Beowulf 4
Back in the day of the Viking, how they viewed and thought of themselves, is in some ways different than how we view them today. Beowulf was one of many of these so-called Viking "heroes", and even today people view Beowulf in different ways. Some people think that he was an Ideal Germanic hero; while others think he was a "Christ figure" ;yet still others thought of Beowulf as the human condition. I feel that if you read the story carefully you will find out that Beowulf was nothing more than a fallen flawed hero. Along with Beowulf's actions, he showed nothing more than a self-centered "typical" Viking that thought of nothing more than killing anyone and anything he could to become immortal for his deeds through the poems and songs written about them. Beowulf was a flawed hero and showed it in many different ways with the way he acted and things he said. If you look beneath the surface of Beowulf to his character you will see that he only stood for himself and himself alone. The first, and one of the biggest problems that Beowulf shows is boastfulness, even for a Viking. One example to show how boastful Beowulf was, is when he talked about the swimming contest with Brecca. It all started after Beowulf and his men arr
Thought. A similar event occurred when Beowulf followed home and killed Dam Grendel with the invincible sword: Beowulf later brought back Gendel's head as some sort of symbolic trophy. He gave the head Hrothgar as some kind of gift to try to show to everyone what a great warrior he is, but if he were a true great warrior he would not have to bring anything back to prove his greatness. Therefore, if you have read the story closely you would be able to see that Beowulf was a fallen hero that brought everything upon himself. Almost all of Beowulf's actions proves what a flawed hero he was, and how he thought of no one but himself. Beowulf was a fake, he tried to make everyone think he was this "wonderful person" that just wanted to help them get rid of Grendel and that was all: Besides Beowulf's boastfulness and egotistical actions he was also very greedy, not just from the treasures he got with the victory of each battle but also from the strive to become immortal, whether it be by song or poem. Beowulf's boastful and greedy ways had a lot to do with each other in the story because most of his actions were meant to benefit him in some way or another. For instance Beowulf's greediness was his one and only motive for killing Grendel alone. Beowulf wanted to fight Grendel all by himself so that he alone would get all of the glory and for his great deed could become immortal
Some common words found in the essay are:
Ideal Germanic, Beowulf Healfdene's, Dam Grendel, Besides Beowulf's, , Grendel Beowulf, Heorot375-381 Little, Kill Grendel, Beowulf Meadhall, flawed hero, view beowulf, beowulf's actions, swimming contest, fight grendel, process trying, read story, egotistical actions, beowulf fallen, song poem,
Approximate Word count = 937
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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