Beowulf
The poem begins by contrasting two settings: The dark, desolate lair of
the monster Grendel and the noisy, joyous hall at Herot, home of the
Danish King Hrothgar and his warriors.
… A powerful monster, living down
In the darkness, growled in pain, impatient
As day after day the music rang
Loud in that hall, the harp’s rejoicing
… So Hrothgar’s men lived happy in his hall
Till the monster stirred, that demon, that fiend
Grendel, who haunted the moors, the wild
Marshes, and made his home in a hell
Not hell but earth… (lines 1-19)
The characters are also contrasted; Hrothgar and his men are convivial and
loyal while Grendel is exiled and murderous. The conflict between good and
evil begins when Grendel attacks Herot at night, killing about thirty of
Hrothgar’s men. Grendel violates the Angelo-Saxons’ code of wergild
because he pays no reparation for the deaths he causes. In Beowulf the
poet sings,
How the monster relished his savage war
On the Danes, keeping the bloody feud
Alive, seeking no peace offering
No truce, accepting no settlement, no price
In gold or land, and paying the living
For one crime only with another. No one
Waited for reparation from his plundering claws...(lines 67-73)
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According the Angelo-Saxon’s
code of wergild, someone
who killed someone had to
pay a price for his deed or
accept the fact that the
victim's relatives would seek
revenge.
Grendel continues his nightly
raids on Herot for 12 years
because he knows that the
Danes are helpless.
He does not touch King
Hrothgar’s throne because it
is protected by God.
Grendel continues his evil
deeds until one day Beowulf
hears about it and decides to
heed the call.
Beowulf’s heroic qualities are
portrayed in him being greater
than anyone else in the world;
he acts quickly to rescue the
helpless.
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Beowulf, the hero of the
epic, arrives to aid
Hrothgar after Herot has
suffered many years.
Wulfgar, one of the king’s
federal lords greets
Beowulf and glorifies him
by telling him about the
king’s knowledge of
Beowulf’s noble birth and
his perilous journey to
save the king.
Beowulf is characterized
not only strong and brave
but also as wise, just, and
noble.
Beowulf says that he has
come to kill Grendel and
he offers proof that he is
up to the task.
•He says he has killed many enemies, chained five giants and chased their
race from earth, and hunted monsters out of the ocean.
•Since Grendel uses no weapons, Beowulf asks to face the monster alone in
hand-to-hand combat. Like a true hero, Beowulf does not wish to have an
unfair advantage.
•If the two engage in hand-to-hand combat, good is pitted against evil on a
more elemental level.
•Beowulf shows no fear because of the Angelo-Saxon’s concept of fate or
wyrd. He comments, “Fate will unwind as it must!” (184-189).
•In section 5, Hrothgar explains one of his heroic deeds of restoring peace
between Beowulf’s father and his relative Edgetho.
•Beowulf’s offer to help, according to Hrothgar, is one way of honoring his
father’s debt to Hrothgar.
•Like a true Anglo-Saxon hero Beowulf honors his father by paying his debt
to Hrothgar.
•The grateful king accepts Beowulf’s offer and hosts a banquet in his honor.
•Unfearth, one of Hrothgar’s men, challenges Beowulf by accusing him of
boasting (lines 239-245).
•In doing so, he complicates the plot. Unfearth is a character if inferior status.
•Unfearth serves as a foil to Beowulf.
•He is jealous of anyone with greater fame and glory than he has, he is
suspicious of a foreigner, and he is spiteful.
•His challenge to the hero reveals additional traits of Beowulf such as honesty
and self-restraint.
•Unfearth claims that Beowulf was defeated in a swimming match in his youth.
Beowulf calmly explains why he returned from the match so late.
•Beowulf shows assertiveness as well as restraint and courtesy and responds
with a tale-within-a-tale. He recalls how he slew nine sea monsters and swam to
safety.
•Beowulf then proceeded to point out Unfearth’s unpardonable sin of
murdering his kinsmen while Beowulf, on the other hand, has earned glory by
defending those more helpless than he.
•Unfearth has no means of wergild or man payment (compensation to his
relatives) because no such way of making amends existed for taking the life of
one’s own kin.
Hrothgar gives
Beowulf command
of Herot and
promises him
treasures (lines
385-391).
•In section 8, Grendel heads toward
Herot where Beowulf awaits him.
•There is a mighty struggle between
god and evil.
•Beowulf wins and tears off
Grendel’s arm and hangs it from the
rafters.
•Grendel slinks off and sinks into
the murky waters of his lair.
•All rejoice at Beowulf’s bravery.
•Soon, however, Grendel’s mother
decides to avenge on her son’s
behalf.
•She attacks Herot and carries off
her son’s claw.
•Hrothgar again seeks Beowulf’s
help.
•Beowulf responds, kills Grendel’s
mother and cuts off Grendel’s head
to bring back to Hrothgar.
•After 50 winters pass,
Beowulf, an old man now faces
his final battle.
•A fire-breathing dragon is
threatening his people.
•Beowulf is still the dedicated
defender of good against evil
and even though fate may not
be on his side, he cannot give
up.
•His sword does not kill the
dragon and the dragon lays
him low with his steaming
breath.
•A true Anglo-Saxon hero,
Beowulf accepts his fate
without complaint while all but
one of his men run in fear.
•Wiglaf alone remembers the
duties due to a kinsman and he
helps Beowulf to slay the dragon.
•Wiglaf brings the dragon’s
treasures to the dying king,
Beowulf.
•Beowulf says that he is willing to
give his life so that his people can
enjoy the treasure.
•Beowulf’s ashes are placed in a
tower by the sea.
•The geats regard Beowulf as the
greatest of heroes, the most noble
of men, so they immortalize him
by giving him a place in the
community’s memory through the
Anglo-Saxon bards recounting
Beowulf’s heroic deeds.
Angelo-Saxon Values Portrayed in Beowulf
•Honoring courage over
long life
•Enjoying feasting,
storytelling, and music
•Viewing life fatalistically,
even within the Christian
tradition
•Admiring physical
strength more than
mental acuity
•Valuing loyalty to the lord
or king above all