What Is Beowulf An Epic Hero

What is a “Hero”? We’ve heard this question so many times, but yet everyone seems to have a different outlook. Beowulf is by far one of the best epic heroes of all time. The story of Beowulf was written back in 700 C.E by an unknown author. The original style of the writing was old English, and currently only one of the original copies of the story remains. Beowulf is such a good example of an epic hero because he adheres to many of the common qualities of an epic hero. He was determined, courageous, fearless, and left a mark on the land that will be talked about for years to come. While some beg to differ about the standing of Beowulf, there is more than enough evidence to support that he is in fact an epic hero. King Hrothgar, king of
the Danes, was having a serious problem from a monster named Grendel coming in at night and killing and eating them. Hrothgar was also a friend to Beowulf’s father. Unbeknownst to this fact, Beowulf felt a strong urge to go and help the land of the Danes with the problem at hand. Beowulf soon travels to the land of the Danes to the Heorot Hall in mission to save this land. Beowulf had no idea what he was up against on this new land, but he didn’t let the idea of the unknown stop him from doing what he knew was right. After Beowulf gets to Heorot and hears the news about how Hrothgar helped his father, Beowulf had no problem agreeing to help with the situation at hand, Grendel. While everyone is enjoying their time in the hall, Beowulf is on guard the whole time; ready for everything and anything that is going to come through that door. Before Beowulf actually has any encounter with Grendel, he is told about an enchantment that has been placed on Grendel. It would cause him to have to fight Grendel with only his bare hands, something that has been tried multiple times- and failed. But, with all the determination built up in him, Beowulf still agrees. After the soldiers in the hall fall into a deep sleep, Grendel enters the hall not knowing that he has someone there waiting for him. After fighting back and forth, Beowulf gets ahold of Grendel’s arm and completely severs it from his body. Now with no arm and little mortality, Grendel flees into the woods where he dies from his injuries. If Beowulf wouldn’t have stuck to this task set in front of him, there would have been more Grendel to come, but due to his incredible determination, not only did he defeat the beast in battle, but he brought an expiration date to the monsters time on the land. While Grendel was a very powerful beast, there was a motive behind his madness, his mother. When Grendel’s mother gets wind of the events that happen, she goes to take revenge for her deceased son. While the men were asleep in their hall that they now thought was safe, they were attacked by Grendel’s mother. During her attack of Heorot, the warriors wake up and frighten Grendel’s mother, causing her to flee the scene. Upon realizing that Grendel’s mother was behind the attack, Beowulf and some of the Geatish warriors set out to seek much needed revenge on their earlier visitor. With much at stake, including his life, Beowulf dives to the bottom of the lake to find the dwelling of the mother of Grendel. During the fight, there were times when Beowulf was almost to the end, but he believed, and he fought to the finish. After a long battle, Beowulf grabs a sword from a nearby stash of treasure and uses it to slay Grendel’s mother (Tharaud). While slaying the beast, the poison in her was so strong that it melted the very blade that killed her. At many points in this fight, Beowulf became very down on his luck and thought that this was really the end, but he continued to fight and ended up coming out victorious. After approaching the shore with a trophy, the head of Grendel, whom he just killed with his bare hands, Beowulf realizes that his warriors are still there waiting on him to return victorious. After this victory, they throw a party. Beowulf let nothing stand in his way of coming back to the surface and showed immense courage while doing it. None of the other warriors would dare to step foot in the home of the monster that took the lives of their friends and family, let alone defeat the creature that created the monster. After defeating the mother of Grendel, Beowulf felt that his work was done and headed home where he serves as king for a whole fifty years.
But everything didn’t end up being all peaches and cream. Beowulf met his match; a dragon that had been awaken by thieves (Tharaud). Beowulf is faced with a danger to the village when the dragon begins to burn homes, and kills the people of the villages. Beowulf decided to take eleven of his most worthy men, along with the thieves that initiated the conflict, with him to aid in the battle. Once the men see the dragon they flee in fear of their lives leaving Beowulf alone to fight the beast. All expect for one: Wiglaf (Tharud). He stood by Beowulf’s side with his cheering and light help. Beowulf was able to kill the dragon, but he was still hurt in the process (Ogilvy). Beowulf went into that fight thinking that he had a group of strong men standing behind him to be there when he needed him, but he was wrong. He had to pretty much fight this battle alone. And while the task at hand was extremely hard, and essentially left him mortally wounded, he still went and fought until one of the two were dead. Beowulf knew the strength of this dragon and it didn’t stop him. Just one look at the beast sent most men running, but not him. He stood his ground like a man to ensure he sought revenge on the very thing that began to tear his town
apart. After the fight with the dragon, Beowulf sees how wounded he really is. The wound becomes swollen and he realizes he had been poisoned. After sitting to try to regain some energy, he’s aided by Wiglaf who cleans his wounds. Beowulf knows his time is coming to an end and had a few last things he wanted done before he expired from the world. He asked Wiglaf to go and bring him treasure, and also requested that a memorial be built in his honor. To commemorate Beowulf and all he did for the land, the people of Geats did as he requested and built a funeral pyre (Tharaud). After building the pyre and filling it with treasure, they burned it to the ground and built a barrow that took a total of ten days to build, to monument their great king. This is a huge part of being a hero. While some go out and strive to just be good people, most want to be remembered, while I feel is what Beowulf wanted most. From battle to battle, Beowulf never failed to come out victorious. He went to a land that was unknown to him and killed the monster Grendel, and then went and killed the very creator of that monster. He helped a place he knew nothing about, and then continued on to save his own land. He fought and killed the dragon that was destroying his town with the help of only one other person, and left his mark for years to come. While some may argue that epic heroes aren’t so epic or heroes at all for that matter, but there is so much to make that statement false. Beowulf strived off of determination, courage, fearlessness, and he managed to leave a standing impact on his land that will be remembered forever. Beowulf did what some would not and could not have done, and for this he is, and will forever be a hero.