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The Consequences Of Taking Risks In Beowulf

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Taking risks is a necessary action to live a full life. Although many risks have unwanted consequences, they can also result in good consequences. The Deep, Beowulf, and the Challenger all address the idea taking risks can have positive outcomes. In the epic poem Beowulf, Beowulf takes one of the greatest risks, his life, to protect his people. Beowulf puts himself in danger simply by choosing to fight the Grendel, a huge man-eating monster that has been terrorizing Herot for twelve years. Beowulf sets sail with fourteen of the Geats to battle Grendel. Grendel is so powerful that mere steel cannot injure him. Despite knowing this, Beowulf still chooses to fight him. Not with a sword and a shield, but with his bare hands. “ My lord Higlac might think less of me if I let my sword go where my feet were afraid to, if I hid behind some broad linen shield: my hands alone shall fight for me,” (166-174). This is tough feat to complete, but he chooses to do it because he cares about the safety of his people. He knows that, if he dies in the process it will be worth it because Herot will be safe. …show more content…

The risk he faces is even greater than that with Grendel. The short story The Deep by Anthony Doerr is a great example of taking risk throughout life. Tom is born with a heart defect and is told that he won’t live past 18. Tom begins the story by being sheltered from the world by his mother. Throughout the story he learns what it means to live life because of a girl named Ruby Hornaday. Even though he suffers from fainting spells,

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In Beowulf’s original battle with Grendel, he insisted that he use no weapons or armor to defeat the enemy. However, one can see a sense of fear upon Beowulf’s shoulders when he cracked down and used armor and

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In the fight, Beowulf is the only person who doesn’t use weapons, and he is the sole person who is able to slay Grendle (Beowulf 34.) When Beowulf doesn’t use his weapon, it does not mean much to us, but it is a huge thing to the Anglo-Saxons. Beowulf not using his weapon is a sign of reputation. A warrior killing a monster with a sword is not a big deal, but a warrior slaying a monster with his hands? Beowulf being able to slay Grendle with his hands brought him huge fame and reputation, which is what his goal

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You take risks every day, know it or not. Even if they aren’t influential, every risk has the potential to teach you a valuable lesson. Lessons like these are seen in many texts. Excerpt from chapter VII of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave is an example among two others, "Learning to Read" and, "The Day I Saved a Life." The three texts all have one thing in common: the speakers all took a risk for a lesson to be learned.

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Compare with his encounter with the dragon. Beowulf treated Grendel as an equal by facing him his bare strength alone. “The prince of the Geats was putting his trust in his great strength and in God's favor. Off came the hero's iron mailcoat and hard helmet; he handed over his trusty sword to an attendant thane and asked him to safekeep all that war-gear (X)”. Beowulf’s confidence comes from his belief that he not matters how monstrous Grendel was, he isn’t invincible.

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Beowulf says, "I have heard moreover that the monster scorns in his reckless way to use weapons; therefore, to heighten Hygelac's fame and gladden his heart, I hereby renounce sword and the shelter of the broad shield, the heavy war-board: hand-to-hand is how it will be, a life-and-death fight with the fiend." (433-440) 3. Beowulf nails down Grendel's arm to the mead hall rafters and Grendel is later found to have bled to death in his underwater

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I need no sword.’ .....’Does Grendel use a sword?’ demanded Beowulf. ”p.33-34. Beowulf does not need to use a sword to try and defeat Grendel, he bravely decides to fight Grendel

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Beowulf shows immense courage and bravery which anglo-saxons believed to be his fate. Grendel has never found a harder opponent in battle than Beowulf “.... Had he met a man whose hands were harder.... ”(167) At this moment

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Beowulf says, "No Weapons, therefore,/ for either this night: unarmed he shall face me/ if face me he dares"(55. 683-685). This passage shows that Beowulf is fighting Grendel for the pride of killing the greatest monster, instead of fighting Grendel to save the Danes. If Beowulf's top priority is to save the people, he would have known that his best chance would be to wear armour and use weapons, but because he wants the pride and fame he goes into battle without armour or weapons. Beowulf was the best chance for the Danes to be safe again, and if Beowulf went in with no armour and no weapons, and died, then Grendel could continue killing men, women, and children every day until he finally dies.

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According to Beowulf in Beowulf by Heaney, “He has no idea of the arts of war, of shield or sword-play, although he does possess a wild strength. No weapons, therefore, for either this night: unarmed he shall face me if face me he dares.” (Heaney, 47). Beowulf put all his trust in his strength and his equipments such as his sword and helmet because he believes weapons had advantages over Grendel, the fiend that fights bare handed. It is clear that Beowulf is over self-esteem with his strength instead of being a wise man because he does not question whether Grendel is resistant to swords.

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Beowulf is an epic hero. He has great acts of heroic things. He never flees from a challenge. Beowulf comes for a far land to help hrothgar. There 's a terrible darkness over his land.

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Beowulf, on the other hand, tore off Grendel’s arm with his bare hands. Without struggling much and within moments Beowulf had overpowered Grendel sent him crying in pain. Beowulf portrays his strength through his fight with Grendel’s mother. Beowulf sees a sword hanging that was exceedingly heavy which giants hammered on the wall. It was “so massive that no

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“No weapons, therefore, for either this night: unarmed he shall face me of face me he dares” (683-685). This quote shows that he will face Grendel without weapons and just his hands. This makes him very courageous because he's sacrificing his life going against Grendel let alone without weapons things like this in what make people envy him. “If we want to figure out what a symbol might mean you have to use a variety of tools on it: questions, experience, preexisting knowledge” (Foster 107). When reading Beowulf you

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This proves that he is strong and brave because no one else could kill Grendel let alone face him. Beowulf kills Grendel with his bare hands and without armor on. Other warriors could not even kill him with a sword and armor. “Beowulf’s intention to fight Grendel with only his strength proves that he carries the characteristics of a true hero”(Hailey).

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Beowulf cares greatly for his honor. When he is fighting Grendel, he decides to not use a weapon since Grendel has none. He doesn’t want anyone saying he won unfairly. When being spoken about his fighting it is said, “He, swiftly banished to mingle with monsters at mercy of foes…” (Part 2)

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