The story of Beowulf is an old tale passed onto religious figures to tell to others for entertainment. It is a story about a king named Hrothgar, who was plagued by a monster, Grendel, who destroys his guest-hall and kills all his warriors. The king is desperate until the hero of the story, Beowulf, takes up the task to defeat Grendel and save the king’s hall. The hero is a man who takes on all challenges, from the Geat tribe and the son of Edgetho, believed to be the strongest man alive. Beowulf is reckless, strong, popular, and even boastful in this epic poem. Beowulf is extremely reckless in his story, doing things for no reason and risking his life for useless causes. The evidence that he is reckless is in what Unferth said about him; …show more content…
The evidence of this is when he has his battle with Grendel, who is also incredibly strong. His strength is so powerful and awe inspiring that he can easily rip a man full of armor apart and devour him as if he was a piece of bread, shown here “Grendel snatched at the first Geat he came to, ripped him apart, cut his body into bits with powerful jaws, drank the blood from his veins, and bolted him down, hands and feet; death…” Seeing how powerful Grendel is, it shows how incredible Beowulf is for defeating him. “...And was instantly seized himself, claws bent back as Beowulf leaned up on one arm. That shepherd of evil, guardian of crime, knew at once that nowhere on earth had he met a man whose hands were harder…” Beowulf is so physically strong that Grendel, and almighty fear mongering monster, is afraid of the hero’s strength. As well as strong and reckless, Beowulf is also popular in his tale. Evidence is shown in the text when Beowulf first enters the Danes. Hrothgar replies to him when he makes his speech, “...Beowulf, you’ve come to us in friendship, and because of the reception your father found at our court…” The king already knows of Beowulf because he is affiliated with his father. Another example of Beowulf’s popularity is when Unferth was ranting about the hero’s adventure with Brecca. This implies that he is well known and people that are not from Geatland have