Villains In Beowulf

“A villain is just a victim whose story hasn’t been told” (Colfer) can be related to the three so-called bad guys from the poem, Beowulf. Everybody sees the mighty and magnificent hero as Beowulf, Hygelac’s great Thane, but people seem to neglect the antagonist’s points of view. The three main statements that most of the audience have in mind are: Grendel, a demon who kills 30 men in one night, along with controlling people with fear for 12 winters, Grendel’s mother that kills Hrothmund’s dear friend, Aeshere, and the dragon that burns down villages. From their perspective, these three fiends are pure definition of a villain, where as Beowulf is the great vanquisher. The antagonists that the audience claims from the poem should be reconsidered

It is important to note that this supernatural being is one of Cain’s clan who was banished by the Creator for killing Abel. “Cain got no good from committing that murder/Because the Almighty made him anathema/And out of the curse of this exile there sprang /Ogres and elves and evil phantoms” (Heaney 109-12). In other words, monsters are created and ostracized on behalf of Cain’s action. Grendel is destined to be an atrocious demon, similar to the caste system where people are unable to move up a caste. Furthermore, the creature can be related to the character, Ralph, from the movie Wreck-It Ralph, where they both are rejected and mistreated only for being what they are. For instance, in the scene where Ralph attempts to join the 13th anniversary party of the game, Fix-it Felix, the Nicelanders harshly refuse to let him enter the room. One character in particular demands, “Now you’re just being ridiculous; only good guys win medals, and you sir are no good guy” (Wreck-It Ralph), which can be compared

To begin with, the rampage would not have happened if it were not for the thief. “A gem-studded goblet; it gained him nothing,/Though with a thief’s wiles he had outwitted/The sleeping dragon; that drove him into a rage,/As the people of that country would soon discover” (2217-20). Notice the word sleeping; the creature was not endangering anyone before the criminal act. Imagine if it were a human being getting robbed while they were asleep; there is no doubt that they would be in rage. In addition, the serpent was only defending its’ territory that was earlier violated, similar to any normal animal behavior. In one article quotes, “Under most natural conditions, territoriality is an effective way of maintaining a healthy population” (Fontes). Perhaps the dragon and humans were attempting to make peace by separating their regions, but someone has contravened the trust, leading to total destruction. But most conclusive is again, the negative perception that the supernatural being can bring. Dragons have been the ultimate villains in countless children’s stories for many years, such as Sleeping Beauty or The Hobbit. In the movie, How to Train Your Dragon, Vikings killed off dragons as part of their culture from a misconception. Fortunately, Hiccup discovers that dragons are actually loyal and