Beowulf 15 Essay, Research Paper

Beowulf

There are many morals in the epic poem Beowulf to be learned and understood. These morals are explained very briefly with little detail thus not being able to be completely understood. All these morals are intertwined into lessons about good and evil in a thrilling story of a hero. Some examples of these morals are that if you fight you must fight fair in order to win. Another example would be that good always triumphs over evil. These are just a few of the morals taught in the epic poem Beowulf.

Beowulf is a very altruistic hero as all hero’s are and he is therefore rewarded with the accomplishment of his missions and challenges. One of his great missions was his victory over Grendel. Grendel is a monster in human-like shape descending from Cain. He lives under an inherited curse and is denied God’s presence. He is also known as the “guardian of sins.” Grendel is also a heathen, the physical image of a man estranged by God. His enormous size and strength make him resemble early thoughts and descriptions of Satan. Beowulf and his men slept in the mead hall one night and everybody lay awake for they feared when Grendel may come. When Grendel came crashing through the great doors of the mead hall he grabbed one of Beowulf’s men who he let be devoured by Grendel. When Grendel came to Beowulf he immediately saw who he was and before Grendel could grab him Beowulf got hold of him. Beowulf fought honestly without weapon because Grendel did not have a weapon either therefore Beowulf would be shamed if he slew Grendel with a sword. After pulverizing Grendel he finished him off by tearing off his arm which Grendel then fled and died. The great arm of Grendel was hung above the mead hall. This lesson teaches us that if you fight fair you are destined to win.

A second moral taught in this poem is that good must always triumph over evil. For example when Beowulf and one of his friends spent seven days and nights in the ocean they were not eaten by the nicors, infact they slew the nicors that came to cause them harm. These nicors were sea monsters that swam the deepest oceans snatching any kind of food they could. To come across Beowulf as one of their meals was just an unlucky pick for Beowulf slew them with his strength of thirty men. This is another moral taught by the epic poem Beowulf.

A final moral learned is by Beowulf’s altruistic deeds. Beowulf is such a good man and hero that everything he does is to help others. His helping of others is often rewarded with the respect of those he helped. The more respect he gains the greater the hero he becomes. An example in the poem would be when he and his troops go across the ocean to help out King Hrothgar against his attacks lead on by the monsterish devil Grendel. Once again he is deemed a hero after defeating Grendel and gains all respect of King Hrothgar’s people.

These are the a few of the many morals taught in the epic poem Beowulf, many more will come into play as the story goes on and Beowulf will be again and again deemed a hero. Beowulf is truly the people’s champ and will always be remembered that way by the people he helped. Beowulf is a perfect example of a story teaching us about all the morals and lessons to be learned about the good versus the evil.