So far, Beowulf has been a very interesting read. For a second it reminded me of The Epic of Gilgamesh because of the typical “a hero is here to kill the monster” type of thing.
I admire Beowulf’s bravery and courage to come over seas and be so sure of himself, his strengths and his warriors that came with him. However, one of my favorite parts was when he stood up to Unferth when he called him out about the battle he lost in the seas. His answer was so quick and sharp, and it showed how confident he is. Instead of admitting he lost, he found another glorious thing to mention in order to show why even thought he lost, he is still a hero. When he said that he killed nine sea monsters and he has never heard of any man do that, he was kind of bragging but I liked it because it showed that he knew that he was the best. I wish that when I lost in something I could find another great thing to use as an example for why I am still a winner! Instead I call myself a sore loser!! Great lesson learned from you Beowulf!!
I also thought it was interesting how Beowulf mentioned fate a couple of times, which makes me wonder if fate will play a part in this story the way it did in Oedipus. In the story Hrothgar seems very pleased to see Beowulf and his brave warriors, and fully trusts Beowulf with his people’s lives in his hands. However, I am just wondering if Hrothgar really believed in and trusted Beowulf’s courage, or did he just accept his help because he had no other choice and he wouldn’t lose anything if Beowulf tried to kill the monster? I am not saying this is the case, but it’s just a thought.
I also thought it was interesting how Beowulf mentioned fate a couple of times, which makes me wonder if fate will play a part in this story the way it did in Oedipus. In the story Hrothgar seems very pleased to see Beowulf and his brave warriors, and fully trusts Beowulf with his people’s lives in his hands. However, I am just wondering if Hrothgar really believed in and trusted Beowulf’s courage, or did he just accept his help because he had no other choice and he wouldn’t lose anything if Beowulf tried to kill the monster? I am not saying this is the case, but it’s just a thought.
I admire Beowulf’s courage to fight Grendel without any weapons. I guess you can say that it was fair, but if I knew that my opponent had no weapons and my weapons could assist me in defeating him, you best believe that I would bring my weapons and not even think about being “fair”. But I guess that’s what separates me from a true hero! I find it funny how all heroes have to save something from the battle to show that they defeated the enemy. In Epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu and Gilgamesh brought back the head of one of the monsters, and Beowulf proved his victory by hanging Grendel’s arm on the wall. I guess it’s just like athletes keep and show off their trophies as proof of their win, our heroes keep body parts as a proof of awesome battles and victories! Way to go Beowulf!!
I guess you probably noticed in part 2 that he ends up getting Grendel's head anyway. I guess I am a little like you since I am kind of a sore loser too. It would be great to be able to claim victory even after a loss. I just can't think of a way to do it in any kind of competition that we have today. I guess the closest analogy is the BCS in college football. TCU or Utah beats some really good teams from one of the major conferences and they are still perceived as being weaker because the schools they beat are from major conferences. That is how the schools like Baylor, Vanderbilt, Iowa State, Indiana and Duke proclaim victory after losses. We are still better because we play in ______ conference. The best way to get a victory out of a loss is to change the rules, but it is hard to get people to go along with that.
ReplyDeleteI love how you almost seem to be saying that Beowulf didn't really kill the monsters, it's just his way of justifying his loss. But we're like that.
ReplyDeleteFate, or wyrd, is a factor in Old English society. It's a little more fickle than Greek fate, but does predetermine the course of our lives to an extent.