Once upon a time, there was a marvelous warrior that was a hero to so many and king to some. In the story of Beowulf, the hero, Beowulf, must follow and go through the hero’s journey. The hero’s journey has twelve stages, or three acts. The stages go in the order: 1) The Call to Adventure, 2) Assistance, 3) Departure, 4) Trials, 5) Approach to the Inmost Cave, 6) Crisis, 7) Treasure, 8) Result, 9) Return, 10) New Life, 11) Resolution, and 12) Status Quo (Winkler). Since Beowulf is facing three different monsters, there is not only the story’s significant journey, but also multiple inside it. There are three mini-hero journeys Beowulf’s main journey. In the beginning, Beowulf follows his first journey with Grendel. The initial call to adventure is with the news of Grendel. One piece of evidence to support this is: “‘Then news of Grendel, / hard to ignore, reached me at home: / sailors brought stories of the plight you suffer / in this legendary hall… So every elder and experienced councilman/ among my people supported my resolve / to come here to you’” (Heaney 409-417). This first example suggests that Beowulf and his men come to Denmark to fight and help the people because he has heard about the terrible things Grendel has done, and thus starts the …show more content…
The first and foremost is against the monster, Grendel in Denmark. Beowulf’s call to action was the news of Grendel’s destruction. In the same light, the second journey is against Grendel’s mother with her trying to avenger her son’s death. After entering the lake, Beowulf has some struggles, but finds a precious sword to help defeat her. The best and final journey is when Beowulf is older against the dragon, where he eventually meets his death. Clearly even with his death, he has reached immortality through his story because students and readers today still talk about him. This brave hero is not the only one to make numerous
The tale contains multiple elements that have been analyzed throughout time. One of the most renowned elements to this well known story is the Hero Quest. The mythological and archetypal Hero Quest is portrayed in Beowulf through the call, obstacles, climax, and return. All great literary monomyths start with the Hero’s call.
In the last stage of Beowulf’s epic hero journey, fatalism determines his grand finale against the dragon. The warrior king’s long journey is now coming to a close and before going into battle against the dragon, Beowulf realizes that, “After many trials,/ he was destined to face the end of his days/ in this mortal world; as was the dragon,/ for all his long leasehold on the treasure” (Beowulf 2341-2344). After facing Grendel and his mother, fate has lead Beowulf to the crisis of his journey. The dragon is the final monster he must defeat in order to complete his monomyth cycle. He is a symbol of the deadly sin, greed.
The three monsters (Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the Dragon) that Beowulf face represent part of the quest of the hero. These events not only exemplify Beowulf’s quest to riches, glory, and fame but also show Beowulf’s bravery and courage. In fact, Beowulf met and killed Grendel and Grendel’s mother, even when all soldiers trembled in fear of death and murder. If no other warrior dared to touch these vicious monsters except Beowulf, then Beowulf proved himself to have power. Also, the fights that Beowulf had against 9 sea monsters in Brecca, Grendel, and Grendel’s mother prepared as part of the initiation against the dragon.
Beowulf is willing to risk his life by battling battles to protect the people. There are three main battles. The first battled Beowulf had to fight was against Grendel. The second battle, Beowulf had to fight was against Grendel's mother. The third battle, Beowulf fight was against a dragon.
Thus, Beowulf’s fate serves as a warning to the Anglo- Saxon warrior against excessive indulgence in pride and greed. Even though, he serves his homeland well for 50 years by maintaining peace, his desire for glory and fame override his duties as a leader at the end of his
Beowulf’s next heroic achievement was when he entered “The Monsters’ Lair” (51) and killed Grendel’s mother, who was killed by a larger than life sword. Beowulf’s last and final heroic achievement was battling and killing a dragon who he later found out was Grendel’s brother, Beowulf then later dies from the poison in his blood from the dragon’s teeth.
II. Beowulf gains favor with the king by establishing his lineage Beowulf comes before the Danish King Hrothgar to state his purpose for arriving to the kingdom unannounced. As Beowulf is petitioning before the king his ability to defend the kingdom from the monstrous attacks, the king interrupts with a reminiscent tone. Hrothgar recounts a hostile incident during which Beowulf’s father killed
Beowulf follows the path laid out by campbell very accurately. He starts off presumably living a normal life and catches word of the “Grendel” and goes to kill it and the mother of the beast. He has the call
The Heroic Deeds of Beowulf In the epic poem, Beowulf, the hero’s decision to travel across the ocean to defeat the nefarious Grendel can be attributed to his compassion, faith, and humility. Beowulf’s journey, along with his bravery and courage are indicative of the heroic attributes written in The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell. Campbell describes a hero as going on a journey that consists of a departure, a fulfillment, and an end. This is an attribute Beowulf exemplifies in his departure to cross the dangerous ocean in order to defeat a monster terrorizing a foreign land.
Beowulf Beowulf is about a man, that is brave, loyal and will risk his life to protect and save other’s lives before lives before his. That is why Beowulf is a heroic figure in my eyes. Anyone willing to put others lives before theirs deserves to be praised as a God like figure. Beowulf symbolizes Bravery, Strength and a true hero. The dragon symbolizes death.
First, Beowulf kills Grendel. Then Grendel’s mother comes to the hall to seek revenge. Afterward Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother. Finally Beowulf goes back to Geatland where he gets killed by a dragon. “ ..
In the YouTube video, “What makes a hero? - Matthew Winkler”, It explains that all heroes are the same, as well as the journey they take. The cycle of the hero stated in the video is: Status quo, call to adventure, assistance, departure, trials, approach, crisis, treasure, result, return to ordinary world, new life, resolution (Ted-ed). Beowulf uses the archetype of the hero’s journey, which includes a call to adventure, assistance, trials, treasure, and new life. Beowulf’s call to adventure as described by the narrator, is: “When he heard about Grendel, Hygelac’s thane / Was on home ground, over in Geatland.
In Beowulf, there are fights with three different monsters. Beowulf, the hero, has different motivations for fighting each monster. Beowulf didn’t have to fight any of these monsters, but he choose to. During the epic poem, Beowulf, Beowulf’s motivations for fighting the monsters are duty, glory, and sacrifice. To begin, in the epic, Beowulf, Beowulf fights Grendel because of duty.
What makes a character in a book heroic? Beowulf was a strong and courageous hero who risked his life for the safety of other. Sir Gawain was also brave and mighty. He risked his life instead of his king’s life. These to character have many things in common as well as differences.
Beowulf is the epic tale of its main character. Beowulf travels to Denmark to help the Danish people fight off a nasty monster who has been terrorizing them, Grendel. Beowulf slays Grendel and Grendel’s mother and returns home, becoming king and living a long life. Towards the end of his life, a horrible dragon begins plaguing his homeland. He slays the dragon and soon after, dies himself.