Argumentative Essay: The First Battle Of Beowulf

The first battle Beowulf is faced with is against Grendel. Grendel decides to attack because he is jealous and hates the joy and happiness he hears from the mead-hall; he decides to attack out of jealousy and annoyance. Beowulf decides to fight Grendel to not only gain glory for himself and to create himself a good reputation, but also to serve as assistance to the people of Herot. At the time of this battle, Beowulf was youthful and proud; he bragged on how he would be able to defeat Grendel and save the people. Beowulf chose to fight Grendel without any weapons in order to be on the same “playing field” as Grendel who was also weaponless. Beowulf asks the king to fight alone, with the help of his men only. He stays awake, awaiting the
battle wearing no armour. As a result, Beowulf wins. He rips off Grendel’s arm and shoulder and mounts them on the wall as a trophy of his accomplishment. Grendel flees to the swamp, solely to die.

Next, Beowulf faced Grendel’s mother. Grendel’s mother attacks to get revenge of her son’s death. Hrothgar asked Beowulf to fight Grendel’s mother because she killed his advisor. In preparation, Unferth gives Beowulf his ancient sword, which has never failed in battle, to fight Grendel’s mother. In the end, Grendel’s mother grabs Beowulf, but his armor protects him from being crushed. She takes him back to her home where Beowulf tries to cut off her head, but the sword (given to him from Unferth) fails. He tries to fight her using only his hands, but then notices a giant sword on the wall. Beowulf grabs it and slices off the monster's head. Then, he sees Grendel’s dead body and decipaticates it as well.

Lastly, Beowulf fights the dragon.
A thief stole from the treasure in which the dragon was guarding. Once the dragon noticed something was missing, he went on a riot trying to find the missing item (leading to disturbance amongst the people). Beowulf is motivated by his pride and the warrior’s code (which he knows he cannot break). He continues to brag about his accomplishments and states that he is going to fight the dragon for the glory of winning. Additionally, Beowulf chose to fight the dragon to defend himself and the people of his castle (because the dragon burned it down). As Beowulf is now much older and wiser, he is more cautious when it comes to preparing for battle. Despite his age, Beowulf still chose to fight to keep his pride. He is accompanied by his men, but commands them to remain outside (still wanting to gain glory and keep his reputation). In preparation, he chooses to wear his armour and helmet, along with a sword. Since the dragon can breathe fire, he orders armour made from iron rather than wood to remain safe. One can conclude that Beowulf is much more prepared to fight the dragon than when he fought Grendel and Grendel’s mother. In conclusion, Beowulf's sword fails for the first time as he is nearing defeat. Wiglaf comes to his rescue and Beowulf and him, together, attempt to defeat the dragon. The dragon bites Beowulf in the neck, but Wiglaf lunges forward and stabs him in the stomach. Beowulf has just enough power to stab the dragon in his side, killing him. Soon after, Beowulf dies from the poison of the dragon
bite.