Strengths And Weaknesses In Beowulf

Heroes are often portrayed as being perfect and not similar to humans. This is not actually the case in which every hero has some kind of weakness or flaw. This is the reason that one feels connected to heros. In Robert Nye's Beowulf: A New Telling, the theme is that even heroes are not perfect. This applies to Beowulf because although he saves the Danes from Grendel, he still has imperfections. One thing that Beowulf does to make himself a hero is he uses his weaknesses as an advantage. Beowulf is not the largest man and does not have great eyesight, but he uses cunning to defeat even the most difficult enemy. Furthermore, Beowulf specifically applies to the theme of how even heroes are not perfect.

Nye illustrates that a hero can use his weaknesses as advantages. Beowulf is a hero, but that does not mean he is perfect: “In his person, Beowulf was below average size… Beowulf's eyes were not strong, and part

Sigemund and Fitela kill the Fire dragon by using cunning: “The killing of the Fire dragon was an exploit that called for the best of their cunning”(48). Fitela is most definitely not the most fierce warrior but him and Sigemund still manages to defeat the dragon. Fitela distracted the Dragon which was a very important element in conquering the dragon. Beowulf uses a trick that kills the Firedrake: “He thrust the big stake into the Firedrakes jaws, jamming them open even as the creature gaped wide to let loose the first foul gust of flame… and swallowed the Queen Bee that emerged from the glove as if in answer to Beowulf's call(100). Beowulf using a witty trick that gets the Firedrake killed. He put a steak in it’s jaw so that it could not breathe fire, in which the bee’s went to its mouth and stung the inside of its body, killing it. Furthermore, young Beowulf would have tried to kill the Firedrake using just muscle, but instead he used cunning, which was