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The Cruel In The Epic Of Beowulf

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After Beowulf’s triumphant win against the demon spawn Grendel and his mother, Beowulf was rewarded for his great deeds and his status in the eyes of the Anglo-Saxons has greatly increased. Sadly enough Hygelac is killed then Beowulf takes over as ruler of Hygelac’s kingdom. 50 years has passed, Beowulf is a great ruler over his kingdom but there is a new challenge that he has to face. A peasant man stumbled upon a sleeping dragon’s lair and he thought it was a great idea to steal some treasure from the lair. The dragon was awakened from his slumber and he was enraged that someone stole treasure from him. The thief was terrified that the dragon was awake. The dragon was on a rampage all across the land looking for his stolen treasure.
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140 Words | 1 Pages

“…The sounds of roaring, clanging and swishing radiates off the barrows walls. Beowulf , wields his shield to protect himself from the grotesque talons of the dragon, as well as the raging fires that singe his facial hair. The dragon writhes around in anger, trying to burn him to a crisp. Beowulf swings his sword with all his strength, but only gives the dragon a simple scratch. This makes the dragon seethe with rage, and it begins to become more aggressive towards Beowulf.

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376 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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960 Words | 4 Pages

The Dishonoring Warrior Beowulf ‘s prologue begins with a funeral for an old king to which the Danes community presents “no fewer gifts [of]/…battle-weapons and [sic] war-gear, / blades and byrines” as tribute to “support him—[for his] praiseworthy deeds” (Beowulf, 24-44). It can be seen throughout the poem that material items do not only have symbolic value, but also an ancestral reputation within the community since the spear-Danes believed “a young man [should] bring about good/ with pious gifts from his father’s possessions” (Beowulf, 20-1). In other words, one should honor the handed down gifts, as they tend to hold family stature.

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137 Words | 1 Pages

The dragon had been hoarding gold for centuries, and the intruder’s miserly view of treasure has sharp contrast to the liberal meaning at the beginning of the poem. Beowulf does eventually win the gold hoard after killing the dragon, but it is a somewhat hollow victory. While he is glad to leave such a legacy for his people, Beowulf looks at it sadly, no doubt wondering whether his sacrifice was worth the reward. This time, the gold gifts do not bring him the same kind of honor. They are not given as a gift or as a reward; instead they are the spoils of a battle to the death, which is why the treasure was buried around him at his funeral pyre, so no one could gain the treasure that lead to the death of their

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548 Words | 3 Pages

At the beginning of the story, Beowulf offers to kill the monster, in search of honor and glory. Being the brave warrior that he was, he succeeds by killing two monsters and a dragon. The dragon itself symbolizes greed, it hoards Beowulf’s treasure in a “barrow” that is a grave. Beowulf shows greed in the story again when he strangled Grendel’s Mother with his hands. Then he notices a sword that catches his attention and so he grabbed it and almost left the cave

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1008 Words | 5 Pages

He is the ruler of his own kingdom now. One day a thief tries to steal gold from within a cave. Little does he know that a fierce dragon guards this gold filled treasure trove. Once again, and for the last time, Beowulf is charged with a quest. Beowulf shows no fear in saying “I’ve never known fear, as a youth I fought in endless battles” (607-608) as well as stating, “I will fight again, and seek fame still” (609-610).

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603 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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1219 Words | 5 Pages

Beowulf: A New Translation for Oral Delivery, translated by Dick Ringler, utilized the dark and the ominous to foreshadow or to portray the impending savagery of mankind. Darkness could be defined either by the absence of light or by the lack of intellectual enlightenment. The monstrous creatures are shrouded within the darkness or associate with the ominous. Throughout Beowulf the theme of violence and darkness are intertwined, which is manifest by correlating the darkness with the unknown through Grendel. The unknown generate fear among the mass through their inability to control and understand the existence of inhuman beings.

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975 Words | 4 Pages

In the book ‘Beowulf,' it becomes evident why the dragon is enraged after it is mentioned, "the might beast, / slept in those stone walls for hundreds of years; runaway slave roused it" (Beowulf 32.2279-80). The Dragon was angered because his treasure was stolen and he was awakened, so he flew above the town and thrashed his flames. The monsters fighting out of rage and anger not only adds to their characteristic of evil but also intensifies the battle. Although the monsters are displayed as vile creatures who show no mercy, they have a logical reasoning for their

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472 Words | 2 Pages

As king, Beowulf stepped up and fought the malevolent dragon in his last battle. In his last boast he uttered, “ I’ve never known fear, as a youth, I fought endless battles. I am old, now, but I will fight again, seek fame still, if the dragon hiding in his tower dares to face me.” (62). Beowulf was very confident for the circumstances.

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683 Words | 3 Pages

Because when a dragon started to wreak havoc his country, he could not help himself; he wanted to defeat the dragon on his own. He believed in his strength and courage so much that he decided to kill a dragon by himself. In fact, he didn’t believe in the dragon’s strength or courage at all. He expected it to be any easy challenge. In his last speech before his duel with the dragon, he said to his men, “I risked my life often when I was young.

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775 Words | 4 Pages

This idea can be seen in the poem when a man steals the jewels and gold from the dragon. " A man stumbled on The entrance, went in, discovered the ancient Treasure, the pagan jewels and gold... stole a gem-studded cup and fled" (2213-2218). Any person who gets any of their possession stolen, will get angry and try to get it back. The dragon, who loves his treasure, does the same. When Beowulf fights the dragon, he gets severely wounded, and is on his death bed.

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806 Words | 4 Pages

and we went under the crag. No coward path” (Beowulf 2539 - 2541). In this scene of Beowulf, Beowulf is going to kill the dragon in his lair and everyone but one person runs off once they see the dragon.

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1655 Words | 7 Pages

The Five Steps The literature suggests that God was a prominent figure in their lives after the main character has experienced a great amount of suffering. God was to be absent to them until he or she ascended onto a high level of anguish and suffering. According to Anglo Saxon literature, God’s purpose is to make humans suffer so people can see their true selves or reflect to repent. God’s plan for life is prominent in the most famous Anglo Saxon literature, Beowulf, where God uses Gendel as a way to make the Geats and Dains suffer. Grendel being his messenger from hell, preaches to Beowulf and the others by leaving the malled and distorted bodies of their loved ones in their homes, explaining to them that this is what God wants.

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451 Words | 2 Pages

In most of the epic stories like Beowulf, the main character is presented to readers. How he thinks and how he faces the antagonist is the focal point. However, modern authors and directors replace this traditional method with its opposite. We start to see the stories through the eyes of evil characters. For example, In a version of Beowu lf by John Gardner, Grendel tells the story and many missing points are clarified such as why Grendel is immune to weapons, why he attacks to the mead-hall and what he thinks during all that bloodshed.

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