Power In Beowulf

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Many can begin seeing empires being built in the Anglo-Saxon era in British literature. Words of unknown authors, woven together to pose as a wormhole to the facts of life, and each story creates their own view of how empires rise up and fall down. A starting point is to view the ancient story of Beowulf. While the old story of Beowulf talks about a warrior and his successions, there are also underlying imagery that can show how an empire can come into power. While there are many different methods for taking power, in Beowulf the method is by conquering. As every story, Beowulf's empire must start somewhere and in the story, it starts when Hrothgar takes "the throne, led / The Danes to such glory ... He thought of greatness and resolved / To …show more content…
Although, while one may be able to terrify many, one measly person can scare even the greatest of kings. In the case of Grendel, Beowulf happened to be the measly man that brought the beast to his knees. Grendel's fear of Beowulf became so great that ”Grendel's one thought was to run / From Beowulf, flee back to his marsh and hide there." (Beowulf. Canto 11. l. 196-197). Grendel's fear marked the fall of his reign of terror and the rising of a prosperous country, but of course matters had to be fully taken care of. In a burst of duty, Beowuld finished off Grendel and the "Screams of the Almighty's enemy sang / In the darkness, the horrible shrieks of pain / And defeat, the tears torn out of Grendel's / Taut throat, hell's captive caught in the arms / Of him who of all the men on earth / Was the strongest." (Beowulf. Canto 11. l. 226-231). The roughest part is done with, and many would assume that this would be the end of the story. That Beowulf and his kingdom would live in peace, but everything must fall and return to dust. The final ending of the kingdom is the final battle that threatens …show more content…
Canto 31 l. 472-473). The dragon is the beginning of the end. Such as a war can end a country's power the dragon is the end of Beowulf. It starts by "The dragon... attacking the countryside and setting fire to building by night"(Beowulf. Cantos 32-34). Thus, the dragon produces terror that fires up the power of the warrior in Beowulf and drives him to go against the dragon despite the risks. The dragon planning to make the final blow "drove its tusks/ Into Beowulf's neck" (Beowulf. Canto 36 l. 614-615). Thus bringing an end to Beowulf's empire. Beowulf's significance comes from its relevance in the world. Beowulf's rise and fall indicates the rise and fall of countries, kingdoms, and villages. Many people see stories in many different ways, and whether we want it to be true or not all stories come from history and all history repeats itself especially when it comes to flying high or burning down to ashes as many countries do. Although, that's not where the end of what we can see in the Anglo-Saxon era as many other literature masterpieces indicate of the empires of the past falling into nothing. The only difference is these empire's approaches to
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