Beowulf: Essays Outline

Thesis:

1.  The narrator of the epic describes Beowulf’s character through three traits: bravery, physical strength, and loyalty.

2. The narrator of the epic describes various cultural backdrops in Beowulf: pride, honor, and divine law.

3. The narrator of the epic describes Beowulf as a warrior of good and the monsters he defeats as evil, which brings out this theme of good vs. evil.

4.  The narrator of the epic describes Beowulf’s name by meaning two things: bear and wolf.

5. The narrator of the epic describes Grendel as a spawn of evil and is forever cursed to live unhappy.


1st Essay - Character: Beowulf

I. Brave

A. Choose to fight Grendel without armor or weapons

     "I have heard, too, that the monster's scorn of men is so great that he needs no weapons and fears none. Nor will I." 261-263

B. Has successfully defeated numerous monsters

"I drove five great giants into chains, chased all of that race from earth. I swam in the blackness of night, hunting monsters out of the ocean, and killing them one by one." 248-253

C. Fights the dragon, despite likelihood of death

"When he comes to me I mean to stand, not run from his shooting flames, stand till fate decides which of us wins." 636-639

II. Physical Strength

A. Swimming Challenge with Brecca

"I have come so far..that I, alone and with the help of my men, may purge all evil from this hall" 257-26

B. Able to defeat Grendel by ripping off his arm

"The bleeding sinews deep in his shoulder snapped, muscle and bones spilt and broke." 390-391

C. Physical altercation with Grendel shakes the mead hall

"The high hall rang, its roof boards swayed..benches rattled "

III. Values Loyalty

A. The Geats swear their loyalty to Beowulf to repay his kindness

"All of us swore to repay him, when the time came, kindness for kindness---with our lives, if he needed them." 748-750

B. Passes on his authority to Wiglaf

"Then that brave king gave the golden necklace from around his throat to Wiglaf...'You're the last of all out far-flug family'". 831-835

C. The Geats wait for Beowulf to return from the underwater lair when other have given up on Beowulf

"The Danes gave up, left the lake and went home, Hrothgar with them. The Geats stayed, sat sadly, watching..." 1601-1604

2nd Essay - Setting: Cultural Backdrop

I. Honor

A. Halfdane's son presents Beowulf with gifts for defeating Grendel
"Then Halfdane's son presented Beowulf with a gold standard as a victory gift, an embroidered banner; also breast-mail and a helmet; and a sword carried high, that was both precious object and token of honour..." 1019-1026

B. Beowulf's formal boast pleases the Queen

"This formal boast by Beowulf the Geat pleased the lady well and she went to sit by Hrothgar, regal and arrayed with gold."639-641

You might get irritated when people around you make boasts, but for Beowulf and the warriors around him, doing so is an important traditional part of their culture. 

C. A poet begins to make songs about Beowulf's victory

"Meanwhile, a thane of the king's household, a carrier of tales, a traditional singer deeply schooled in the lore of the past, linked a new theme to a strict metre. The man started to recite with skill, rehearsing Beowulf's triumphs and feats in well-fashioned lines, entwining his words." 866-873

Immediately after Beowulf's fight with Grendel, the Danish minstrel begins composing a song, using established poetic clichés, about his great deeds. The composition of new ballads celebrating local heroes was traditional in medieval Scandinavian culture.

II. Pride

A. Beowulf instructs Wiglaf to build a famous barrow for him

"'Order my troop to construct a barrow on a headland on the coast, after my pyre has cooled. It will loom on the horizon at Hronesness and be a reminder among my people – so that in coming times crews under sail will call it Beowulf's Barrow, as they steer ships across the wide and shrouded waters.'" 2802-2808

The building of barrows, is a traditional way for Scandinavian and European tribes in the Middle Ages to commemorate great men and women after their deaths.

B. Blood feuds between the Swedes 

"'So this bad blood between us and the Swedes, this vicious feud, I am convinced, is bound to revive; they will cross our borders and attack in force when they find out that Beowulf is dead.'" 2999-3003

Blood feuds were a traditional. Every time a man from one tribe kills a man from another tribe, it's possible that the revenge killings will eventually escalate into a full-scale war. At the end of Beowulf, a Geatish messenger predicts that, with the strong king Beowulf dead, another blood feud will break out between the Geats and their rival tribe, the Swedes.

C. Retelling of stories of Beowulf

"Then twelve warriors rode around the tomb, chieftain's sons, champions in battle, all of them distraught, chanting in dirges, mourning his loss as a man and a king. They extolled his heroic nature and exploits; which was the proper thing, for a man should praise a prince whom he holds dear and cherish his memory when that moment comes when he has to be conveyed from his bodily home." 3169-3177

Beowulf's lords celebrate his life by retelling the stories of his great deeds, a traditional way of mourning and preserving the memory of a great man at the same time.

III. Divine Law 

A. God manages every detail of human ilfe

"It threw the hero into deep anguish and darkened his mood: the wise man thought he must have thwarted ancient ordinance of the eternal Lord, broken His commandment." 2327-2331

Beowulf's downfall is a punishment for breaking divine law. Everything seems to be extremely significant, and God appears to manage every detail of human life.


B. God favors Beowulf
"The monster wrenched and wrestled with him but Beowulf was mindful of his mighty strength, the wondrous gifts God had showered on him: He relied for help on the Lord of All, on His care and favour. So he overcame the foe, brought down the hell-brute. "1269-1274

Beowulf is victorious because of his own strength and prowess, because of God's favor, or because he's fated to be on the side of good. Grendel doesn't have a chance.

C. Fate is ordained by God

"It is a great wonder how Almighty God in His magnificence favours our race with rank and scope and the gift of wisdom; His sway is wide. Sometimes he allows the mind of a man of distinguished birth to follow its bent, grants him fulfillment and felicity on earth and forts to command in his own country." 1724-1731

Every fate is ordained by God. If a king rules his people well and consistently, it's not necessarily because he's skilled, but because God has allowed his skills to flourish.


3rd Essay - Theme: Good vs. Evil

I. God vs Devil

A. Grendel is a descendant of Cain; marked to be unhappy (cursed).
"So times were pleasant for the people there until finally one, a fiend out of hell, began to work his evil in the world." 99-101

Grendel isn't just the enemy – he's a personification, or maybe that should be monster-fication, of everything that is evil. He's literally a "fiend out of hell," a descendant of Cain, inherently rotten.

B. Beowulf has God on his side

"Like a man outlawed for wickedness, he must await the mighty judgement of God in majesty." 976-8

Grendel may be a demon from hell, but he's insignificant compared to the mighty power and goodness of God. Beowulf may be a battle between good and evil, but the two sides are nowhere near equal. This isn't a dualistic fight between God and the Devil; it's God triumphing over all the little, petty demons on earth.

C. Evil can also come from humans

"Inside Heorot there was nothing but friendship. The Shielding nation was not yet familiar with feud and betrayal. " 1016-8

Most of the time, the "evil" in Beowulf consists of inherently depraved fantastic creatures – demons like Grendel, sea monsters, and dragons. Occasionally, however, we get hints that another kind of evil could come from inter-tribal feuding. Perhaps human beings can create their own evil without needing monsters to represent it for them.

4th Essay - Title: Beowulf

I. Meaning

A. "Bee wolf"
Possibly means "bee wolf" (in effect equal to "bear") from Old English beo "bee" and wulf "wolf".

B. Wolf is a symbol of doom

In the poem a wolf is seen as a symbol of doom; Beowulf may of been a symbol for doom since at the end of the poem he dooms the entire nation of Geats by destroying the dragon.

C. Bears have great strength

Beowulf was said to have the strength of 30 men in each hand; his name is suppose to relate to a bear, but bears can only carry the strength of five men (when not provoked).

5th Essay - Memorable Quote: "Grendel was the name of this grim demon haunting the marches, marauding around the heath and the desolate fens; he had dwelt for a time in misery among the banished monsters, Cain's clan, whom the Creator had outlawed and condemened as outcast." pg. 9

A. Meaning
Grendel is an exile of God and he is a descent from Cain, Cain being from the Bible. In the Bible Cain killed his brother Abel and was marked by God. Through Cain's bloodline everyone has been seen a monster or an outcast of society.

B. Why do I find it memorable?

I find this quote memorable because Grendel was cursed the moment was brought into the world even though he himself didn't do anything (it was his ancestor Cain). So, automatically Grendel is evil and destroys Heorot along with killing men. I just feel like Grendel is misunderstood.

C. Why is it important?

This quote is important because it starts this battle between good and evil. Grendel is this demon from Hell and Beowulf is God's warrior to destroy Grendel; being better than Grendel in every way. Once we hear of Grendel, the whole poem becomes this battle between good and evil.