Beowulf's quest for glory

The purpose of Beowulf's quest for glory is initially to establish a name for himself.

Beowulf is a nobleman, with many relatives who are kings and a father who served in Hrothgar's court. Beowulf's father is Ecgtheow and his grandfather is also named Beowulf (changed to Beow in some versions). In lines 262 to 266 he refers to his father as a "noble vanguard-warrior".

The point of him being a nobleman is to make him a more appealing hero. The noblemen were supposed to be heroic and great with many deeds to their names and be the great leader that could effortlessly get rid of any enemy.

Beowulf is not the leader of the Geats at the beginning of the poem, but he is a member of the court of king Hygelac. So he is of noble birth and is essentially a knight at the time, with a claim for being King of the Geats at a later point.

Obviously, Beowulf is aware of his lineage, because he spends a fair bit of time discussing his ancestors and what they did. He spends time discussing what he did as well, but before he fought Grendel, he mostly just talks about defeating ogres and opponents in battle, which, while impressive,  is rather vague. The ogres and opponents are never named. "I defeated 5 ogres" is not quite the same thing as "I defeated the fiend from hell, Grendel, who terrorized the meadhall Heorot". Named opponents are more impressive.

Beowulf is fighting Grendel because Grendel is widely known as a terror, and he wants to be known as the one who defeats that terror.

There is an interesting bit where Beowulf is speaking:

I have also heard       that the evil creature

 in his recklessness     heeds not weapons; 

then I it scorn --      so that for me Hygelac may be

my liege-lord        blithe in his heart-- 

that I bear a sword     or broad shield,

yellow-rim to war        but I with my grip 

shall fight with this fiend

Beowulf states that he will fight Grendel without weapons to make Hygelac "blithe in his heart". Blithe means happy or joyous. Part of the reason is for personal glory, but these lines (433 to 439) also make it appear that he is fighting to bring glory to the Geats and to Hygelac. This makes sense given that in Scandinavian society, ideas of individualism weren't as common as they are today.

Later on, when he is King, he fights the dragon in order to defend his people. (lines 2312 to 2399 is it being discussed how Beowulf became king and him making his decision to fight the dragon.)

Overall, it appears he fights for glory, and while the glory is partially for himself, he seems to be fighting for the glory (and, regarding the dragon, safety) of the Geats as a whole.

Thor vs. Beowulf, a comparison

This blog is for my English class. We are reading Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon poem from around the 6th century A.D that took place in Geatland (now called Sutton Hoo) and Denmark.

The main character is Beowulf, whose name literally translates to "Bee-wolf", and is understood to mean "Bear".  "Bear" is not the first thing I though of.

This is:


"You'll release the dogs, or the bees? Or the dogs with bees in their mouths and when they bark, they shoot bees at you?" 
Note: Credit goes to Matt Groening and the show The Simpsons.

Now onto a somewhat more serious topic of discussion. I am a fan of Norse mythology (not the Stan Lee version, the real version). I have a copy of the prose Edda, which consists of all the Norse myths that survived. 

My favorite myths were about Thor. Thor was kind of the everything god. He had a part to play in just about every part of life. He was the protector of man, the god of storms, the god of agriculture, the god of healing, the god of law, the god of marriage, the god of commoners and probably a lot of other things that branch off from these.

The myth that should probably be mentioned is Thor's death during Ragnarok.       

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Ragnarok, it's basically the gods' last battles with their various foes and against the Jotuns in general. Thor's foe is Jormungandr, also known as Jormungand or the Midgard Serpent (and is technically his cousin. Godly families are a bit odd). Jormungandr is the ultimate serpent, he is so large that his body wraps around the entire Earth. Thor kills Jormungandr in their last battle, but is fatally poisoned in the process. Even more insane, Thor knew he would die this way, and did so anyway, because he needed to protect people from it. Thor's sons, Magni and Modi, inherit Thor's weapon, Mjolnir. 

Now onto the story of Beowulf. Beowulf was human, not a god. Beowulf's main story revolves around his defeat of Grendel, Grendel's (otherwise unnamed) mother and a dragon. It is the dragon I'd like to focus on.
A dragon is also a type of ultimate serpent, one that can breathe fire and fly. In Beowulf, they are also venomous. Beowulf is an old man when he faces the dragon, and. aside from Wiglaf, is alone when he does so. 

Anyway, given that Wiglaf doesn't seem to take any part in the actual fight until the very end, Beowulf fought the dragon alone. He managed to get close enough to stab it in it's weak spot, the stomach, but not before the dragon bit him in the neck. This is when Wiglaf steps in and stabs the dragon a second time in the stomach.Beowulf stabs it again- with a dagger this time- in the side. The wounds, combined, kill the dragon. Beowulf is fatally poisoned and dies. Wiglaf becomes his heir, and gains the kingdom and so on. Now, Beowulf couldn't have known for certain that the dragon would kill him, but it had to be a distinct possibility in his mind. He seems to realize his chances aren't good, because he seems sad and reflective before the fight, and he was probably around 70 years old when he fought the dragon. 

Now for the less obvious parallels: The Norse Edda and the Story of Beowulf were written down at roughly the same time.

Thor's death represents the end of the old gods, and Scandinavia being taken over by Christianity.

After Beowulf's death, it is implied that Geatland is taken over by the Swedes. His death shows the fall of Geats.

Thor, the most human of the gods, dies. His death is the death of Scandinavian religion. Beowulf, the most godly of the humans, dies. His death is the death of Scandinavian sovereignty and culture.

What do you think? please leave a comment and let me know. (Also, please let me know if I used "sovereignty" right. I had trouble thinking of a word to use.)