Beowulf / Hero with a Thousand Faces Essay
In the stories Beowulf and Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces, its visible and has been concluded that the hero, Beowulf and his journey fulfill all 12 of the characteristics of a mythical hero. First, the hero is introduced in his ordinary world. Beowulf is the son of Ecgtheow and nephew of the king in his land Geatland, which is not far from Denmark. When he receives his call to adventure, Beowulf travels to the Danes. There is a monster named Grendel and one night, he slaughtered thirty men. Since then, he has continuously caused problems for twelve years. People have tried to fight him and stop the evil creature from killing or causing more destruction but many have died trying. This …show more content…
For Beowulf, there was one place that the object of his quest takes place. The lake, which is an eerie, mysterious home to Grendel and his mother, is where he battles and defeats them. Then the hero must endure the supreme ordeal. In Beowulf, this is when he is about to fight the dragon. He finally realizes that this may be it; he may die. Beowulf’s men wait outside the barrow while he goes in to fight and everyone waits anxiously. After defeating the dragon with the help of Wiglaf, he seizes the sword. Technically it was Wiglaf that got the treasure though because Beowulf was bitten by the dragon and it was poisonous. Wiglaf brings him a portion of the treasure to see what he has won before Beowulf dies. The battle against the dragon was after Beowulf had taken the road back. He had received many treasures and rewards from Hrothgar and shares them with him. He gives him suits of armor and four of the great horses and even gives Hyglad a necklace given to him by Wealhtheow and and three horses. When he arrives back at Geatland, he is highly praised by everyone there. He even receives some land and treasure for