Beowulf Essay, Research Paper

Beowulf

John Meister

9\21\96

The early English epic Beowulf is filled with a marvelous hero , ghastly

villains , far off lands , and deeds of great valor. These are some of the

reasons why Beowulf is a great example of an early English epic. Beowulf is an

epic because it has action that consists of deeds of great valor , the setting

of Beowulf is in vast scope covering great lands and far off places , and the

hero of the story , Beowulf , is of imposing stature of international and

international importance.

One reason that Beowulf is an epic is because the action consists of

deeds of great valor. Beowulf told a story of when he killed nine sea-beasts

with his sword. He also said,” I returned from a fight when I destroyed five a

family of giants ,” which proves the great strength that Beowulf had. When

Beowulf talked about going to fight Grendel , he denied himself the use of a

sword because he wanted a fair hand-to-hand fight with Grendel. When one of

Hroathgars’ coast guards set eyes upon Beowulf he said ,”I have never set eyes

on a more noble man , you are no mere retainer.”

Although the action in Beowulf consists of great deeds , the setting of

the story is vast scope covering great lands and far off places. Beowulf said

that his father was favored far and wide because he was a very noble lord. “The

swift current , the surging water carried me to the far off Land of the Lapps ,”

said Beowulf as he told a story to one of Hroathgars’ retainers. When Beowulf

talked of where Grendel lived he said ,”These two live in a little known country

with wolf-slopes , windswept headlands where a mountain stream plunges.”

The protagonist of Beowulf , Beowulf , is a figure of national and

international importance with great historical and legendary significance. “Then

he who feared no man , the proud leader of the Geats,” said the author about

Beowulf before he went to seek Grendel. Another example the narrator uses to

show the importance of Beowulf is ,”Truly , the leader of the Geats fervently

trusted in his own strength and in Gods grace.” Once more the narrator said this

of Beowulf ,”One of the Hygelacs thanes , Beowulf by name , renounced among the

Geats for his great bravery.”

Since Beowulf contains action that consists of deeds of great valor , the

scope is in vast setting covering great lands and far off places. Also the hero

of the story is a figure of imposing stature of national and international

importance , we can conclude that Beowulf is a great example of an early English

epic.