Beowulf: Hero or Hubris?
is aic poem written sometime between the sixth and ninth centuries that is generally considered the first great hero story. The story is divided roughly into thirds each based around a monster that Beowulf must defeat. He is successful all three times which he attributes to “God’s will”, but dies after defeating the last monster.
The first monster that Beowulf faces is Grendel. Grendel has been attacking and killing people for years at a kingdom of Beowulf’s uncle’s friend King Hrothgar. The king is older and neither he nor any of his men have been able to so much as scratch the monster, so Beowulf takes a few of his men and sails over to offer and slay Grendel for him. King Hrothgar is grateful for his help and allows Beowulf and his men to set up in his hall to wait for Grendel to come attack that night. Grendel arrives as expected and kills one of Beowulf’s men before the two engage in hand to hand combat. Beowulf fights without his sword to make it fair and eventually manages to rip Grendel’s arm off which is a fatal wound once Grendel returns to his den. This is Beowulf’s first win and is meant to show how honorable and strong he is because he fights on even footing with Grendel and wins fairly by himself. This however doesn’t change the fact that many people have died including one of Beowulf’s own soldiers. If they had fought together, then it is likely they could have defeated Grendel as a team without the loss of any more life. In this section there is metonymy present in the referral of Grendel as being a shadow when they mean that he is evil or a demon.
The second monster comes the night after Grendel’s death as his mother comes to seek vengeance on the humans who murdered her son. She manages to kill one of the king’s advisors and then retreats to her lair as she becomes afraid of the repercussions of her actions. The king leads a group of men including Beowulf and his men to follow her tracks back to her home to end the dispute once and for all, but it turns out her home is at the bottom of the swamp. Beowulf decides to jump in and go after her in the murky water alone. It takes him nearly a day to find her and along the way he encounters other dark creatures. He comes upon her in a cave that has air and is described similarly to the King’s hall with old weapons and trophies lining the walls. The two engage in battle and Beowulf manages to defeat her with an old sword forged by giants that was being kept in the room. Beowulf finds Grendel’s body there and cuts off its head and returns to King Hrothgar with the news that both monsters have been slain and his kingdom is now safe. The King gives Beowulf some good advice (and foreshadowing) that he needs to be aware that eventually his body will fail him and he will no longer be able to go out and kill monsters the way he is now. Beowulf thanks the king for his advice and sails back home with his treasures. The king sees Beowulf’s impulsiveness and inability to have others help him for what it is: dangerous and foolish. In this section there is metonymy in the referral of King Hrothgar’s personal guards as the “hero-train” meaning they are strong brave men that follow him around in a line.
Finally, Beowulf is old and has been king of his homeland for fifty years when news reaches him that a dragon has begun terrorizing his people. He decides that he must go and deal with it himself, regardless of his age, and take a small group of men to the village where the attacks are taking place. Beowulf discovers that the dragon is angry because some of the villagers stole from it and it will not stop until it is killed. He has a slave who has been to the dragon’s cave show them the way then tells all of his men to wait outside so that he can deal with the dragon himself. For the first time, Beowulf struggles in the battle. His sword is knocked away and he nearly loses his shield as well. He only survived at that point because one of his men, Wiglaf, disobeyed his commands and jumped in the fight with him. Together they kill the dragon, but Beowulf is fatally injured in the chaos. Beowulf died because of his own hubris and inability to accept help from others.
