Pride In Beowulf

In epics, the hero allows him/herself to be blinded by pride and is later brought down by Nemesis, the Greek word for downfall. The hero typically learns his/her lesson, however there are consequences which arise from it. Beowulf is an example of the destruction of one’s character, along with one’s society, through the means of hubris. The Beowulf poet aims to use the monsters as puppets to demonstrate the problematic pride of the Germanic society, thus making the heroes and villains more similar than one would initially believe. The Germanic society, as with the Christian society, believes heavily in the practicing of good morals and having good virtue. As noted in Gold-Hall & Earth-Dragon, one can stay with the heroic code of “demonstrate[ing]

Both Grendel and Beowulf are murdered due to their excessive pride for their actions. In the case of Grendel, he “had never been clamped or cornered like this” by any warrior before Beowulf (Beowulf, 756). His constant victories against the Danish men makes his confidence grow, believing that he could allow his rage and “demonic glee” to eradicate the Danish society (Beowulf, 730). His overconfidence, however, made “his days of ravening […] come to an end (Beowulf, 734-735). Grendel’s soaring ego is demolished by Beowulf, who ends up ripping Grendel’s arm off, leaving Grendel to flee, knowing his life would soon end (Beowulf, 814-823). Being the enemy of God, it is natural that Grendel’s sins of wrath and pride would end up bringing his demise, considering how he is the evil counterpart to the virtuous Beowulf. Like Grendel, Beowulf’s “follow[ing] his own will” not only ends his life, but it also ends the life of his people as well (Beowulf, 3077-3078). This suggests that within the Germanic society, one’s own proud actions affects those surrounding them as well. Pride, in Christianity, is known to be a deadly sin, therefore it is only natural that the Lord intervenes where pride is involved. The Lord’s own war against the giants gives the okay for the Danes and Geats to feel proud over their victories against the monsters. However,

Beowulf allows pride to enrapture him during his fight against the dragon to obtain treasure. By gaining the treasure, he would fulfill the heroic expectation of gaining treasure for his people, thus giving him fame (Leyerle, 12). His confidence, of course, is attacked by the – of hubris. Beowulf’s collapse demonstrates how ruin is hidden by the desire of fame. Although the interest of treasure is for his people, the motive is mainly for the self, considering how honor would be affected. With fame, Beowulf’s list of accomplishments would grow, making him a well-respected, heroic, kind, and generous king. His praise would then allow his arrogance to grow to the point where the higher power would have to step in and take him down. The desire of fame and pride over accomplishments go hand-in-hand with the Anglo-Saxon society, thus demonstrating that they value sin over good, which furthermore, connects them to the villains of the story. (It may also be a possibility that the heroic society becomes semi-enemies to the Lord due to their acceptance of the deadly