A warrior’s utmost quest is acquiring glory before death. In Beowulf, the hero of this epic does not let obstruction hinder his pursuit of glory. Throughout the poem Beowulf, fights and defeats two monsters and a dragon with the help of no one. The thing that matters the most to Beowulf is accomplishing sempiternal glory and fame. Although glorified Beowulf seemed to have a ultimate longing for supreme glorification as seen through his three valiant battles.
The first encounter Beowulf came across was Grendel, a beast “conceived by a pair of those monsters born / of Cain”(6). Grendel savagely comes in the dark to raid Heorot, the mead-hall where all the warriors repose for the night. Once the horrid stories of Grendel reach Beowulf he sets
…show more content…
The monster kills only Esher, Hrothgar’s closest advisor and friend, and removes his body and her son’s body parts. Once the king got a hold of this knowledge they ran to Beowulf and asked him for help in finding and killing the mother of Grendel. Before his departure Unerth, “Lent him a famous weapon, a fine, / Hilted old sword named Hrunting” showing his honor he has for Beowulf as he goes to fight another monster(64). Beowulf ventures into the mother’s underwater lair to defeat Grendel's mother, the sword Unerth gives Beowulf does not function down there. Using a magical sword he finds in the giants’ hideaway Beowulf kills her with it. He discovers Grendel’s body and severs the head to take as a trophy. As he returns Hrothgar declares with gratitude, “This prince / Of the Greats, Beowulf, was born a better / Man! Your fame is everywhere, my friend, / Reaches to the ends of the earth and you hold it / In your heart wisely, / Patient with your strength and our weakness”(73). Admiring what a great man his is, Hrothgar praises then later warns Beowulf about the dangers of pride. The glory and fame Beowulf is receiving will wither away just like his strength and youth as time