Dreams and Reality in Beowulf

Beowulf is an anonymously written heroic poem that involved many conflicting characters in which the main character, Beowulf, felt inspired to challenge. During the Anglo-Saxon period, there were many written texts published as anonymous. It was a period of time in which it was normal to leave impersonal poems or works of art as a source of wisdom and is described by stating, “The fact that all of these derived from various Latin sources suggests that the anonymous poets were likely to have been clerics with a strong, if bookish, historical sense of their romance ‘matters’”. They were each written with a purpose but wanted to namelessly leave it to society. “...an Old English version by an anonymous glossarist, gives a fascinating glimpse into the Anglo-Saxon monastic classroom”. In this poem specifically, the purpose was to show values of strength, loyalty and courage. There were different monsters faced by Beowulf with different levels of struggle each time. This poem is considered, “Oath breaking and kin killing, while clearly cardinal sins of tribal societies... themes within the epic, seem rather removed from the sterling Beowulf himself”. During the Anglo-Saxon period, heroes and warriors were of importance, therefore, Beowulf was highly thought of and they were pleased with his choice of actions. The poem Beowulf incorporates dreams, reality and expectations of certain characters as a source of confidence and courage used within the intriguing fights and deaths which took part.

Beowulf had his call to adventure with hopes of defeating the demon, Grendel, who had been terrorizing King Hrothgar’s Heorot Hall. When he arrived at the home of the Danes, Beowulf offers to defeat Grendel and after the approval from King Hrothgar, they had a feast to celebrate. He had quite the confidence to defeat Grendel by saying, 'So it won’t be a cutting edge I’ll wield | to mow him down, easily as I might” (Beowulf lines 679-680). Following the feast, Beowulf goes to observe the Hall and watches Grendel break in and kill a man. Grendel then tries to take on Beowulf soon realizing he was not near strong enough. Soon Grendel is overwhelmed in pain and then his arm got torn off and he escapes back to his home where he dies. Beowulf is a hero and was having a celebration ordered by the king to receive many gifts as a reward. Then, one-night Grendel’s mother who was grieving over her son’s death decided to take matters into her own hands and raid Heorot Hall. Beowulf then goes to find Grendel’s mother to kill her. He feels obligated to keep his people safe, but, “Actually, only the fight against Grendel is absolutely necessary to protect a people, to save life”. Beowulf realizes he must go into her lair which is considered a very petrifying place if he wants to rid of her as well. He was aware of his strength and during the fight, he had confidence in his fight by saying, “The monster wrenched and wrestled with him, | but Beowulf was mindful of his mighty strength... he relied for help on the Lord of All,” (Beowulf lines 1269-1272). After a somewhat challenging fight, he finally defeats her using the sword he found. There was a need to include this part even though it could’ve ended with Grendel’s death, “... the fight against Grendel’s mother as demonstration of the hero’s water power [sic], to balance his earth power against Grendel and his air and fire power against the dragon...'. Beowulf is praised and presented with many treasures before he sails back to his home. “Grendel and his mother feel, react, and suffer in an unmistakably human way... albeit a hero, who needs only to meet them and trust in God and his own strength”. Not long after he returned home, a dragon was watching over Geatland ready to take back his treasure in which someone stole. The dragon began revealing his presence by burning Beowulf’s hall down. “When the dragon begins its ravages, Beowulf fears that he has angered God; before engaging the dragon, he recounts to his men the deaths of former...puts his life in the hands of fate” (John Tanke 368). Beowulf becomes aware of the risk of facing the dragon and prepares himself. 'He wished good luck to all the Geats who had shared | his hearth and his gold. He was sad at heart, | unsettled yet ready, sensing his death” (Beowulf lines 2418-2420). Beowulf realizes that the fight isn’t going to be easy and begins the challenge. He finally stabs the dragon and has thoughts of victory, and then realized the dragon’s bite is venomous and he slowly starts dying. Before his death he gave Wiglaf his collar which pronounces him as the new hero to take over. “A different perspective operates here, for the grace and courage of the hero are shown, not in the present setting, but in the glory that Heorot once had and could have again” (Calder 25). All three of the characters that were conflicting died due to the courageous acts of Beowulf, but unfortunately, he fell to his death as well during his last fight.

Beowulf and Grendel’s fight specifically includes the plan to destroy each other. Beowulf’s sole reasoning that he navigated to the home of the Danes was for his plan to defeat Grendel. He had the ambition to protect people which meant he was to rid Grendel from Earth. It seems insane to fight a demon, but Beowulf had strength and was found to be an honorable warrior. Grendel was kind of like a level one Satan who was strong and demonic but still easily overcome. Grendel represented the devil quite well with his little triggers, his constant slaughtering of Danes and enraged attitude. Brodeur pointed that out by saying, “These evidences of Grendel’s awesome strength... both stimulate the subsiding fear of the listener and add to the glory of Beowulf’s achievement” (Brodeur 507). With Heorot Hall and Grendel, it was odd that he continually raided that Hall and never changed the location. He obviously knew he would eventually get caught going back to the same place meaning he knew he would die but did it for the enjoyment and satisfaction of himself. This has similarity to suicide with hostile content like the plane drivers on 9/11 who were trying to do damage and make a point, but also killed themselves proudly while doing so. Grendel never exactly changed his character since he started out a demon and ended as one as well. He had the journey of going to Heorot Hall constantly to persecute and devour the humans that were there. The had pathological behavior and seemed to have a strong love for violence.

The fight between Grendel’s mother and Beowulf involves weapons and was longer lasting in a viler environment. Grendel’s mother had plans of revenge for the death of her son but was a woman of little strength and failed to meet her expectations. She could be considered a level two Satan because although she wasn’t more of a burden than Grendel himself, she was in her awful lair which was a more hostile environment and weapons were used making it more aggressive. When Beowulf fought Grendel, there were no weapons used to try and make the fight more even. Grendel’s mother seemed to have such strong desires of hate and cruelty, but she was a protective mother based on her instinct to get revenge. Her lair was a definite attention getter, in which she must have raised Grendel within. The horrid environment most likely impacted his ways, thoughts and actions. With her cruel and insane ways and living conditions, she must have influenced the actions of her son. Most of the fights could have possibly been avoided if she would’ve acted stricter as a parent, taught him better ways and raised him in a healthier environment. Although this poem altogether sounds quite unrealistic, there are specific parts in which historical elements have been depicted.

When Beowulf had to fight the dragon, it was much more violent than both ones before since the dragon was immense compared to the other demons and had more of an advantage. The dragon wanted the goblet back which was his reasoning behind his presence and destruction. The dragon's expectations were to get the goblet back no matter the amount of death or demolition. The dragon is a strange character within the poem due to its unrealistic characteristics and actions. The dragon could be considered a level three Satan due to the amount of power and a stronger ability to cause more destruction. The dragon just wanted to get back what was stolen from him, but instead of carefully and simply trying to retrieve the goblet back, he went in full eradication mode and caused any deaths along with it. The dragon had to go on the journey from his land to Beowulf’s home, Geatland. The dragon changed from a strong and powerful character to a weaken monster defeated by mankind. He withstood many changes not only within inner character but also with plans and expectations of receiving the goblet back. He was a main character that impacted Beowulf’s life and the courage seen within him.

Beowulf withstood many obstacles while being such a noble warrior who put others safety above his own. His actions were thoughtful and caring although he did have to kill people. He was a hero and a very honorable man willing to put his life on the line in order to protect not only people within his land but many others as well. He was relentless and was very determined to achieve his dreams. Although it seems very unrealistic to fight a demon, a demon’s mother, and a dragon, Beowulf still had the courage and heroic characteristics to achieve his goals. “...noted is that Beowulf is a strong man; indeed, the fact that his physical prowess is unsurpassed among living men...”. Beowulf was very strong, yet he was also a very ordinary man as well. All the characters had plans, expectations, and dreams but also had to face reality. All the characters that Beowulf faced had realistic consequences they never dreamed of. Grendel was a demon who had horrid plans and expectations of murder and cannibalism. Grendel’s mother was trying to get revenge for her son’s death and was vicious and harmful just as her son, Grendel, was. The dragon was trying to get back what was stolen from him even if it included killing people and destroying places. They all had plans to achieve some sort of goal and most of them were able to attain part of their goals some way or another. They all faced some sort of journey and had to withstand changes to try to achieve their goals. As most of them got a piece of what they planned on attaining, they all four faced death by the end of the poem.