Beowulf Vs. Arthur

3 Pages 863 Words

Every hero, as a general rule, desires to be remembered for more than one heroic tendency. Every hero in World Literature class has at least three common tendencies: to protect mankind from evil, to use his powers to rescue his family and friends from evil circumstances, and to earn immortality via his heroic tendencies. Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon hero, has all three characteristics. His quest is to restore Herot, due to the mass destruction caused by the monster Grendel, the evilest of all evils. Grendel had been terrorizing the city, killing thousands of men in their sleep, depriving them the ability to fight back. King Hrothgar hired the brave knight Beowulf to defeat the creature of darkness. The knight boldly hunted Grendel and fought him with great might. At the end of that particular battle, Beowulf left with Grendel’s arm, his sign of triumph. Nevertheless, Grendel’s mother became furious over the death of her son, and decided that she needed to prolong her son’s rampage. She began the slaughter of innocent people in Herot. Beowulf commenced a brawl with her and soon had her head.
Throughout his life, Beowulf was a man of many achievements. He was very victorious in battle, and for this Hrothgar chose him to defeat Grendel. When Beowulf killed Grendel and his mother, he also defeated the evil that they symbolized in the name of God. Beowulf made the Danes a peaceful people once again also, making him one of the greatest heroes to ever live.
Everything Beowulf accomplished was through God. He boasted a protection by God, and won the battles fought in the Almighty’s name. This comitatus instilled fear into all of his opponents, even if they showed no sign of it. Just Beowulf’s touch would make a mortal man want to die. God gave him strength like no other man. He was strong enough to carry Grendel’s mother’s head when average men quivered at the very thought of lifting the monstrous thing. These sup...