The Three Major Battles In The Epic Of Beowulf

In the ever so famous epic, Beowulf, there are three major battles that occur between Beowulf and his enemies. Hrothgar, king of the Danes, calls upon Beowulf when his mead hall has started becoming a place for the horrible monster Grendel to prey. Grendel is the son of Cain and he is a very vicious jealous type character that hates to see people having a good time and rejoicing with friends. Grendel is Danes biggest fear and misery. Along with grendel being one of the antagonist, there is Grendel’s mother and the Dragon that cause trouble in this epic. Grendel’s mother becomes active in the story after the first battle occurs. The mighty dragon plays a role in the epic during the third and final battle of Beowulf. The first battle of
the epic is between Beowulf and Grendel. The battle takes place inside Hrothgar’s mead hall named Heorot. Grendel comes to the mead hall to eat some of Hrothgar’s men when he meets the superhero we know as Beowulf. Beowulf defeats Grendel in this battle with no weapons and no armor. He defeats Grendel and receives no rewards during this battle. In this battle Beowulf did not have any help from anyone. Beowulf fought solely alone. This battle is just the beginning for Beowulf and will only lead to more. The second battle occurs between Beowulf and Grendel’s mother.
Grendel’s mother was upset with what had recently happened to her son and wanted revenge. When Grendel’s mother tried to eat several of Hrothgar’s men to get this revenge Hrothgar calls on Beowulf, again, to come and rid the terrible nuisance. Beowulf goes to the gloomy lake where Grendel’s mother lived to defeat her. He shows up to this battle in full armor and his sword. This battle also had a different purpose than the first one. Hrothgar had spoken to Beowulf about the battle and told him that if he would defeat Grendel’s mother he could have his treasure. Beowulf enters the lake to begin the battle with Grendel’s mother. Beowulf stays in the lake so long Hrothgar’s men lose all hope and return to Heorot thinking Beowulf must have been defeated. Beowulf pulls the battle off and defeats Grendel’s mother. After Beowulf defeats Grendel’s mother he sees Grendel lying in a corner still suffering from his wounds in the previous battle. Beowulf goes over, and with his sword, finishes Grendel off. Beowulf exits the lake and returns to Hrothgar’s mead hall to tell all of the Danes that he has now successfully killed Grendel and Grendel’s mother. The people thank Beowulf unconditionally as he returns to his tribe, the
Geats The third battle occurs between the Dragon and Beowulf. This dragon had been torturing the Geats and burning their lands and houses. Beowulf takes it among himself and decides to fight the dragon himself. Beowulf and his men arrive at the cave where the dragon lived, ready to fight. Beowulf is fully dressed in his armor and has his sword that he hopes, this time, will be worth having. Beowulf struggles in this battle and is being brutally beaten so he calls upon his other warriors to help him. Out of all the king’s warriors only one was loyal enough to jump in and help. Wiglaf, the one warrior that stays behind, works together with beowulf to defeat the dragon and relieve all of the members of the Geat tribe. This is Beowulf’s final battle as his wounds are fatal. Beowulf ends his reign as King of the Geats when he dies and is buried with his treasure. These three battle are all very similar yet different. Beowulf comes out of top in all three battles but for different reasons. Beowulf relies on different things to get him through the three battles. The bottom line is Beowulf wasn’t afraid accepting a challenge and he was willing to take on anyone or thing to protect the people of the two tribes: the Geats and the Danes.