Grendel Is the Main Character of Beowulf Essay Example

distinct battles, wars, and raids, in return for their good service. During the Anglo-Saxon period, treasure signified the courage and bravery of an individual because it was believed that the amount one has, puts him on what basis his social class is. Correspondingly, the amount and type of the weapon one indicated his treasure. Beowulf owned a lot of treasure through his weapons, and this made him to be acknowledged as a brave person. Whoever was brave, earned the most treasure, and fame, and would become the King; and the throne was then passed from one generation of great warriors to the other. Hence, Shild’s son, Beo, was the one who inherited the throne along with all the wealth his father owned.

Therefore, the entire system followed the Germanic heroic code of honor that signified strength, honor, bravery, and wealth as desired values. The King was regarded as the “ring-giver”, as gold often came in rings, designating loyalty or sacred vows. Upon seeing Beowulf, Hrothgar’s lieutenant discovered how he was wiser and honored from his weapons. As Fee and Christopherasserts, out of all men on earth, Hrothgar had never seen a greater person, one who carries such weapons, even appearance and beauty are both lies (Pg. 31)
Furthermore, in battle, the mark of success and prowess was shown via beautiful armor, gold swords, silver and shining helmets. Passed down from their past battles by their forefathers, the more dazzling their weapon seemed to be, the more honorable and noble the warriors were. And asVan Meter & Davidexplains, the glittering, silver-shinning, and clanking of iron song during the battle made them fight harder with shields and arrows, stretching

themselves along the wall. It’s their ash-wood spears that stood in a line, straight, and the Geats’ war-gear that made them to be honored(pg. 43).

In some ways, gold was a form of payment to the warriors for killings supported by a King. It’s clear enough that Welthow, Hrothgar’s queen, poured mead for each warrior out of a jeweled cup that belonged to the kingdom of Hrothgar, and such act signified the Danish warriors’ and now the Geatish warriors’ loyalty to Hrothgar while fighting.Anglo-Saxons believed that their lives were in the hands of Wyrd (Fate), so, they were fierce warriors who pledged their loyalties to their king. As a show of imbursement, the king would wisely inspire his men with gold, to express his appreciation and to ensure the continued allegiance of his warrior-friends. Welthow was known as a bracelet-wearing queen, and this related well with the role she played of peace-making. Actually, as treasure symbolized peace, so did women, thus; there was marriage between feuding tribes, where women were regarded as peace-makers.

To seal the transaction, Beowulf would invoke his promise to Hrothgar saying, "When we crossed the sea, my comrades/ And I, I already knew that all/ My purpose was this: to win the good will/ Of your people or die in battle, pressed/ In Grendel's fierce grip. Let me live in greatness/ And courage, or here in this hall welcome/ My death!"(Beowulf pg. 43, lines 632-638).

What’s more, swords and weapons symbolized a feudal society governed by justice and organized men, but still could often breed conflict. When speaking of the Danes and Hathobards, Beowulf claims that some young warriors will want to start a

war after seeing a Dane using a sword and a mail that belonged once to their Lord. Neither Beowulf nor Grendel needed swords to fight each other (Help and Steinbach 76). However, the greed and idolization of certain treasures could have been the finale of the Anglo-Saxon society. Factually, when people are so much obsessed with getting the best and most treasure, they lose their importance in functioning as a society as they lack respect to the governing figure. No real law, and no authority, and what follows is a twist of Laissez Faire, where all codes are ran without mutual order, no enforcement with any official, only vigilantes that ultimately run themselves and their antigovernment society.

Besides, although gold was used as peace offering, and a kind of wergild, it was a man-price that paid a compensation for anyone got injured during the battle, or even as a sign of condolences whenever one died. For instance, after Beowulf killed the pillaging Grendel, Hrothgar rewarded him richly with a gold standard. To avoid further misunderstanding, Hrothgar also rewarded all Beowulf’s men with lesser gifts of gold because of their willingness to aid the countrymen during the fights. Beowulf killed Grendel with his own hands, but wore his armor and Hrothgar’s helmet while fighting Grendel’s mother, a sign of adoration. Assertively, Edgrtho, Beowulf’s father, killed a Wulfing warrior, but King Hrothgar used gold as a sign of peace. The Geatish line became indebted to the Danish court just because Hrothgar made peace with the Wulfings, and this elaborates the reason behind Beowulf immediate journey from Denmark to Herot of Grendel, as the narrators elucidates how Beowulf bought

the end of Edgetho’s misery by sending ancient treasuries that his father wore, via the ocean to the Wulfings in order to keep that peace (Beowulf pg. 38, lines 470-473).

In some instances, gold was concerned with cursing, plundering, refusal to give, and hoarding.Frequently, the most misuse of gold was seen in the dragon. More so, it was an extraordinary reward to Hrothgar after Beowulf was killed by the monster. For centuries, it had been searching gold, and his view of gold contrasts sharply with the liberal giving of gold at the beginning of the poem. Though it’s a kind of hollow victory, Beowulf won the gold cache, but thinking he would leave such a legacy for his people, the old lord gazed sadly at the gold and Beowulf, without doubt wondered whether all that sacrifice he made was worth the reward (Evans & Jonathan 56). This time, the gold didn’t bring the kind of honor he expected, as they were not given to him as a reward, rather; as plunders of a battle to the death.

By and large, the poet’s view on treasure has been vivid throughout this assessment. However, the fault does not lie on the character, but in the society. Though it was a symbol of king-thane bonding between tribal nations, merely war booty, it was inherently evil. In some cases, poet’s moral values have been indicated, only for the purpose of determining his attitude toward the significant thematic of treasure in the poem. Even Grendel’s mother perceives treasure as a symbol that represents her personal loss, and filled with grief and rage, in the process, she retrieves the arm from Heorot and

kills another scylding. After tracking her, Beowulf ends up in the cave where they find Grendel’s head. It’s a holy brilliance that illuminates the dim cave and somewhat seems impressive, but instead of carrying the magnificent, he ignores the vast treasure in the cave – a huge head – as a symbol of his victory over both ogres. Generally, a closer examination of the gnomic utterances in Beowulf, may possibly disclose other philosophical and theological assertion of treasure. And so, whatever the assertion may be, certainly, it’s a view that any good uses made of gold by the heroic society were destructive, a strong indication of the need to not treat Grendel’s arm, his head, peace brides or Heorot as treasure.

Work Cited

1. "Beowulf (Modern English Translation)". Poetryfoundation.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 12 May 2016.
2. Evans, Jonathan. "" As Rare As They Are Dire": Old Norse Dragons, Beowulf, and the Deutsche Mythologie." MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE TEXTS AND STUDIES 291 (2005): 207.
3. Fee, Christopher. "BEAG & BEAGHRODEN": WOMEN, TREASURE AND THE LANGUAGE OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE IN" BEOWULF." Neuphilologische Mitteilungen (1996): 285-294.
4. Help and Steinbach. "How Does The Significance Of Gold Treasure Change As The Poem Beowulf Progresses? | Enotes". eNotes. N.p., 2014. Web. 12 May 2016.
5. Van Meter, David C. "The Ritualized Presentation of Weapons and the Ideology of Nobility in" Beowulf"." The Journal of English and Germanic Philology 95.2 (1996): 175-189.