Topic > Dreams and Reality in Beowulf

Beowulf is an anonymously written heroic poem involving many conflicting characters in which the main character, Beowulf, felt inspired to challenge. During the Anglo-Saxon period there were numerous written texts published anonymously. It was a period of time when it was common to leave impersonal poems or works of art as a source of wisdom and is described by stating: "The fact that all these derived from various Latin sources suggests that the anonymous poets were probably clerics with a strong, if bookish, historical sense of their romantic 'issues'.” Each was written with a purpose but wanted to leave it unnamed to society. “…an Old English version by an anonymous glossarist, offers one fascinating look at the Anglo-Saxon monastic hall". In this particular poem, the purpose was to show values ​​of strength, loyalty and courage. There were different monsters faced by Beowulf with different levels of struggle each time. This poem is considered: "The oath-breaking and the killing of kinsmen, although clearly the cardinal sins of tribal societies... themes within the epic, seem rather distant from Beowulf himself". During the Anglo-Saxon period, heroes and warriors were important, so Beowulf he was well liked and they were satisfied with his stock choices. The poem Beowulf incorporates the dreams, reality and expectations of some characters as a source of confidence and courage used in the intriguing fights and deaths in which they took part. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Beowulf had his call to adventure with the hope of defeating the demon, Grendel, who was terrorizing King Hrothgar's Heorot Hall. When he arrived at the Danes' home, Beowulf offered to defeat Grendel, and after King Hrothgar's approval, they held a feast to celebrate. He had enough confidence to defeat Grendel by saying, "So I will not use a sharp weapon | to cut him down, however easily I could" (Beowulf lines 679-680). After the feast, Beowulf goes to observe the Hall and watches Grendel break in and kill a man Grendel then tries to confront Beowulf soon realizing that he was not strong enough. Soon Grendel is overcome with pain and then has his arm torn off and runs away back to his home where Beowulf is a hero and was having an orderly celebration from the king to receive many gifts as a reward. Then, one night, Grendel's mother, who was mourning the death of her son, decided to take matters into her own hands and raid Heorot Hall then goes to look for the Grendel's mother to kill her. He feels obliged to keep his people safe, but "In reality, only the fight against Grendel is absolutely necessary to protect a people, to save their lives." lair, which is considered a very petrifying place, if he wants to get rid of her too. He was aware of his strength and during the fight he had confidence in his struggle saying: “The monster struggled and struggled with him, | but Beowulf was aware of her mighty strength... he relied on the help of the Lord of All," (Beowulf lines 1269-1272). After a rather challenging fight, he finally defeats her using the sword he found. There was need to include this part even though it could have ended with Grendel's death, "...the fight against Grendel's mother as a demonstration of the hero's [sic] water power, to balance his earthly power against Grendel and his power of air and firepower against the dragon...'. Beowulf is praised and given many treasures before returning to his home. “Grendel and his mother hear,they react and suffer in an unmistakably human way... even if a hero, who just needs to meet them and trust in God and his own strength." Not long after he returned home, a dragon watched over Geatland, ready to take back his treasure that someone had stolen. The dragon began to reveal its presence by burning Beowulf's hall. “When the dragon begins his ravages, Beowulf fears that he has angered God; before facing the dragon, he tells his men of the death of the previous one…he puts his life in the hands of fate” (John Tanke 368). Beowulf realizes the risk of facing the dragon and prepares. 'He wished good luck to all the Geats who had shared | his hearth and his gold. He was sad at heart, | unstable but ready, sensing his death” (Beowulf lines 2418-2420). Beowulf realizes that the fight will not be easy and begins the challenge. He finally stabs the dragon and has thoughts of victory, then realizes that the dragon's bite is poisonous and slowly begins to die. Before his death he gave Wiglaf his collar which declares him as the new hero to take over. “Here a different perspective operates, as the hero's grace and courage are shown, not in the present environment, but in the glory that Heorot once had and may have again” (Calder 25). All three characters in the conflict died due to Beowulf's brave acts, but unfortunately he also died during his last fight. The fight between Beowulf and Grendel specifically includes the plan to destroy each other. The only reason Beowulf went to the Danes' house was his plan to defeat Grendel. He had an ambition to protect people, which meant he had to free Grendel from Earth. It seems crazy to fight a demon, but Beowulf had strength and proved himself to be an honorable warrior. Grendel was a kind of level one Satan, strong and demonic but still easily overpowered. Grendel represented the devil quite well with his little triggers, his constant slaughter of Danes and angry attitude. Brodeur emphasized this by saying, “These evidences of Grendel's extraordinary strength…stimulate the listener's attenuated fear and heighten the glory of Beowulf's achievement” (Brodeur 507). With Heorot Hall and Grendel, it was strange that he kept barging into that hall without ever changing the location. Of course he knew that he would eventually be caught returning to the same place, meaning he knew he would die, but he did it for fun and self-satisfaction. This has similarities to suicide with hostile content, such as the 9/11 plane drivers who were trying to do damage and prove a point, but also proudly killed themselves while doing so. Grendel never exactly changed his character from when he started out as a demon and ended up being one too. He had the journey of constantly going to Heorot Hall to haunt and devour the humans who were there. They had pathological behavior and seemed to have a strong love of violence. The fight between Grendel's mother and Beowulf involves weapons and lasted longer in a baser setting. Grendel's mother had plans for revenge for her son's death but she was a woman of little strength and failed to live up to her expectations. She could be considered a second level Satan because although she was no more of a burden than Grendel himself, it was in his horrible lair that was a more hostile environment and weapons were used that made him more aggressive. When Beowulf fought Grendel, no weapons were used to try to make the fight more even. Grendel's mother seemed to have strong desires for hatred and cruelty, but she was a protective mother based on her instinct for revenge. His..