Beowulf

The hero Beowulf is a paradigm of archetypal heroes. He embodies all the warrior-hero like qualities: honor, bravery, physical prowess, etc. Like most other heroes, Beowulf has extraordinary strength and courage. These two qualities serve him well as he becomes renowned throughout all the lands of the Geats and Danes. The readers first witness his awesome strength and fighting prowess when he easily crushes Grendel. The amazing thing is, Grendel has successfully terrorized the Danes for twelve long years without facing any effective resistance. Because Grendel is described as an outcast by God, he represents Lucifer the fallen angel. It is also stated that Grendel is a descendent of Cain. In the wergild society, killing a kinsman is the worst possible sin. Death in this society is very objectively considered. A death is something that can be repaid with a man price or the opposing side’s blood. In essence, the satan is wreaking havoc on God’s people and they are helpless to do anything. This is where Beowulf steps in. He travels a long ways from Geatland and has come to seek fortune and fame by killing Beowulf. Beowulf’s military prowess is first shown as he easily crushes Grendel. He uses no weapons to fight this evil and strong monster. This act of bravery indicates that he has honor and self confidence. From the very beginning, Beowulf was not scared to fight Grendel. Instead, he was excited to prove his worth. Just as things to be restored to order, Grendel’s mother ravages the peaceful Herot. Herot is an interesting mead-hall. It is described as being marvelous and the greatest in the world. Herot represents God’s glory and can be seen as heaven. Thus, the attacks on Herot can be seen as attacks on heaven by devils. Beowulf then represents God’s angel that protects the house of the lord. In essence, God sends his angel (Beowulf) down to Grendel’s lair. Grendel’s layer is a hellish place that is deep underwaters. The surrounding atmosphere is very evil and dark. Being the hero that he is, Beowulf decides to go into her lair to kill her. This required massive courage as Beowulf would now be fighting an unfair battle because it is underground and there is no oxygen. Beowulf still finds a way to win. The manner in which he wins convinced me that Beowulf is favored by God. Beowulf almost gets lucky and finds a magical sword that severs the head of Grendel’s mother. He somehow defeats a powerful monster underwater with a magical sword that was conveninently found. It seems to me that Chuck Norris can be seen as the modern form of Beowulf. Beowulf’s heroic characteristics can be seen as the moral standards for the ancient wergild societies. In this sense, Beowulf is an epic poem by all means as the epic poem teaches the readers about the values of the wergild culture. Beowulf has achieved what he wanted dearly, fame.