'Protest Against The Dragon In Beowulf'
In the last stage of Beowulf’s epic hero journey, fatalism determines his grand finale against the dragon. The warrior king’s long journey is now coming to a close and before going into battle against the dragon, Beowulf realizes that, “After many trials,/ he was destined to face the end of his days/ in this mortal world; as was the dragon,/ for all his long leasehold on the treasure” (Beowulf 2341-2344). After facing Grendel and his mother, fate has lead Beowulf to the crisis of his journey. The dragon is the final monster he must defeat in order to complete his monomyth cycle. He is a symbol of the deadly sin, greed.
Beowulf’s final opponent in Beowulf the Epic is a big angry dragon who had a vessel stolen from his treasure mound. Beowulf, with the help of Wiglaf, slays the dragon, but not before the dragon deals a death blow to his assassin. While bleeding profusely, Beowulf lives just long enough to digress one last time. In the movie, however, Beowulf doesn’t die, as it seems like he sails back to Geatland. There isn’t even a dragon to speak of in the movie.
Mythological or Archetypal philosophy has been around for centuries and is used across numerous cultures. Carl Jung, a close colleague of Sigmund Freud, defined the word archetype as “a figure...that repeats itself in the course of history wherever creative fantasy is fully manifested.” Archetypes can come in various forms: characters, images, and situations. Though many different forms of archetypes appear in the tale of Beowulf, specifically, the archetypal character roles of the hero and the outcast are major aspects of the story. The role of the hero is a popularly recognizable element of many stories.
Through the perils of its lair and its poisonous fangs, “the ground-burner” embodies man’s fear of inevitable death (2713). After finding the man who awoke the beast, the Geats encounter the dragon’s home. Beowulf enters “an underground barrow near the sea-billows” to face his enemy alone as his men wait outside on the crag (2411). The beast’s lair symbolizes
The third and final evil Beowulf must face is the dragon. At this point in the poem, Beowulf has been the “ring-giver” or king for half a century (Beowulf 2207). The role of a king in Germanic times included rewarding warriors with treasure captured in battle; however, the dragon keeps his treasure to himself. This greediness is in direct opposition to the qualities of a good king, and the dragon becomes the representation of selfishness and destruction. Beowulf takes on the role of a warrior once again, and defeats the dragon.
Beowulf: Epic Hero or Proud Fool? So what exactly is a hero? A hero to most is a person idealized for their courage and their outstanding achievements and qualities. Some may even consider Beowulf a hero due his never backing down and risking his own life for the safety of his people.
The fight went back and forth. They were punching, kicking, and yelling as they went. The monster said “you are never going to win. I am going to win!” This made Beowulf angry.
When the dragon felt Beowulf’s presence, it instantly became furious and went straight for Beowulf while breathing fire at him. Beowulf immediately struck his sword on the dragon’s tail, but it cracked, although it cut the monster, it did not do a great damage. His plan failed, and the dragon now furious kept breathing flames at Beowulf. Now Beowulf on the floor, had a ring of flames sorrounding him.
As the story progress, Beowulf became king of the Geats for 50 years when suddenly a dragon emerged from slumber began to burn down villages. However, Beowulf didn’t pay the slightest attention, but instead ignored what was happening. Finally, when the dragon burns down Beowulf’s throne room Beowulf decided that he needs to deal with the dragon. In Beowulf 's eyes, the lives of his citizens couldn’t even compare to his throne room. When Beowulf prepared to fight the dragon he said, “Now I am old, but as king of the people I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning” (lines 2512-2514).
Eventually, a third and last monster appeared. This time the monster was a furious dragon that would attack and burn down the villages of Geatland. Obviously, Beowulf was ready to take on the dragon in a fight, but unfortunately, after defeating it, his wounds were not to fix. Sadly, Beowulf had fought his last fight. Eventually, The Geat’s held a worthy funeral for Beowulf, and they even built an enormous barrow where he could rest in peace.
In Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney the dragon’s gold represents a close bond. When the man stumbles upon the cave of treasures, when he steals a gold jewel-studded goblet. The dragon wakes up to find his goblet gone “the hoard-guardian scorched the ground as he scoured and hunted for the trespasser” (Heaney 155-157). To most people the treasure will gain them nothing but to the dragon he is the hoard guardian meaning he cares about his possessions enough to hunt for the trespasser. The dragon uses his “pent-up fury at the loss of the vessel made him long to hit back and lash out in flames” (Heaney 157).
Beowulf is a king who distributes his wealth and at the same time protect his people. However, the dragon hoards all the wealth that it cannot use, nor did the tribe who had accumulated it long ago. The dragon could also represent death itself as the last man of the tribe who accumulated the gold awaited death to join his brethren all the while protecting the hoard. In the end, Beowulf dies by the dragon, but the dragon also perishes by the hands of Beowulf’s kinsman,
In lines 725-729, “he raised his sword and struck at the dragon’s scaly hide. The ancient blade broke, bit into the monster’s skin, drew blood, but cracked and failed him before it went deep enough”. Beowulf’s strength was very weak that he couldn’t cut the dragon with his sword. Beowulf tried to defeat the dragon. In lines 682-685, “No one else could do what I mean to, here, no man but me could hope to defeat this monster.
Questions of Honor: Beowulf Beowulf’s honor and integrity can be questioned throughout the entirety of the epic poem, Beowulf. Whether or not his actions are inspired by his own pompous arrogance or confidence, one can argue that he is a hero nonetheless. Evidence and experience prove that Beowulf is more of a fearless hero than an excessively prideful man, and his hubris is more than justified due to the formidable duties he is able to execute. Throughout the poem, Beowulf expresses his intense strength and courage to the fearful people in the poem. His daring sense of self-assurance is backed by his victories against all three monsters, (even though he suffers a tragic death after facing the dragon, it is a defeat nonetheless).
Despite Beowulf's age, he remains honorable and will fight the dragon equally meaning, with no weapons because the dragon does not use weapons. Although Beowulf enters the battle sensing that he may not make
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