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Andrew Parker

Mr. Rosenbusch

Honors English 12

28 September 2020

Prompt #2

Beowulf is the oldest surviving Anglo-Saxon epic poem written in the early 6th century.

The story follows the hero named Beowulf, who comes from Britain to Denmark seeking fame

and glory. He came to fight the monster that had been stalking the halls of Herot and killing its

men. Beowulf and his fellow men prepared to fight the monster in an epic battle. However, it

turned out to be easy for Beowulf since he is in fact, the best. Beowulf then got word of Grendel

having a mother that attacked the hall of Herot and lived in the marsh. Being the only one brave

enough to go, Beowulf sank into boiling hot water to the mother’s home. Another massive battle

ensued but Beowulf turned out victorious once again. Many years later, Beowulf, now a king,

was forced to fight a dragon because it was mad that someone stole some of its treasure. With the

help of a solider named Wiglaf, the two defeat the dragon, but at the cost of Beowulf’s life.

Beowulf’s dying wish is to be cremated and be placed in a burial tower at sea where voyagers

can see and remember him as the most gracious, fair-minded, and kindest king to his people.

Although Beowulf was only seeking fame and glory throughout his life, he recognized that he

could not achieve this without falsely exemplifying the other Anglo-Saxon traits such as loyalty,

strength, and courage.

From the moment that the reader is introduced to Beowulf, he is shown as a loyal person,

going to help his fathers good friend rid his hall of the monster Grendel. Beowulf first comes to
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Herot and asks a favor of Hrothgar, “That I, alone and with the help of my men / May purge all

evil from this hall” (Lines 165-166). Beowulf asking to attempt to slay the beast with his bare

hands shows that fame and glory on the top of his priorities. He acts as if it is a kind thing he is

doing, but in reality, he only seeks to gain personal recognition for his efforts. This fame and

glory he hopes to achieve through fighting the monster could not come without being loyal to his

allied countries. If he was not a friend or respected by Hrothgar, Beowulf would not have been

granted access to fight Grendel.

Beowulf also had to be extremely strong throughout the story in order to kill the monsters

and dragon. Towards the end of the fight with Grendel, Grendel “…twisted in pain, / And the

bleeding sinews deep in his shoulder / Snapped, muscle and bone split…” (lines 496-498).

Throughout reading the exposition, the reader is told of Beowulf’s strength and impressive

resume of accomplishments, but at no point is it shown until now. Grendel’s skin was

impenetrable from the sharpest swords that the men had, yet Beowulf found another way to

defeat the monster. Beowulf grabs ahold of Grendel’s arm and mortally wounds him by tearing

his arm completely off. To do such a act, Beowulf would truly have to be strong. In order to

achieve fame and glory, a person must have to do the hard work. Beowulf knows that if he was

not strong, no one would take him seriously, and he would not be able to extreme tasks such as

fighting monsters.

Finally, Beowulf proves how much courage he has throughout the story. At one point,

Beowulf is even called out for being ignorant because of the dangerous missions he goes on.

However, the most courageous thing Beowulf does in the story is when “…He leaped into he

lake… For hours he sank” (Lines 570-572). After mortally wounding Grendel, Grendel’s mother

comes and recks havoc on Herot, leading Beowulf to seek to fight and kill her. Beowulf tracks
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down their home, which is at the bottom of a boiling hot lake. Without thinking of a plan or the

consequences, Beowulf jumps into the lake. He knew full well that he would not be able to

breathe in order to fight the monster underwater and might not come back. However, he had the

courage to do it anyways and not wait for anyone to assist. Once again, Beowulf has the

knowledge to know fame and glory is earned, and by waiting around for others to help he would

not be able to achieve it. Beowulf only fell into the position to fight Grendel’s mother because of

where his selfish intentions led him at the beginning of the story.

It is likely that Beowulf did not actually care about being a well-rounded member of

Anglo-Saxon society, he only cared about being the best. He requests as his death wish that he

would be cremated and placed in a tall tower looking over the sea, with the treasure that his

kingdom won from battling the dragon. If Beowulf truly cared about his people, he would have

requested the treasure went to them. His true intentions can clearly be seen throughout the story

through his carelessness and dialogue.

Overall, it is only through association that Beowulf cares about the other traits of an ideal

Anglo-Saxon warrior, as to achieve fame and glory, he must also exhibit the other traits like

loyalty, strength, and courage. Fame and glory are the driving motivator for the story and thus

the other traits are bi products of Beowulf’s attempts to reach this goal.
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Work Cited

Raffel, Burton, and Seamus Heaney, translators. Beowulf. Pearson Education, inc., 2012