His men desert him when he goes to fight the dragon. “Although he wanted this challenge to be one he’d face by himself alone” (2642-2644) one loyal comrade raised his sword along side Beowulf. “That final day was the first time when Beowulf fought and fate denied him glory in battle” (2573-2575) Wiglaf, who stood beside Beowulf, was able to land a killing blow to the dragon. In the 3 battles that we read about in Beowulf, we see
Hrothgar, decides to build a type of sanctuary for his warriors that he names "Heorot". This is in the first main passage of the story of Beowulf and this is the first place we find the theme of internal versus external evil. The passage implies that internal evil will ultimately destroy the hall, rather than being attacked by monsters: "Not reckless of promise, the rings he dealt, treasure at banquet: there towered the hall, high, gabled wide, the hot surge waiting of furious flame. "(28) This foreshadows the internal evil that will destroy the Danes. Another theme in this story is the theme of men versus monsters.
In contrasr to Beowulf, Grendel is envious, resentful, and angry toward all human kind for the fact that he feels as thou God blesses all b ut the ogre he is, and thinks he could never be blessed. Although Grendel's feautures are like a common man having two arms, two legs, one head, etc. he is very much larger than an average male and can defeat many at a time. His magic charm is his source of protection from weapons. After a defeated battle Grendel is known for devouring the deceased body off the spot or carries others back to where he resides and shares feast with his mother.
He both consumed and attacked people while they slept. Many men had attempted to kill Grendel, however, before Beowulf, no man could prevail. "...so Grendel ruled, fought with the righteous, One against many and won..."(Beowulf line 81,82).Despite being faced with the certainty of his own demise, Beowulf still insist attacking Grendel, and defeating him. Beowulf kills Grendel in a most unusual way. In this violent scene, rather than attacking him with a sword like every other Geat, he grabs onto Grendel’s arm and squeezes until the torture is unbearable.
Throughout this adventure Jack changes from a well mannered choir boy, who was scared to kill a pig, to a savage hunter who leads his band of hunters to kill everything in site. Jack was a load and strict choir leader and always seemed as if he would do anything to be leader, while Ralph was not severe or even very load, but he always wanted what was best for the group. Ralph uses the conch as a symbol of order and it is opposite to the pigs head (the lord of the flies) which attributes to the killing and sheer brutality of the hunters. Jack is the perfect example of a boy whose dark side took over when he was no longer bound down to a civil
He had help by means of his followers and the princess. Nothing like William Wallace, Gilgamesh fought the monster by himself. Gilgamesh fought to save his friend and became famous for that. Their challenges were successful because they meet their goals. William Wallace was wrath at the British for killing his wife.
The character such as Grendel, the dragon, even Beowulf himself exhibit behavior and traits that are of Christian values. Grendel the evil villain of the story is very similar to Satan. In the poem Grendel is described as “This gruesome creature was called Grendel, notorious prowler of the borderland, ranger of the moors, the fen and the fastness; this cursed creature lived in a monster's lair for a time after the Creator had condemned him as one of the seed of Cain - the Everlasting Lord avenged Abel's murder. Cain had no satisfaction from that feud, but the Creator sent him into exile, far from mankind because of his crime. He could no longer approach the throne of grace, that precious place in God's presence,
The Iliad is also another great epic story about a hero that fought his people. Achillies was great warrior that fought for his people but, more for himself. Achillies got word that his best friend was killed. That day Achillies didn’t go to fight. He felt terrible about it.
Evil can be expressed by whatever the Hero in those times was fighting. In Beowulf, the Geatish hero by the name of Beowulf is a strong and able warrior who is willing to fight or die for valor. His main purpous is to eradicate the evil Grendel by all means necessary. “The Valor of a hero can only be proved by their fighting against tremendous and terrifying adversaries, with the universe crashing about them, the sun darkened, the stars falling from their places, flames playing against the sky itself, the earth sinking into the sea” (Phillpotts). This gives an explanation of what evil was looked at upon in Anglo-Saxon times.
Heoret is a symbol for fortune and prosperity, however this demon is not allowing the Danes to celebrate in it. He slaughtered 30 men and did not stop his destruction on the Danes for 12 years. Nearby Geatish king Hygelac had a nephew named Beowulf who was only described in one way, “There was no one else like him alive,” (line 196). Beowulf was a young, unproven warrior who was yet to prove himself as a hero at the time. He was also extremely arrogant.