Running Head: BEOWULF (THE STORY OF A WARRIOR)
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Beowulf (The Story of a Warrior)
Name
University
BEOWULF (THE STORY OF A WARRIOR)
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Beowulf (The Story of a Warrior)
Brief Introduction:
History is full of great work by the intellectuals, but some of the works became a
masterpiece, the Beowulf is one of them. There are almost about sixty five translations of the
Beowulf. Heaney is also one of the translators of that poem, but, his translation is very much
different from the rest of the translations. This one is a masterpiece of Heaney’s because this
translation is an exception and way above the level of those done before it. The deserted moors
and marshes explained in Beowulf represent the besieged position and structure of human
society and culture, solidarity and celebration. Heaney himself is a person who is engulfed
between the opposites of light and darkness, earth, and air and he was born in an era where his
preferences and interest are somewhat pre-modern and Celtic in many ways. He disagrees to
many intellectuals of the liberal kind that the roots and foundations of loyalties to ones
communities can be forgotten.
The Story
The main character, Beowulf, was a warrior who belongs to Geatland (southwest of
Sweden). A young, powerful warrior, who was the pride of his nation, was the son of a person,
who was once protected by the Hrothgar. It was a wish of the Beowulf to return the favor. A time
came, when the Hrothgar’s countrymen suffered from a monster, named Grendel. That monster
became the nightmare for the people, and there was a need of someone, who, with his power and
dominating features, would kill the monster and prevent the people from the suffering. So, this
was the time of Beowulf, to return the Hrothgar’s favor and to enhance his dignity and
reputation, along with obtaining the treasure for his king, Hygelac. So, Beowulf, along with his
fourteen finest men, went to the Scylding to provide them the aid and rescue. During his first day
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of the visit, before the dinner, a horrible character, named Unferth started insulting the Beowulf
by saying that, Beowulf has no match with the Grendel. Beowulf was once beaten up in a
swimming contest by a young boy, named Breca. It shows that Beowulf is nothing, but an
ordinary man, who cannot kill the monster, so it is useless to have any hope for him. Beowulf
responded to Unferth with courage and dignity by specifying the fact that, the two competitors in
that swimming contest were powerful enough, and they were separated by the storm. That storm
provided the Beowulf to show his courage in a more befitting manner, i.e. giving him the
opportunity to kill nice sea monsters before coming back to sea shore. That event was not an
ordinary event, killing nine sea monsters indicated the supremacy and power of the Beowulf,
signified that the warrior was the hope for the people of Scylding, to get rescued from the
monster’s filth.
When everyone slept, Beowulf and his powerful men were fully aware that the monster
‘Grendel’ will come to attack. Beowulf was right, the Grendel attacked. The monster, with the
height of anger and fury, attacked and killed one of the warriors and then moved towards the
Beowulf. The Beowulf, with all his power and bravery, grabbed the Grendel’s claw and didn’t let
it go. The battle continued for a long time and damaged the hall. The walls of the hall were
significantly telling the ruthless war has happened. During the fight, the Beowulf, victoriously,
ripped off the Grendel’s claw and the Grendel, ran away to his place. The Beowulf emerged as
victorious and the monster's claw was hanged at the Heorot, symbolizing it as a war trophy.
There was a huge celebration conducted by the countrymen. Wine, great food, honor,
happiness and victory, everything and every emotion were there. Everyone was praising the
Beowulf as due to his bravery, the countrymen had a peaceful night after so many years. The
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Queen Wealhtheow, the Hrothgar's wife was proved to be the true hostess. She offered Beowulf
with her gratitude and a gold collar.
On one hand, there was an environment of the celebration, but on the other hand, there
was a mother, who was very furious, and in deep anger. That was the mother of the Grendel, who
was, definitely not as powerful as the Grendel was, but, she had a feeling of hatred for whom,
who harmed her son. This hatred made her motivated to take the revenge from the countrymen.
The mother not only planned to take revenge, but also took the claw of her son, by climbing up
to the Heorot.
The next morning, everyone came to know that the danger is not completely finished.
There was some unfinished business that needed to be ended up. Hrothgar, the Beowulf along
with other people traced the mother’s tracks, and reached to the dark marshy area. The only way
to have a peace was to kill the mother of Grendel. Beowulf, having a sword “Hrunting”, which
was presented to him as a gift, jumped into the mere to seek and kill the Grendel’s mother.
Almost at the bottom of the mere, the Grendel's mother attacked and dragged the warrior to her
cave. Beowulf started the combat with the best of his war tactics, but his magical sword
‘Hrunting’ was not able to be penetrated into the skin of the Grendel’s mother. The Grendel’s
mother tried to kill the Beowulf with the knife, but the Beowulf’s armor, designed by the
blacksmith Wetland, protected the great warrior. Finally, making this deadly war to an end, the
Beowulf pointed his magical sword towards the mother’s spine, and cut it down through the
neck. The mother died and suddenly, a light, which cannot be explained in words, illuminated
the whole cave, clearly showed the corpse of the Grendel, and a great treasure, which he had an
aim to take with him, for his king. Beowulf beheaded the corpse, and the magical sword melted
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into its hilt. Beowulf, as victorious, reached to the top of the mere along with the monster’s head
and the hilt, but, he left the treasure to the place from where it belongs.
Once again, the smiles came back on the faces of those, who was living in a misery.
Those, who thought of the first night, that the Beowulf does not have any comparison with the
Grendel, got the answer. Beowulf’s bravery showed that, if there is courage and a hope, victory
become obvious. Beowulf and his men, along with the victory, dignity and courage, moved back
to Geatland. He served his king until the kingdom loses its king. Beowulf was chosen as a king,
as no one was more deserving than the Beowulf. He successfully ruled over the country for
almost 50 years. A time came, when his own nation’s peace was put at stake by a demon. The
king had to lift his sword again, but this time, there was a dragon, which burned the houses of
many, including the house of Beowulf. Beowulf, along with the eleven warriors reached to the
mighty dragon's barrow. Beowulf tried to kill the dragon all alone, but his sword was not strong
enough to kill the dragon. One of the thanes, named Wiglaf helped the Beowulf and finally, both
of them succeeded to kill the dragon, but the Beowulf was wounded enough, that it was difficult
for him to survive. The great warrior announced the Wiglaf as the new king, and requested that
his body would be buried high on a seaside cliff from where the barrow becomes visible to the
sailors. It is believed that the barrow is buried along with the Beowulf. That indicated that the
Beowulf lived with the dignity, and died with the honor.
It is said to be a story, but it reflects a deeper significance. This story shows the bravery,
courage, a sense of responsibility. Enclosing the whole story in a poem is nothing, but an art, and
making it readable to the users of other languages, by keeping alive the essence of the poem, is
more than an art. Beowulf was found to be a masterpiece, that is why it is not only translated, but
also presented as a super hit movie (Heaney, 2001).
BEOWULF (THE STORY OF A WARRIOR)
Bibliography
Heaney, S. (2001). Beowulf. W. W. Norton, 2001.
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