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British Literature
Day 20
10/6/15
Beowulf Characters
The characters of “Beowulf” have a very strong personality. There are 2 kinds of
characters. The first is the Hero’s and the second are the Evil ones. The heroes are Beowulf of
the Geats, King Hrothgar of the Danes, and Wiglaf also of the Geats. The evil ones are Grendela demon descended from Cain, Grendel’s mother- an unnamed swamp-hag, and The Dragon.
The protagonist of this story is Beowulf. Now Beowulf is a Geatish hero who faces and
destroys the three evil ones in this story. Beowulf proves his strength and how he is the most
willing warrior around be his boasts and encounters. In his youth he shows a strong heroic
personality and holds all of the best values of the heroic culture. Then in his old age he proves
that he is a wise and effective ruler over his kingdom.
King Hrothgar is the king of the Danes. King Hrothgar loves military success and
prosperity until Grendel starts attacking his kingdom. As a wise old ruler, king Hrothgar is a
model king that Beowulf becomes. When Grendel starts attacking his kingdom, king Hrothgar
summons Beowulf to destroy Grendel. As they wait for Grendel, king Hrothgar becomes a father
figure to Beowulf. When Beowulf kills Grendel and his mother king Hrothgar sends Beowulf
home with a load of riches.
Wiglaf is Beowulf’s kinsman, friend and soldier. Wiglaf is loyal to Beowulf and stands
by him while he fights the dragon. As he helps Beowulf fight the dragon, Wiglaf proves that he
holds fast to the heroic code better than the rest as they run away from the dragon. Because
Wiglaf stayed and fought the dragon with Beowulf, Beowulf appointed Wiglaf to be the next
king of the Geats when he died.
Grendel is a demon descended from Cain. Grendel terrorizes King Hrothgar’s mead-hall
by killing and eating the king’s warriors while they are asleep in their beds at night. Now
Grendel is a ruthless hunter who brings misery to the mead-hall to the point where Beowulf is
called in to come and destroy the beast. One night after a long party Grendel goes and kills 3 of
the king’s warriors and Beowulf wakes up and grabs Grendel’s arm and tears it off of Grendel’s
body. Grendel than goes to his home in a forest cave and dies. The arm of Grendel that Beowulf
tore off is hung in King Hrothgar’s mead-hall as a trophy from the battle between Beowulf and
Grendel.
Grendel’s mother is an unnamed swamp-hag who starts to terrorize the Kings mead-hall
after her son Grendel is killed from his battle with Beowulf. One day Grendel’s mother makes a
night raid on the king’s mead-hall and kills King Hrothgar’s closest friend and trusted advisor
Aeschere. When King Hrothgar hears this he sends Beowulf out to hunt her down. So Beowulf
hunts her Grendel’s Mother down and finds her at her home in the misty crags of the moor-land
under the lake. When Beowulf goes and finds her they start a long battle that Beowulf wins by
beheading her. So Beowulf brings her head back to the king and gains riches before he heads
home.
The dragon is an ancient and powerful serpent who guards ancient treasures in a hidden
cavern in the mountains. One day a man finds the hidden cavern and steals a cup and takes it to
King Beowulf. When the dragon sees that the cup is gone he starts terrorizing the country side
looking for his cup. When Beowulf hears of this he goes and fights the dragon. As Beowulf
fights the dragon he becomes injured. When he becomes injured, Wiglaf helps Beowulf kill the
dragon. Beowulf dies from his wounds and is buried with the treasures and Wiglaf becomes king
of the Geats.
The characters male up this whole story because the hero’s all have one thing in common,
they all show moral heroism. The evil ones also show one thing in common, they all act on the
want of revenge. Based on these traits the Hero Beowulf kills all three of the evil ones. GOOD
WINS OVER ALL EVIL.