Bravery in Beowulf
Throughout this paper I plan to examine the positive and negative repercussions of bravery in the epic poem "Beowulf." I shall demonstrate how the consequences of bravery were beneficial in this epic. I shall also demonstrate how bravery did not always lead to a propitious outcome. The person who demonstrated the most bravery throughout this epic was obviously the main character, Beowulf. Throughout the span of his lifetime he became well renown for his bravery, but due to his bravery his life is lost in battle. The most obvious positive repercussion of bravery would be fame. Through Beowulf's bravery and his ability to win battles he earned much fame. Soldiers and storytellers alike told tales of Beowulf's brave deeds. On pg. 121 there are Geats speaking about Beowulf, and they basically sum up the fame of Beowulf's among the average person. "Telling their sorrow, telling stories of their dead king and his greatness, his glory, praising him for heroic deeds, for a life as noble as his name." Another positive repercussion of bravery is wealth. In this epic wealth would include land, money, and most importantly for a warrior, grandiose armor and weapon.
The final negative repercussion of bravery in this epic is that it can make people make unwise decisions. This is demonstrated with Beowulf. He could have stayed, and let the dragon go back to sleep, instead he went off to fight the dragon. So he demonstrated his bravery yet one more time. I believe the old adage "live by the sword, die by the sword" would apply in this case. Beowulf was always brave; his bravery always brought him fame or wealth. This time however, Beowulf dies bravely. As Beowulf said to Wiglaf on page 110 as he was dying, "You're the last of all our far-flung family, fate has swept our race away. Taken warriors in their strength and led them to the death that was waiting. And Now I follow them." In this epic soldiers can earn wealth by displaying bravery on the battlefield (or wherever else they may be battling). One example of this is after Efor and Wulf kill Ongetho, the Swedish king. The passage read, "Efor and Wulf would have treasure heaped in their battle hard hands; he'd repay them their bravery with wealth, give them gold and lands and silver rings, with rich rewards for the glorious deeds they'd done with their swords. Be
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Approximate Word count = 791
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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