Heroism In Beowulf

The unnamed author of the famous epic poem Beowulf, is able to successfully characterize the hero of the Anglo-Saxon period. The epic, set in the sixth century Denmark and Sweden, describes the tale of Beowulf by the dividing of his struggles into three separate sections, Grendel, Grendel’s Mother, and Dragon. The author’s purpose is to immortalize Beowulf by proving his worthiness through his battles. In Beowulf the writer uses extrinsic ethical appeal, testimonials, and strong emotional appeals to immortalize an epic hero. To begin, the first section, Grendel, the author uses emotion to set up Grendel as an evil character that should be hated by the reader. Early on in the story Grendel traveled to Herot, and when he got there, “He slipped
The way the action is described proves to the reader that Grendel really was born in Cain making the reader feel resent towards Grendel because of his evil actions. The story Grendel changes the point of view to Grendel which ends up making the reader feel sorry for him. This difference can be used to argue that ideas can change depending on the point of view. As for Beowulf every great hero needs a great villain in order to be immortalized and Grendel is that villain for Beowulf. The other colossal rhetoric device that is prominent in Beowulf is extrinsically proving that Beowulf is qualified to fight Grendel. This is accomplished when Beowulf boasts to Hrothgar stating, “They have seen my strength for themselves, Have watched me rise from the darkness of war, Dripping with my enemies' blood. I drove Five great giants into chains, chased All of that race from the earth.” (Beowulf 151-155). Beowulf’s boast convinces Hrothgar that he is the strongest warrior of their time making him the only one that could possibly kill Grendel. This also sets Beowulf on his series of monster slayings that will immortalize his