does take me, send the hammered/ Mail of my armor to Higlac, return/ the inherence I had from Hrethel and he/ from Wayland. Fate will unwind as it must!” (Pg.414. line186-189) Beowulf wouldn’t care to die in a battle because he wanted to be remembered as a legacy in his town. He was aware that the fall out of his battle was not in his hands, which drove him to be fearless. Beowulf’s heroic vision never failed to motivate him even if many believed he wouldn’t succeed fighting alone without any armor. Beowulf was victor against his battle with Grendel. After this event

Beowulf is an old English epic poem which tells the tale of a hero who goes on a quest. Beowulf was written sometime between 720-739 AD by an unknown writer. The story is considered one of the oldest and greatest poems in Old English. It describes a man, Beowulf, who seeks glory in battle in whatever way possible. Throughout the epic poem Beowulf fights three main battles. Each of the fights were great tests of his strength. As the poem progresses and as Beowulf experiences different challenges, his character changes significantly, as does his reason for fighting. His first fight is against the monster Grendel, who has been terrorizing Hrothgar's kingdom for a long period of time. The second battle is against the Grendel's mother, who is seeking revenge on Beowulf for killing her son. The final battle of the story is against a dragon, who is seeking revenge on the town for a man stealing from his treasure horde. Each of these battles is fought for an entirely different reason, and each has an enormous impact on Beowulf’s life and character. Moreover, these fights contain many similarities but are noteworthy for the differences that effect the significance of the legend that Beowulf seeks to give meaning to his life.

The Anglo-Saxon age was a time period when Germanic tribes, also known as the Anglo Saxons, formed kingdoms in Britain following the fall of the Roman Empire around 400 A.D. The Anglo Saxons brought with them their own religions and plenty of characteristics of their culture. An essential aspect of the German culture was the tradition of oral poetry. There is not much evidence of the oral poems due to the lack of documentation. Despite the lack of published poetry from the Anglo-Saxon era, the few poems that do exist and have been continuously passed on orally, have played a large role in shaping the poetry that is live today. Beowulf was written in Old English, which was also the original language of the Anglo-Saxon people. Throughout the epic poem, Beowulf exemplifies characteristics that the Anglo Saxon people valued such as virtue and heroism. Not only did the Beowulf poet include common morals, but also introduced Christianity into the poem. Beowulf is the most well-known poem that was created from the Anglo-Saxon era, as well as The Iliad and the Odyssey. Throughout the epic, readers are introduced to a brave warrior named Beowulf. The audience is able to follow his journey through his battles and interactions with the other characters. The growth of the main character plays a large role regarding the values and the admired characteristics of the Anglo-Saxon people.