Rise Of Beowulf As An Epic Hero

The epic poem known as Beowulf follows the epic hero Beowulf through his great feats exemplifying his strength, courage, and cockiness. As a young man the epic hero faces the demon known as Grendel which terrorizes the kingdom of the Danes constantly. The young and strong Beowulf awaits the demon and mortally wounds him, through hand to hand combat. The vengeful mother of Grendel seeks retaliation and once more the All mighty Geat goes in to save the day once more, by slaying her and claiming her treasure. Now years go by and Beowulf has become ruler of his land and is an old man.
A new threat arises that will test the Beowulf once more. The epic hero transforms into the tested old-timer, his test now is to extinguish the dragon who has been …show more content…
Since he is now an Epic hero once more and not a tested old timer, people would have not feared the dragon as much and more of his soldiers would have followed to see the battle unfold. The proud king would not have to boast his confidence through memories of past victories, his age would not have been a big factor that lead to his demise. Beowulf would’ve gone to the dragon’s den, jumped in and fought him hand to hand breaking his neck or the last breath out of the dragon, then chopping his head and bringing it back as a trophy along with the treasure. There would be no need for Wiglaf to show his loyalty to the king nor him provide assistance. Wiglaf would not have become his successor and probably who knows if Beowulf would1 have left his kingdom with another successor. The old king would just go back to his kingdom victorious once more and live out he years until he died, unless he found a way to stay immortal since he is an epic hero now and is untouchable and strong, age never affecting …show more content…
Being a proud and strong man gave him the confidence to beat anyone and kill any beast. Unfortunately, not many people could relate to such a person, a man who did not deteriorate with age. The culture of that time having Anglo - Saxon influence and Christian elements called for bravery and strong leaders to rally and protect a kingdom. But they understood the human factor that age kills all, and unless they used other remedies such as pagan dark rituals or asking a higher being for help immortality or preservation of youth could not be achieved. In addition, people always need a successor someone to keep the memory of those passed, Wiglaf I’m sure preserved Beowulf’s name and kingdom, in today’s period that relates to most because once we pass from old age and leaving our family lineage our successors keep our memory alive and our treasures. That is why making him the tested old timer was the best choice because most of us will one day get old and we won’t be able to do things we used to in our youth, which is shown by the passing of Beowulf after his last