Research Paper On Beowulf

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Pages: 3

One may envision the world ending consisting of monsters and demons taking over but being defeated by a greater force. In the epic of Beowulf translated by Burton Raffel similar events took place. The monsters were Grendel and his mother and greater force was a warrior named Beowulf. In this epic the City of Herot was being attacked by Grendel a monster of darkness for 12 years. After hearing such thing Beowulf from a different place offered to sacrifice his life for them and kill the monster. This is exactly what Beowulf did. He killed Grendel which made Grendel’s mother attack and then killed too. Beowulf also considered the brave, honorable warrior was praised and went back home. After 50 years Beowulf was killed at battle with a dragon. Though Beowulf died he was still remembered for his contributions to the public. In Beowulf, there …show more content…
If someone comes from a bad bloodline the public sees them as bad too, which as someone comes from a good bloodline their public reputation is good. In the epic, Beowulf answered to the question “Who are you?” saying “We are the Geats, Men who follow Higlac. My father was a famous soldier known far and wide as a leader of men. His name was Edgetho. His life lasted many winters; wise men all over the earth surely remember him still (pg.46).” The question was not “Who are you from? It was “Who are you? Beowulf knew that his ancestor’s names held a significance so by saying he was of them was supposed to tell the people about who he was. Because Beowulf told who his father was, the Danes welcomed him into their land. They had known Higlac and Edgetho as strong heroic warriors and since Beowulf was from them he would have the same traits and characteristics of them within him. By telling them where he was from through his ancestry he was indicating that his reputation goes far past himself. Because of Beowulf’s background he was viewed a certain