Three Battles of Beowulf Essay Example
In the poem Beowulf, there are three specific battles that tell a major story and is a major test to Beowulf’s manhood. They are the battle with Grendel, Grendel’s mother and a dragon. The battle with Grendel and his mother were interconnected. The dragon was Beowulf’s last battle. Although, the significance of all of these battles is that in each one, Beowulf took a stand against evil in some form for the defense of his people.
The first battle of the entire epic is the battle with Grendel. The battle with Grendel came because the king of the Danes, Hrothgar, was being troubled by a demon and this demon was Grendel. Hrothgar hand-picked Beowulf to fight Grendel with weapons. But to try and prove not only his worthiness but his loyalty to the Hrothgar, he requests to fight Grendel in hand-to-hand combat. On page 9 of Beowulf comes to Herot and Grendel attacks again, the narrator states “if he chooses to forego a sword if he dares seek me without a weapon, then we two shall fight without, and wise God, that king, shall choose who shall win glory,” meaning that unless Grendel wants to fight with weapons, then Beowulf will but to make things fair, Beowulf is going to fight Grendel bare hands. Beowulf fights Grendel and in the end, rips his arm from his shoulder. In lines 833-835, the narrator states “That was a true trophy which the battle-brave Beowulf set down before them, under the hall-roof—the hand, arm, and shoulder, with Grendel’s claw, all connected together.” Grendel does not die when this happens, instead he flees into the woods, where he then died.
The second battle of the epic is with Grendel’s mother (who has no name). Grendel’s mother is seeking revenge on the Danes for killing her son. After the brutal attack on the Heorot, Beowulf finds Grendel’s mother and fights her in her own territory. Before this battle, Beowulf was given a sword by Unferth that has never failed any warrior before him to help aid him in killing Grendel’s mother. This sword fails him, and he is forced to use a sword he found in the area of fighting to kill her. On page 6 of Expedition to Grendel’s Mere and Meanwhile Up Above, it states “He who fought for the Danes, fierce and sword grim, despairing the chain-wounded hilt, drew the ringed sword, and angrily struck—It grasped her neck hard and her bone rings broke. The blade entered the fated body. She fell to the ground. The sword was bloody and the warrior rejoiced in his work,” and even though the sword Unferth had given him failed him, he still found a way to ensure he defended the honor of his fallen people. The significance of this fight is the fact that Beowulf risked his life to defend the thirty men that were murdered via Grendel’s mother’s wrath. Not only that, but during the battle, Beowulf was weaponless, but he still found a way to slay Grendel’s mother. In the aftermath of this fight, Beowulf sees Grendel’s body close by and beheads him, then takes it to Hrothgar as a trophy. Also found on page 6, the narrator states “Beowulf saw Grendel in rest, worn out with fighting, the corpse split when it suffered that blow after death—that hard sword stroke. Beowulf cut off the head,” Beowulf then took the trophy to his mead hall and hung it up on the wall. The significance of this specific
sequence of events is that Beowulf wanted to show he was the best warrior in the land, and he wanted his people to be proud of his accomplishments.
The third and final battle, which kills Beowulf, is the battle with the dragon. This battle comes after Beowulf becomes king of the Geats, fifty years later. He felt it was his job to defend his people after a slave stole a jeweled cup. The dragon became offended of this burglary and brutally burned the homes down of the Geats. He then decides to fight the dragon and during the fight, he loses his weapons due to the heat stroking fire of the dragon. There are a few lines that are spaced out that supports these statements. As stated on page 2 of Beowulf fights the
dragon and the Death, “his shield protected life and body for a shorter time than the prince had hoped. That was the first day he was not granted glory in battle. His war sword had failed, not bitten home as it should have, that iron which had always been trustworthy. This wasn’t a pleasant trip for that famous king, Beowulf, would have to leave this earth, would have, against his will, to move elsewhere,” Beowulf knew his time was coming to an end, but Beowulf had more reasoning to take this battle. Beowulf then gets bit in the neck and the venom of the dragon quickly kills Beowulf.
In conclusion, Beowulf was the epitome of what not only a great warrior looked like, but a great king. In the first battle, he defended the honor of the king. In the second battle, he defended those who Grendel’s mother killed. Finally, in the last battle as king, he defended his people. Beowulf was an honorable man and one of the best warriors ever in history for his loyalty to his king and to his people.
