I found the writing style a little hard to comprehend, but I think over all Beowulf was a story of courage, honor and dignity. I liked the fact that he had never met the king but was willing to travel harsh, unforgiving waters to help him defeat a monster of epic proportion. This demonstrates a charcteristic that the anglo saxons also admired. A characteristic called courage.
Beowulf demonstrates courage throughout the story. When facing Grendel he uses no weapon, just his bare hands. I think this compares to a story of a hero who is also well known. His name is Bruce Lee and he too was a man of honor and courage. The excerpt I am comparing this too is when Beowulf takes on Grendel. "The mighty one, Beowulf, watched, waiting to see how that wicked one would go about starting. Nor did the wretch delay, but set about seizing a sleeping warrior unawares and bit into his bone locks, drinking the streams of blood,then swallowing huge morsels of flesh. Quickly he ate that man,even to his hands and feet. Forward Grendel came,stepping nearer. Then he reached for Beowulf. Beowulf grasped his arm and sat up. The criminal knew he had not meti n this middle-earth another with such a grip. Grendel's spirit was afraid and his heart eager to get away, to flee to his hiding place, flee to the devils he kept for company. Never had he met a man such as this."
The part of the story that stuck out to me the most, however, was Beowulf and the dragon. I think it stuck out the most because I found it intriguing how brave he still was even though he was an old man. Another reason that this stuck out to me was that I was suprised in the lack of courage in his soldiers. Earlier in the story they were willing to travel to a distant land and fight a deadly monster, yet when asked to face a dragon years later they lost faith in their leader because of his age.
Beowulf was a story of honor, courage, and morale. You can tell this because of the fact that he was willing to travel the untamed seas to defend a man he did not personally know. He faced perilous monsters with his bare hands. Beowulf was a courageous hero and later a corageous king, and even though by the end he was dead, he was forever remembered as a true hero.
I believe that Beowulf's death made him even more valiant than he was to begin with. He was a man of old age but with the same courage of his youth. He was completely confident in his battle with the dragon. It also gave honor to the kingdom of which he was the representative for, so to speak. He restored the confidence of his people.
I do also believe that the cowardice his men showed in the face of battle was unexcusable. The dragon almost wasn't killed. The dragon wouldn't have been killed if it weren't for the loyalty of one soldier. Wiglaf showed great courage and loyalty to his leader that day. The two warriors took down the foul dragon and it was that act of loyalty that justified Beowulf's death.
