Beowulf

The theme of fame and glory is prominent in the epic, Beowulf. Beowulf is viewed as a youthful character, one who claims fame and glory as his great accomplishment. His belief is "let whoever can win glory before death," signifying a race to a goal of total fame and glory. He has much to learn from his brother, King Hrothgar, who holds values of protecting his people close to his heart. As stories of the great Grendel erupted, naturally Beowulf, due to his characteristics, wished to slay the monster and gain fame and glory from doing such. Beowulf longs to be the hero of the people, but for the wrong reasons. Beowulf gains fame from the murders he commits, Grendel, and Grendel's mother. Following the death of Grendel's mother,  King Hrothgar proclaims to Beowulf, "Your fame is renowned wherever men journey...You hold power with balance, with wisdom of mind,". This excerpt delivers the idea that Hrothgar is thanking Beowulf for saving his people, but also explaining to Beowulf that he has won the respect of the kingdom for ridding them of these monsters. He develops into a new man, satisfied by the glory that comes with being a well-respected individual. Beowulf learns that "behavior that is admired is the path to power among people everywhere,". By learning this, he allows himself to fall into a category of a great leader, one that holds fame and glory close as values, but also the protection and survival of his people.

Comments

  1. SamanthaApril 1, 2019 at 4:02 PM

    Hi Ashley, I noticed as I read that you had written that King Hrothgar is Beowulf's brother. As someone who has trouble with it themselves, I know that reading old English can get a bit hairy in terms of comprehension of the text, and that can then lead us, the reader, to establishing reasonable assumptions to fill in the blanks in our minds. Hrothgar is actually from a completely different linage than Beowulf: Hrothgar is a descendant of The Danes/ The Shieldings clan and son of the famed Halfdane, whereas Beowulf is of The Geats origin and son of Ecgtheow.
    Along with that I noticed that you definitely understood the themes prevalence in the text, but think that your wording lends itself to a slight misconstruction of what it is actually going on in the text. For instance, Beowulf seeks out fame and glory relentlessly, as you had mentioned, but I do not believe that: 1) the Beowulf "murdered" Grendel and his mother because they were monsters which terrorized The Danes and ultimately, according to the tone of the poem, were slayed with due cause & 2) that Beowulf acted upon the sole hearing of Grendel's fame as a monster, but more so at the opportunity to demonstrate the reasoning's behind his own, preexisting reputation as a power-warrior.
    You should also look to add in-text citations when writing because it avoids any potential error with Middlesex's plagiarism policy, makes it easier to find the parts of the text which you are referencing, and ultimately will help you when the next paper is due for research purposes.

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  2. Tiffany CadizApril 1, 2019 at 4:11 PM

    Ashley,
    I mutually agree that fame and glory are increasingly prominent in the heroic epic of Beowulf. However, I do not consider the acute reasoning of why he typically obtained fame and glory for the wrong reasons for assassinating wicked people. The people he desperately sought after slaughter were merely people who were not good. They were better off murdered than retaining others suffer because of their doing. Beowulf on the other hand, I would consider him vainly seeking fame and glory for wrong reasons by becoming very prideful. The personal fame, as a negative result, inadvertently got inside his head as all he could think of was being more famous than he was. Scarcely maintaining his notorious reputation. Which ultimately allowed for his tragic death.

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