Period 6
Beowulf as Hero and King
Beowulf is an ancient epic poem that still lives on today as one of the most important
works of Anglo-Saxon literature. Beowulf, being the protagonist of the poem, is an especially
important character to analyze. He has qualities that mostly reflect a stereotypical hero, though
traits of fine kingship are also implied. Ubi sunt, a motif emphasized especially during the latter
events in the poem, is an important literary device that deals with the lamenting of those who
were before us.
Beowulf is the epitome of the hero archetype. To start off, even though it isn’t necessarily
true for heroes in all literature, many heroes are portrayed as having intimidating appearances
rather than being “cute and cuddly.” Seeing Beowulf for the first time, the coastguard was easily
impressed by his appearance, having never “seen a mightier man-at-arms on this earth than the
one standing here” (Lines 247-249), and also describing him as “no mere hanger-on in a hero’s
armor” (Lines 250-251). Being seen as the strongest on the earth would definitely be a
convincing trait that one could be a hero. Furthermore, many heroes have outstanding physical
strength, which is apparent as Beowulf debunks Unferth’s drunken blasphemies and tells how his
“sword had killed nine sea-monsters” (Lines 574-575) during his five-night separation from
Breca in the swimming contest. Such a feat would be nearly impossible for one who isn’t
physically adept. He was also able to rip Grendel’s arm out of its socket, and unarmed to boot:
“The monster’s whole body was in pain, a tremendous wound appeared on his shoulder. Sinews
split and the bone-lappings burst.” (Lines 814-817) Undoubtedly, Beowulf’s physical
characteristics definitely help suggest that he is a hero.
Outside of Beowulf’s outstanding physical traits of a hero, he also behaves much like a
hero should according to his heroic code. One such instance is when Beowulf cheers up
Hrothgar: “Wise sir, do not grieve. It is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in
mourning. For every one of us, living in this world means waiting for our end. Let whoever can
win glory before death. When a warrior is gone, that will be his best and only bulwark.” (Lines
1384-1389) Beowulf emphasizes here that what a hero would do in times like these is not to
mourn, but to avenge the ones who have died. Apparently, a true hero would not give in to a
defense mechanism of mourning and would instead respond by going out and avenging the lost
one, as it is a much more mature way of dealing with the issue. He also states that whoever is
able to receive glory should do so before they die, and that their glory is the only protection for
them after their death. Probably, this means that a true hero knows that only a good reputation
will keep them to be remembered long after his/her death. Furthermore, no hero would ever give
in to cowardice, typically due to pride in their strength, and Beowulf shows this while planning
to fight Grendel: “When it comes to fighting, I count myself as dangerous as any day as Grendel.
So it won’t be a cutting edge I’ll wield to mow him down, easily as I might. He has no idea of
the arts of war, of shield or sword-play, although he does possess a wild strength. No weapons
therefore, for either this night: unarmed he shall face me if face me he dares.” (Lines 677-685)
His confidence as he declares to use no weapons is striking, especially when he had never seen
Grendel’s strength in action until his fight with him. What’s more, his pride also sustains him
when he decides he will face the dragon alone at the end of the poem: “Men-at-arms, remain here
on the barrow, safe in your armor, to see which one of us is better at bearing wounds in a deadly
fray. This fight is not yours, nor is it up to any man except me to measure his strength against the
monster to prove his worth. I shall win the gold by my courage, or else mortal combat, doom of
battle, will bear your lord away.” (Lines 2532-2537) At a seasoned age of well over fifty, one
would think that Beowulf would worry about his physical condition and whatnot, but here we see
that there is much more than just a fragment of his pride left over the past fifty years. Without
question, Beowulf surely looks, performs, and acts like a hero.
Besides the behavioral and physical qualities heroes share, many of them go through a
concept known as the “Hero’s Journey.” Although Beowulf strays from the “journey” in some
ways, he still follows through it very well. For example, his birth is at most very vague, as an
explanation of it is nonexistent in the poem. However, it is implied he was probably born into a
higher social class, being born to an unnamed mother who is sister to King Hygelac, and his
father Ecgtheow who was a very famous warrior, as told by Wulfgar: “I used to know him when
he was a young boy. His father before him was called Ecgtheow. Hrethel the Geat gave
Ecgtheow his daughter in marriage. This man is their son, here to follow up an old friendship.”
(Lines 372-376) Beowulf must have surely been prominent, even if not well-respected, during
his childhood, due to his birth circumstances. This fits well into the Hero’s Journey’s first stage,
the hero’s atypical birth circumstances. Naturally, some form of a “call to adventure” (the second
stage) is always exists in a typical hero story, and it is present, as expected: “When he heard
about Grendel, Hygelac’s thane was on home ground, over in Geatland.” (Lines 194-195)
Beowulf accepts the call in the fourth stage, skipping over the third stage where the hero may
temporarily reject the call: “I come to proffer my wholehearted help and counsel. I can show the
wise Hrothgar a way to defeat his enemy and find respite…” (Lines 277-279) When Beowulf
goes to perform the deed in the fifth stage, the plot development starts to shift in a much different
direction than that of the Hero’s Journey. He defeats Grendel, as expected: “With his death upon
him, he had dived deep into his marsh-den, drowned out his life and his heathen soul: hell
claimed him there.” (Lines 849-851) However, it goes further than that by introducing Grendel’s
mother and the dragon; apparently, more happens after the “deed.” It is when the dragon attacks
that Beowulf s supposed “threshold” occurs: “It threw the hero into deep anguish and darkened
his mood: the wise man thought he must have thwarted ancient ordinance of the eternal Lord,
broken His commandment. His mind was in turmoil, unaccustomed anxiety and gloom confused
his brain…” As we see here, Beowulf comes to a realization that his kingdom is being destroyed,
and a change in attitude occurs, thinking that he must have broken God’s law in order to receive
that punishment. This change, though, was only temporary, as his pride back from when he was a
hero was still present despite being very old, as stated in the previous paragraph: “Yet the prince
of the rings was too proud to line up with a large army against the sky-plague. He had scant
regard for the dragon as a threat, no dread at all of its courage or strength, for he had kept going
often in the past, through perils and ordeals of every sort, after he had purged Hrothgar’s hall,
triumphed in Heorot and beaten Grendel…” (Lines 2345-2353) Despite any wisdom he may
have gained while ruling for the past fifty years, it all disappears as he recalls the victories he had
experienced against other large monsters and passes off the dragon as just another one of them.
Thus, Beowulf’s threshold in this story is only apparent in a few lines, soon becoming obsolete.
This leads into the story’s “belly of the whale” (sixth stage) where Beowulf is near-death in the
dragon’s lair as he bleeds out: “When a chance came, he caught the hero in a rush of flame and
clamped sharp fangs into his neck. Beowulf’s body ran wet with his life-blood; it came welling
out.” (Lines 2690-2693) With seemingly no hope against the dragon as he is near-death, the
reader will definitely feel that Beowulf is in a rough predicament, complementing the “belly of
the whale” stage. Unsurprisingly, Beowulf does end up dying in the seventh stage, where the
hero is supposed to triumph over death. Nevertheless, Beowulf was able to land the fatal blow to
the dragon and earn all of its treasures beforehand, so his death was not in vain. He makes an
order to Wiglaf in the eighth stage, where the hero’s death isn’t without purpose: “Now that I
have bartered my last breath to own this fortune, it is up to you to look after their needs. I can
hold out no longer. Order my troop to construct a barrow… It will loom on the horizon at
Hronesness and be a reminder among my people – so that in coming times crews under sail will
call it Beowulf’s Barrow, as they steer ships across the wide and shrouded waters.” (Lines 27992808) Wiglaf is ordered to have troops construct a barrow in honor of Beowulf, so that people
would remember him, showing that he wasn’t just a wannabe hero who had died a forgettable
death. In retrospect, while Beowulf did meander on his “journey,” he still followed it well
enough to be considered a stereotypical hero.
Though Beowulf can be seen as a hero for most of the poem, his transition to a ruler later
in the poem supposedly had given him characteristics fit for a king. The poem vaguely suggests
that Beowulf had been a good ruler over the fifty-year time skip: “He ruled it well for fifty
winters, grew old and wise as warden of the land…” (Lines 2208-2210) Also, at the very end of
the poem, the Geat people’s lamentation further suggests that he was a good king: “They said
that of all the kings upon the earth he was the man most gracious and fair-minded, kindest to his
people and keenest to win fame.” (Lines 3180-3182) It is true that his people regard him as a
good ruler. However, these implications are quite ambiguous, and Beowulf doesn’t seem to
display this kingship throughout the last third of the poem as suggested. He even gives in to pride,
as mentioned before, rather than thinking rationally on how he should approach the dragon as a
wise king would. This goes completely against Hrothgar’s advice of not giving in to pride: “O
flower of warriors, beware of that trap. Choose, dear Beowulf, the better part, eternal rewards.
Do not give way to pride. For a brief while your strength is in bloom but it fades quickly; and
soon there will follow illness or the sword to lay you low, or a sudden fire or surge of water or
jabbing blade or javelin from the air or repellent age. Your piercing eye will dim and darken; and
death will arrive, dear warrior, to sweep you away.” (Lines 1758-1768). Clearly, Beowulf learns
about the fragility of life as Hrothgar lectures him, but he chooses to ignore it in the midst of
combat. His willingness to sacrifice himself in combat is more reminiscent of his heroism in the
past rather than something a figure as important as a king would do. An effective king does not
recklessly give up his life for his people. Such an act brings in many potential threats to the
people, which are evident after Beowulf’s death: “So this bad blood between us and the Swedes,
this vicious feud, I am convinced, is bound to revive; they will cross our borders and attack in
force when they find out that Beowulf is dead.” (Lines 2999-3003) Conclusively, while it is true
that Beowulf may have been a great king according to his people, his behavior surrounding the
final events in the book was not befit of a wise ruler.
Ubi Sunt, the motif that deals with lamenting of those who were before us, is one literary
device that is prominent in the poem. We first see that Beowulf makes use of this concept with
the last survivor who had hid treasure in the barrow: “I am left with nobody to bear a sword or
burnish plated goblets, put a sheen on the cup. The companies have departed. The hard helmet,
hasped with gold, will be stripped of its hoops; and the helmet-shiner who should polish the
metal of the war-mask sleeps; the coat of mail that came through all fights, through shieldcollapse and cut of sword, decays with the warrior. Nor may webbed mail range far and wide on
the warlord’s back beside his mustered troops. No trembling harp, no tuned timber, no tumbling
hawk swerving through the hall, no swift horse pawing the courtyard. Pillage and slaughter have
emptied the earth of entire peoples.” (Lines 2252-2266) The last survivor lists the many benefits
lost due to the death of his race. The way he talks about this shows that he is definitely depressed
over the issue. The passage continues: “And so he mourned as he moved about the world,
deserted and alone, lamenting his unhappiness day and night, until death’s flood brimmed up in
his heart.” (Lines 2267-2270) This part of the poem confirms that he is unhappy, and that he
mourns over the deaths. It seems that what this speech is trying to tell the audience is that any
glory and wealth one may gain in the present life is futile when there is no one there to
appreciate it. The speech of the last survivor sets the grim tone for the last arc of Beowulf, and
prepares the audience for Beowulf’s death. Beowulf’s last words to Wiglaf definitely show it:
“You are the last of us, the only one left of the Waegmundings. Fate swept us away, sent my
whole brave high-born clan to their final doom. Now I must follow them.” (Lines 2813-2816)
While uttering these words, he talks about how the rest of clan was defeated. Out of the many
things he could talk about in these final words, he chose to lament about his own people, which
shows he must wonder about them often. Wiglaf’s scolding of his men emphasize this concept
even more: “Anyone ready to admit the truth will surely realize that the lord of men who
showered you with gifts and gave you the armor you are standing in – when he would distribute
helmets and mail-shirts to men on the mead-benches, a prince treating his thanes in hall to the
best he could find, far or near – was throwing weapons uselessly away.” (Lines 2864-2871)
Wiglaf’s words here immediately jump to his memories of Beowulf showering them with gifts,
weapons and armor; and his treating well of them. This shows that Wiglaf is already longing for
Beowulf, looking back at the good memories that were created with him. The message that all
these lamentations are trying to get across is that life is finite, and that even a great warrior such
as Beowulf can die. Certainly, the nostalgic and depressing tone that Ubi Sunt presents becomes
more apparent after Beowulf’s death. It seems to imply that in order to find meaning in life, a
person has to build a reputation for themselves in order to be remembered once they die. If no
one is there to lament their death, there would be no point to living. Overall, the Ubi Sunt in the
poem seems to reveal to the audience the realization of mortality and the transience of life; what
someone gains in their present life does not matter; but it is after they die, when they have
achieved greatness, is what matters.
Regardless of Beowulf’s status as a king and hero, the way his character develops is
realistic and reminds us humans of our own limitations. The story could have presented Beowulf
as a “Gary Stu” with limitless power and a flawless personality, but instead he is shown as a
human who still is able to die, and who has flaws in attitude that can negatively affect others. His
qualities of a hero such as pride and wanting to show off are not uncommon, as seeking to excel
and be recognized is a natural ambition for humans. Despite being a king, he is still flawed as he
deliberately means to fight the dragon by himself and dies in the process, leaving his people
unprotected. Likewise, leader figures today are not perfect, and aren’t always running their
government with happy citizens even if they intend to. Besides the human flaws of heroes and
kings, the Ubi Sunt motif revealing the transience of life shows that we as humans are unable to
live forever as it showcases the various deaths throughout the poem and the aftermaths spent
mourning them.
Undoubtedly, Beowulf’s character is important even today, considering his status as a
hero and king. Qualities of a good hero are important to consider when wars still occur in our
present-day world. And with numerous attempted methods at a stable government, all with
varying degrees of success, it is also important to consider how an effective ruler treats himself
and his people.
All in all, Beowulf is definitely an important poem to read in an English 10 Honors class.
Outside of its rich vocabulary, valuable literary tropes such as metonymies, synecdoches,
kennings, litotes; and the aforementioned motif ubi sunt are present. Rich character development
and a deep plot open for interpretation also make it a good subject for analysis. It is a rich piece
of literature that has good reason for surviving more than a whole millennium. Undeniably, I
would recommend the use of the poem to be continued in the English 10 Honors curriculum.