Arthur and his men depend on each other to survive. Arthur and his army remain as a unit until the end of the battle. They fight against other armies that are trying to take over their kingdom. Arthur rides into battle to rid of an evil knight for his people. Beowulf and Arthur were both brave, had strength, helped the underprivileged, and had great leadership.
Beowulf is definitely brave for fighting and living his life to protect others. For example he battles the treacherous monster Grendel in order to ensure that the rest of the village was safe from the tyranny of this beast. Despite the fact that he conquers this beast alone he was supposed to have help but was abandoned at the last second. This makes the task much more difficult for Beowulf. This quote gives certain evidence that Beowulf fights for others: “A prince of the
Throughout the epic poem, he is faced with the challenge of Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon. When the battle of Grendel and Beowulf takes place, it results in the death of Grendel and the victory of Beowulf. This victory brings wealth to him as his king, Hrothgar, rewards him with horses, great weapons, a party and a very meaningful speech (part 15). Hrothgar defines his social status with his distribution of wealth to Beowulf when he gives him the gifts. By distributing his wealth, Hrothgar is actually bringing his people closer together by securing the protection of Beowulf, therefore achieving ‘the bond of comitatus.’
He showed his great loyalty to Hrothgar by protecting his kingdom. Hrothgar , the king of Danes people were being attacked and killed by Grendel. Beowlf travel long in the sea and came to Hrothgar to help him and save his people from the monster Grendel (195-220). This shows that he was loyal and protected people of the other nation. Beowulf assures Hrothgar that he would fight to his death to defend the Danes (338-440).
Beowulf is a warrior, but at the same time, he is a Christian. His entire belief system as a warrior completely contradicts his Christian values. For example, the Bible instructs people to love thy neighbor and forgive those who transgress against us, but the heroic code endorses revenge and retaliation. This ongoing conflict between doing the right thing as a warrior and doing the right thing as a Christian is present throughout the text. In the epic, the speaker tells Beowulf to choose “The better part, eternal rewards” (lines 1759-1760).
There is a hero, there are the so called “villans”, monsters, magical creatures, very shadowy setting, and people that have to be saved. In this poem, the author shows you that before you can see what is good, you have to know what evil is and that is exactly what Beowulf experiences. This epic poem portrays good vs. evil by showing that Beowulf is good, but he has to fight with many,
The reader learns how Beowulf is fighting only for glory and not for power because “Beowulf longed only for fame” (71, 1528-1529). Beowulf was much stronger than Throthgar and could’ve easily taken his thrown but he did not long for power he longed for fame. Another example of how Beowulf fights for what is right is when Beowulf fights Grendel’s Mom. Beowulf had already killed Grendel, had received his riches, he could’ve easily left the Dane’s helpless against this angry mom. Instead, Beowulf does the right thing and because he does fate repays him by allowing “her stabbing blade to be blunted by the woven mail skirt” (71, 1547-1549).
He made sure to put on a façade which would lead the King’s men to believe he was still a respectful and loyal man. He even went as far as killing another man to show his respect for the king and his (fake) anger about the king’s murder. Macbeth made quite a transition between the first two scenes of the play. Power was the catalyst for the change from a loyal to greedy man. People will do many things to claim power.
It is the battle in which he is seeking to show he is capable of being king; that he would make a good king. And although I agree with that completely, I also feel there is more to what he is battling for. In this battle there is a lot more biblical references in the preparation of the battle, and throughout, this gives me the sense Beowulf is challenging something more. Not that he is challenging his faith because due to the time period religion is not formed, but Beowulf is challenging something higher then himself. The community around him has welcomed him and it is not his duty to protect them, Beowulf and the civilization he was protecting knew he was capable of being king, but Beowulf seemed to be searching for validation of his morality, validity that he was doing right.
Beowulf Analysis The epic poem of Beowulf was written in a time period where the people believed in heroic warriors, and beastly creatures. It was written in an era of English literature when it was noted as being honorable and heroic to die fighting for one’s name or country. Literature during this era usually contained the protagonist as heroically larger than life, often the source and subject of legend or a national hero. For example in Beowulf, he is stated as being the greatest king to ever rule for his heroic triumphs. It’s as if it were written in order to gain pride in their country and its warriors amongst the rest.