Beowulf Is A Good Leader

Leader for the People Beowulf is a strong leader in “Beowulf”, a poem written by an anonymous Christian, and is seen to be a hero in the face of the Danes. There is a lot of controversy on the topic of whether Beowulf is a hero or not; however, I believe the answer is quite evident. Unlike a character such as Gilgamesh, Beowulf does not look death in the face just to boost his ego, he fights for the safety of his people. Beowulf is considered as a selfless hero due to his confidence, his lack of a fear of death, his exemplary actions, and his attitude towards the final outcome of his battles. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, confidence is defined as a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something. Beowulf

Beowulf, as seen in lines 2178-79, “[is] formidable in battle yet behaved with honour / and took no advantage”. Using the excuse, ‘I killed a monster for you, must I do anything else?’ would be taking advantage of his situation. Being a superior leader in a nation can lead to selfishness and cruelty, but Beowulf shows no signs of those whatsoever. Because Beowulf did not take advantages of his people and showed them respect after defeating both Grendel and Grendel’s mother, he had a great following of people ready to back him up in his fight against the dragon. If he were to be rude and prideful towards his people, he would not have had people to back him up during the battle against the dragon. His selflessness and humility not only relate to the means of his selfishness after the battle, but also the outcome of his

Beowulf proves his humility when he says on lines 2525-26 “‘...what occurs on the wall / between the two of us will turn out as fate…’”. Beowulf’s humility banded a people together to be there for him if he were to need help during battle. After his death in the battle against the dragon, his people were filled with despair for the loss of their great hero. If Beowulf were to be a prideful and selfish leader, a tear might have not even been shed after his death. Since he was such a kind ruler, Beowulf was honored even after his unforeseen