Beowulf - An Apposite Response

Date originally created:  September 7, 2001

Story Summary
Beowulf is a hugely influential early English Anglo Saxon poem that takes the reader on an epic adventure following the protagonist called Beowulf. The poem begins by introducing us to The family lineage of Beowulf. Scyld, the king of the Spear-Danes race, is the father of Beowulf, and eventually after Scyld passes away Beowulf succeedes him as king. While king, Beowulf has one son, Healfdene. Healfdene succeedes Beowulf and then has three sons: Heorogar, Hrothgar, and Halga the good. He also has a daughter named Elan. Hrothgar succeeds Beowulf and becomes a mighty and popular king. This is where the actual story of the poem begins.

While king, Hrothgar decides to build a giant Mead-Hall called Heort to celebrate his leigemen and to give them gifts. The construction of Heort is a success, and Hrothgar holds celebrations. Outside of Heort, a monster named Grendel hears the celebrations going on and becomes filled with spite. Determined to stop the celebrations, Grendel sneaks into the hallway and drags individual leigemen off one by one and devours them. Many leigeman face off against Grendel, however none are successful in slaying the dastardly foe. Grendel attacks Hrothgar and his fellow Spear-Danes on and off for the next twelve years.

Eventually, Beowulf of the Geats hears of Hrothgar's ongoing struggle with Grendel and decides to assist him. He chooses fourteen companions and sets sail for the land of the Spear-Danes. Upon reaching Hrothgar, Beowulf is able to convince the king that he can help him and they devise a plan to trick Grendel after Hrothgar goes to bed that evening. Once Hrothgar goes to bed, he leaves Beowulf in charge of his palace and tells him that he has never left anyone else in charge of the hall before. Beowulf pretends to sleep, waiting for Grendel to appear. Grendel does eventually appear, and seizes one of Beowulf's warriors and kills them. He then reaches Beowulf and attempts to kill him and a fight ensues. Using only his hands, Beowulf rips off one of Grendel's shoulders, causing him to retreat to his dwelling in fatal pain.

The next morning, Hrothgar and his liegemen arrive at Heort and learn of Beowulf's victory against Grendel. Everyone is overjoyed and celebrations are held. The next night however, Grendel's mother comes to avenge Grendel's death. She seizes one of Hrothgar's favorite advisors and kills him. Beowulf is called back and he attempts to find Grendel's mother. After traveling in the sea and taking a full day to reach the bottom of the ocean, he finds Grendel's mother and Grendel dead. A violent fight ensues between Beowulf and Grendel's mother and after almost getting killed, Beowulf kills Grendel's mother and takes her head back to Heort.

Upon arriving back at Heort and seeing that Beowulf is alive and has successfully killed Grendel's mother, Hrothgar and his kingdom are overjoyed with the news. Celebrations are held again, and treasure is given to Beowulf as thanks for his heroism. Beowulf's fellow soldiers agree that he will be their next king. The next day, Beowulf and his soldiers depart the land of the Spear-Danes for Beowulf's homeland of the Geats.

After arriving home, Beowulf is crowned king and reigns for the next fifty years in peace. Eventually however, Beowulf's land is attacked by a fire-breathing dragon. Beowulf fights the dragon and in the ensuing battle both he and the dragon are killed. To honor their fallen king, the people of the land of Geats decide to build a great funeral fire pile and his body is burnt into ashes. A memorial is then made in his honor and so that whoever may come across the land in the future will know of Beowulf and his deeds of heroism.

My Response
The story of Beowulf is an impressive Epic poem, and I can why it is regarded as one of the first major English stories. Beowulf himself has many admirable qualities that a leader should posses, such as empathy for helping others, a desire to stand up for what's right, and fearlessness in the face of adversity. An example of Beowulf's empathy for helping others was when he sailed across the sea a full day to go help Hrothgar in the land of the Danes. Beowulf didn't have to do this, but he clearly did it out of the kindness of his viking heart and caring of others. This also ties into Beowulf's personal quality of believing in standing up for what is right. Beowulf had learned that Hrothgar had been unjustly attacked by Grendel after the construction of Heort. Beowulf further saw evidence of Grendel's unjust attacks during the night King Hrothgar and his liegemen went to sleep. Instead of giving up any point, Beowulf resolved to fight Grendel and his mother at all costs to provide justice for Hrothgar and the Spear-Danes. As can be seen in the resulting battles, Beowulf definitely does not back down from fear in the face of adversity. By even coming to the land of the Spear-Danes, Beowulf knew there was a probable chance of death. During the battles of Grendel and his mother, he came close to being slain multiple times. However, despite all of this, Beowulf faced his fears and proved to the Spear-Danes that he was loyal to them and wanted the kingdom to prosper. Even in his older years when he is king of the Geats, he faces the dragon head on without fear despite his age. As evidenced by both the celebrations of the Spear-Danes and the mourning of the people of the land of Geats, Beowulf's qualities were very admirable and show he is an example of what true leadership is like.