Beowulf As An Epic Hero Essay

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An epic hero: A brave and noble character in an epic poem, admired for great achievements or affected by grand events (Citation here). Beowulf is the ideal epic hero, especially in the eyes of the Anglo-Saxons, who expected their warriors to have physical strength, loyalty to their people, wisdom, and above all else to have courage and bravery. He displays all of these traits throughout the poem, but the three most prominent times his traits of courage and bravery are displayed are when he makes the decision to go fight Grendel, when he fights and defeats Grendel, and lastly when he fights and defeats Grendel’s mother. The first time in which the reader truly sees the bravery and courage of Beowulf is when he makes the decision to go…show more content…
The monster enters, ravenous for the flesh of Danes, when Beowulf seizes the atrocious fiend. “Grendel’s one thought was to run from Beowulf, flee back to his marsh and hide there: this was a different Herot than the hall he had just emptied” (314-316). Thanks to Beowulf’s hero-like attributes, mainly his bravery and courage, he was able to injure and eventually kill Grendel. The last time in which the reader views Beowulf’s bravery and courage is when he battles with Grendel’s mother. Angry and looking to avenge her son’s death, she kills Hrothgar’s closest friend. When Beowulf hears of this, he acts as a true hero and goes to find her himself. They begin to fight, and Beowulf soon discovers that his sword cannot penetrate her. “If weapons were useless he’d use his hands, the strength in his fingers. So fame comes to the men who mean to win it and nothing else!” (461-464). Beowulf continued to fight seemingly indefatigably, eventually finding a sword made by giants and killing her. When faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, Beowulf was brave and courageous and did what he came to do; defeat

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