FREE ESSAY ON BEOWULF

BEOWULF

Within the first piece of written literature known to man during the early Middle Ages
comes a character which exemplifies the characteristics of a hero. A hero possesses
certain qualities which include the desire to help others, bravery, courtesy, courage,
superhuman feats, and the ability to boast about his accomplishments. According to
English tradition, this hero's name is Beowulf. Within the epic poem "Beowulf" there is
clear evidence that Beowulf exemplifies the qualities of a hero which are the desire to
help others, bravery, courtesy, courage, super human feats, and the ability to boast
about his accomplishments.
Beowulf possesses the qualities of the desire to help others, courtesy, and the ability
to boast about his accomplishments which proves he is a hero. First of all, Beowulf lives
in the land of the Geats. He hears from others that Hrothgar, the leader of the Danes, is
having problems with a monster killing off his men for the past twelve years. Beowulf
goes to the king of the Geats, Higlac and asks him to let him take some of the best men
and go over to the land of the Danes to help fight this monster. This proves that Beowulf
possesses the desire to help others. Furthermore, when Beowulf arrives in the land of the
Danes he shows his courtesy by praising Hrothgar of his noble birth and telling how brave
Hrothgar is for his victories in battle. Beowulf further shows his courtesy when he
leaves all his weapons on the shore of the land of the Danes to make sure the Danes know
that he comes in peace. Beowulf does leave some of his men by his ships to protect them.
Beowulf does everything that Hrothgar's men ask to show his courtesy. This proves Beowulf
is a hero as he possesses the quality of courtesy. Lastly, Bewulf shows how he has the
quality of a hero in his boasting to Hrothgar. When Beowulf first meets Hrothgar he tells
him how his youth has been filled with glory and that his people told him he must go and
help Hrothgar as he is a great soldier. He drove five great giants into chains, chased
all of that race from the earth, and swam out of the ocean killing them one by one. This
proves that Beowulf possesses the qualitites of a hero as he is able to boast proudly
about all his accomplishments. Beowulf certainly possesses the qualities of a hero with
his desire to help others, his courtesy, and the ability to boast as well as other
qualities of a hero.
Beowulf further possesses the qualities of a hero during the Anglo-Saxon times as he
shows real bravery and courage. Beowulf tells Hrothgar that he will fight the monster,
Grendel, to the end to save Hrothgar's mead hall and his men. Beowulf explains to
Hrothgar that he will fight the monster without any weapons and with out any help,
proving his bravery and courage. Futhermore, when Grendel comes again to the Mead Hall as
all the men are sleeping, Hrothgar sees him and stops his men from helping him. He
battles the monster himself and tears off the monster's arm. The monster runs back to the
sea to die, and Beowulf hangs his arm in the hall to show that they have won. Grendel's
mother comes to the hall to get revenge for his son's death. Beowulf takes a magic sword
given to him by Unferth to battle Grendel's mother. Beowulf goes into the deep sea, finds
Grendel's mother and with superhuman strength, bravery, and courage he kills her. This
certainly proves Beowulf has real bravery and courage which heros of the times
possesses.
The last quality of a hero is the ability to perform super human feats. Beowulf performs
super human feats along with his courage, his bravery, and his desire to help others.
When Beowulf fights Grendel he does this without using any weapons only his bare hands.
He pulls the monster's arm right out of its socket, a super human feat. Plus, when
battling Grendel's mother, Beowulf goes under the waters of the sea to find the monster's
mother and to kill her with a magic sword. He completes this feat with super human
strength. Lastly, Beowulf returns to his own land after helping Hrothergar and becomes
king of the Geats. He rules for many years. When he is an old man, his land is ruined by
a fire dragon. This dragon has a great treasure which it is protecting. Beowulf goes out
to fight this dragon to protect his people even though he is too old. While fighting the
fire dragon with his sword, the dragon cuts Beowulf at the neck. But Beowulf fights back
and ends up killing the dragon with one blow of his sword. He cuts the dragon right in
half. The killing of this fire dragon uses super human feats, courage, and bravery which
definitely shows that Beowulf has hero qualities. To show his honor and concern for
others, Beowulf's last request is that the treasure of the fire dragon be given to his
people and that a monument be built to show all other sailors the safe way home. This
last request certainly shows Beowulf is a real hero of the Middle Ages.
Repeat thesis - summarize by using all the beginning or opening sentences and a simple
example . Then end with Beowulf proves that heros must have certain qualities to gain the
title of "hero". 
Bibliography
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