Grendel's Mother and Beowulf Essay

Submitted By fernandomarinero13
Words: 655
Pages: 3
Open Document
Beowulf: The Archetypical Anglo-Saxon Hero
Beowulf is an epic poem that is believed to have been written in the 7th or 8th century as the first piece of English literature. The story is one of a great hero who has many encounters with inhumanly monsters on his quest for glory. The hero of the poem, Beowulf, demonstrates all of the characteristics of an archetypical hero. From having superior strength to incredible courage to performing brave deeds Beowulf showed it all. He truly was the perfect role-model for the Anglo-Saxon culture.
Beowulf’s first battle is with the evil monster, Grendel. Grendel terrorizes the people of Denmark at night and when Denmark’s King, Hrothgar, hears of this he seeks out Beowulf’s help. Beowulf gladly excepts for he is on a quest for glory. Beowulf comes to Denmark, and during the battle with Grendel he showed his superior strength when Grendel’s arm “snapped, muscle and bone split and broke.” (Beowulf, 375-377) Grendel yelled in pain as he was finally defeated and then bled to his death. This was also showing that he risks death for glory and for the good of society.
The second battle Beowulf had was with Grendel’s mother after she wanted to avenge her son’s death. Grendel’s Mother goes to Herot Hall, kills Hrothgar’s closest friend and retrieves her son’s arm. When Beowulf hears of this he immediately goes after her. It took an immense amount of courage to go down to the bottom a serpent infested lake to fight her. The demon is unharmed when Beowulf swings at her with his sword because she has also cursed all man-made weapons. It wasn’t until he saw “hanging on the wall, a heavy sword hammered by giants…” (Beowulf 485-486) that he was able to kill her with one swift slice at the neck. When Beowulf immerged he held with him two trophies. One was Grendel’s head and the other the hilt of the sword used to kill Grendel’s Mother. This made his reputation even greater than it already was.
Beowulf’s last and greatest battle was against a ferocious dragon. After “fifty winters a king” (Beowulf 589-590) a dragon begins to destroy the kingdom of Geatland because a slave, seeking freedom, stole his treasured cup. Beowulf shows leadership by deciding to put an end to this monster since he was the most capable man in all of the land for the job. The king and his men go to the home of the fire breathing fiend, but all of Beowulf’s men flee
Show More

Related Documents: Grendel's Mother and Beowulf Essay

The Cruelty Of Grendel's Mother In Beowulf

Grendel’s mother, who is characterized as a villain in Beowulf because, she murders Aeschere, Hrothgar’s advisor, and her violent attempt at avenging her son, Grendel. After Grendel’s death, Beowulf is showered in gifts and goes elsewhere. Afterwards, Grendel’s Mother approaches Herot Hall and “once [she] / attacked and entered” she slaughtered many people including Aeschere (1281-1282). To take revenge, Grendel’s Mother kills Hrothgar’s dearest friend and many others. The cruelty of Grendel’s Mother…

Words 241 - Pages 1

Grendel's Mother and Beowulf Essay

English II Honors- PINK 10.4.13 Beowulf Essay 2 Good Faces Evil and Prevails “God did not create evil. Just as darkness is the absence of light, evil is the absence of God.”- Albert Einstein. Beowulf, whose author is unknown, is an epic poem that was written between 700 and 1000AD. Throughout the poem, there is a series of battles in which the main character, Beowulf, must defeat various monsters using his strength and God’s grace. Each battle draws a clear distinction between good and evil…

Words 1082 - Pages 5

Beowulf and Grendel’s Mother Essay

Victoria Tabak Dr. Lesley Clement English 1111-FBO October 15th, 2014 Foreshadowing In Beowulf In the Epic poem of Beowulf, foreshadowing is of great importance throughout the poem. Before and after the heroic Geat goes into battle with Grendel’s mother (lines 1491-1516) the significance of foreshadowing is shown through the use of alliteration and imagery as it shapes Beowulf’s upcoming fate that eventually leads him to death. The first time foreshadowing is seen, is with the use of alliteration…

Words 871 - Pages 4

Comparing Grendel's Mother And The Epic Of Beowulf

give them land. Beowulf was a spoken poem because the Anglo-Saxon…

Words 673 - Pages 3

Grendel's Mother and Poem Beowulf Essay

Legacy The poem Beowulf written by an unknown anglo-saxon in the 8th century, is a story about a hero. A hero who kills monsters with his bare hands and slays dragons with a steel sword. He has incredible strength, and he receives great amounts of gold and treasure for his deeds. He is a king who rules his kingdom fairly, and is loved by all. It's these extraordinary deeds that bring this ancient story, set in 6th century Denmark, to modern day readers. So why is Beowulf considered a hero…

Words 667 - Pages 3

Essay Comparing Beowulf And Grendel's Mother

there in Beowulf: Rethinking of Grendel’s Mother as ‘aglæcwif’.” By studying Grendel’s mother’s encounter with Beowulf, Ganguly sets out to remove that universal label of monster from. By examining her reasoning to seek vengeance in the first place will put into perspective for the readers how human her reactions were to the death of her child. Ganguly goes on to identify that battle with Beowulf as predictable; “…she goes on to display a wonderful motherly instinct”, just as a mother would instinctively…

Words 356 - Pages 2

Comparing Grendel's Mother And Women In Beowulf

Compare and Contrast Grendel’s mother and Women in Beowulf Although Beowulf is an epic and long poem about the adventures and roles of a warrior named, Beowulf, the main character and as well as mainly focusing on the men in the story. We forget and lose focus on the roles of women in Beowulf, such as Grendel’s Mother, Wealhtheow, Hildeburh, and etc, who throughout the story were seen in either a positive, helpful or negative, cruel point of view. We also fail to see how their roles, although were…

Words 1847 - Pages 8

How Does Beowulf Kill Grendel's Mother

movie Beowulf, or even read the epic poem ? Beowulf was a noble and honest man in the poem. Meanwhile in the movie Beowulf lied about petty matters. Beowulf even deceived the citizens into believing he killed Grendel’s Mother ; however , in the poem Beowulf actually killed Grendel’s Mother. Hrothgar was a prestigious king in the poem, but in the movie Hrothgar had an affair with Grendel’s Mother. The literary work Beowulf is depicted in different ways. The movie and textbook version of Beowulf had…

Words 598 - Pages 3

Beowulf Movie Vs Book Analysis

within the movie and the textbook based upon Beowulf. The first difference noticed is in the movies, Beowulf was the King of the Geats while in the textbook, he was the King of the Danes. The second difference noticed is in the movies, Beowulf gave Grendel’s mother a son whereas, in the textbook, Beowulf did not have any children. Last, in the movies, Beowulf did not kill Grendel’s mother however; the textbook explained that Beowulf killed Grendel’s mother. In my opinion, I feel like the movie was better…

Words 541 - Pages 3

Joke: Beowulf and Defeats Grendel Essay

Literary Analysis March 10, 2013 Literary Analysis: Grendel and Grendel’s Mother Throughout the epic story of Beowulf the struggle of light and dark is apparent in many examples. The two main sources of the darkness for the story are provided by the first two monsters Beowulf must conquer in the defense of Herot. The horror of a monster named Grendel is what causes Beowulf to even travel to Herot, after his defeat the fury of Grendel’s mother causes another attack. Striking fear into the whole land of…

Words 1272 - Pages 6