Beowulf Group
Question:
merita
Teacher
Answers:
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kwoo1213 Teacher
College - FreshmanPosted by kwoo1213 on Monday March 31, 2008 at 11:15 AMHeroism is very important in Beowulf. Beowulf is a fierce and skillful warrior and feels obligated and responsible for defending his people and he does so with absolute determination and with bravery. Beowulf possesses ALL of the traits of a "perfect" hero, in many ways, because he is brave, strong, wise, and skillful. He also has great instincts and is intelligent. He is not without faults, though, and every hero has them! Beowulf is also a confident warrior, which helps him tremendously. He is confident in his own abilities.
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amy-lepore Teacher
High School - 12th GradePosted by amy-lepore on Monday March 31, 2008 at 12:26 PMBeowulf is considered a "hero" of the story because he is representative of the qualities and characteristics of his people. The Anglo-Saxons believed in fate or "wyrd", fame, later on they believed in religious faith, and they loved their stories. Scops were even considered "heros" as they were the Hollywood movie stars of the time period...memorizing thousands of lines of stories and traveling from place to place to entertain the illiterate masses.
The early Anglo-Saxons did not believe strongly in an afterlife as the Christians did. Instead they believed heavily in fame--the kind of eternal life given by the scops who told the stories of you and your deeds during life. This is why Beowulf brags about his sea monsters and swimming abilities, why he travels so far to conquer the monster Grendel, and why he stays to slay Grendel's mother, and again, why he faces the dragon in his old age. The scops have much fodder and fuel for fireside entertainment with this hero.
The other thing that is very important to the Anglo-Saxons is loyalty. Beowulf's loyalty to Hrothgar comes out of duty to him for Hrothgar's aid to Beowulf's father when he was in need. This is the other reason Beowulf goes to Hrothgar's aid against Grendel.
Wiglaf also demonstrates this loyalty as well as bravery when he and Beowulf face the dragon alone since all others ran for the safety of the woods. Heros abound!
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sdees Teacher
High School - 9th GradePosted by sdees on Monday March 31, 2008 at 5:12 PMThe heroic ideal is very important in the poem Beowulf. To understand this element one must first understand the Anglo-Saxon culture.Their society is a warrior society, and the goal of this type of society is immortality. This immortality is established by gaining power through the display of courageous acts. The opening words of the prologue confirm this thought by saying, "So. The Spear-Danes' in days gone by and the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness. We have heard of those princes' heroic campaigns."
Through out the epic poem there are examples of what the Anglo-Saxon's hold sacred. Beowulf's loyalty to Hrothgar in his time of need and Wiglaf loyalty to Beowulf when facing the dragon are examples of this trait that heroes need to possess. Subsequently, Beowulf is also arrogant and lustful for immortality.