Violence In Beowulf

Beowulf is the oldest surviving pieces of Old English or Anglo-Saxon literature, and is believed to have been written between the 8th and 11th centuries. Set in Scandinavia, Beowulf is an epic poem that tells of the adventures of the heroic warrior, Beowulf of the Geats. The poem is a classic story of good versus evil, and has captured the attention of people throughout the world, for centuries. The story begins in the land of the Danes and first tells of how the Shielding people (the Danes) have been tormented by a demon named Grendel for 12 years. Every night the demon goes to Heorot (the Dane's mead hall) and viciously kills the warriors who dwell there. The Dane's had given up hope that they would ever be free of the demon, and had abandoned

The reason these gruesome details are included in the epic is very simple, humans find violence entertaining, this has been true since classic forms of entertainment were established and Beowulf holds true to this theme. Grendel does not simply attack the warriors 塗e grabbed and mauled a man on his bench, bit into his bone-lappings, bolted down his blood and gorged on him in lumps, leaving the body utterly lifeless, eaten up hand and foot.(740-744). When further examining the use of violence in the story we begin to understand what an important role violence played in the story. How it dictated the lives of the warriors, how it was utilized by different characters and why some were punished and others were praised, and the roles that violence played in the survival and maintenance of a

Grendel's mother attacks the Danes because she want to avenge the death of her son. In the time period that Beowulf takes place, revenge was considered a valid reason for an attack and was even expected if one did not pay the death price to the family of the victim. Nonetheless, instead of targeting the person responsible for the death of her son, Grendel's mother attacked randomly and killed Aeschere who was uninvolved in the death of Grendel. Similarly, the dragon attacks because a Geatian slave had stolen from him while he slept, greatly angering him. The dragon only attacks because he has been stolen from, and in this the case, is the one who has been wronged. The Dragon first searches for the thief but when he is unable to find him the beast goes on a rampage that kills many innocent people and destroys many homes. 典he dragon began to belch out flames and burn bright homesteads; there was a hot glow that scared everyone, for the vile sky-winger would leave nothing alive in his wake. Everywhere the havoc he wrought was in evidence. Far and near, the Geat nation bore the brunt of his brutal assaults and virulent hate.(2312-2319) Both villains attacked randomly and killed innocent people and so much like Grendel their actions are seen as heinous and sinister and they are punished accordingly. Because their violence was undirected and random the monsters sealed their