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Beowulf’s Blood Thirsty Characteristics
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Beowulf’s Blood Thirsty Characteristics
Introduction
English literature is full of stories about the significant qualities of many heroes and legends that glorify their bravery and courage. Sometimes, these legends are celebrated in the form of short tales, stories and fables and sometimes they are glorified in the form of prose and poems. One of the brightest examples of this kind of praise or glorification is a legendary poem titled “Beowulf”. It is an epic poem about a strong and brave prince who is the prince of the kingdom of Geats. He comes to help Hrothgar, the King of Danes, who wants his mead hall to be freed by a monster Grendel. He also defeats Grendel’s Mother and kills a dragon in his later life. Beowulf is considered to be one of the most important works in English literature. Considering all the qualities that have been defined in the poem regarding Beowulf, many scholars consider him a hero. But is he actually a hero? Many experts and scholars in the area of English Literature argue that Beowulf was no more than a blood-thirsty monster who only knew how to kill and prey. The following details will look into the facts that how Beowulf was not actually a hero but a blood-thirsty monster who did not care about any lives and killed everyone brutally.
Discussion
Beowulf is a poem that puts emphasis on the positive characteristics of a heroic character, Beowulf. Beowulf is portrayed to be brave and strong character who fights monsters and dragons all alone. He is fearless and faces all the dangers in his way in a very courageous manner, but at the same time, it is seen that he loves bloodshed a lot; a little more than normal. There are multiple pieces of evidence that can be found in the poem that Beowulf was not a hero but in fact he was only a maniac who wanted blood everywhere.
He used to kill everywhere and anywhere he found a chance and slew more than one people at a time, His craziness is proven from these lines in the poem.
“Thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws
He slipped through the door and there in the silence
Snatched up thirty men, smashed them
Unknowing in their beds and ran out with their bodies,
The blood dripping behind him, back
To his lair, delighted with his night’s slaughter”
Heaney, S. (2009)
At another instance, it has been shown that Beowulf, being strong and powerful person, did not hesitate to injure or even kill anyone.
“Killing as often as he could”
The people also portray that Beowulf was not only a cruel and savage man but also an extremely arrogant person who did not listen to anyone and if anyone tried to talk or negotiate with him, he either completely ignored him or killed him. The proof of this is given in the lines
“How the monster relished his savage war
On the Danes keeping the bloody feud
Alive, seeking no peace, offering
No truce, accepting no settlement, no price
In gold or land, and paying the living
For one crime only with another.”
Conclusion
Hence, in a nutshell, in the light of all the above arguments and pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that Beowulf was more of a monster than a hero. He only craved killing and bloodshed. He was a bloodthirsty person who was very proud of his power and strength. He did not hesitate in killing anybody and killed a number of people at times. He was very arrogant as well and did not like to talk or negotiate with anyone if anyone tried to settle things with him.
References
Heaney, S. (2009). Beowulf. Faber & Faber.
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