In the poem “Beowulf,” there are two primary modes;
Christian and Heroic. These two modes are showed on Pg. 57 lines 800-825. This
is the fight between Beowulf and Grendel at the mead hall named Heorot. Beowulf
arrives at Heorot ready to fight the demon Grendel. The citizens have been
attacked the last two nights and are completely helpless and can not fight
Grendel. The only person in the world that can help the Danes is Beowulf, a
warrior of God. Beowulf does not fight Grendel for his own glory, he fights
Grendel for the people and for God. Beowulf wants to destroy the chaotic demon
named Grendel. In lines 800-825, Beowulf severs Grendel’s shoulder and destroys
the demon. Beowulf cut Grendel’s arm off, Grendel ran out Heorot and scurried
back to his home where he will later die. This excerpt relates to the two
primary modes of Christian and Heroic because Beowulf is the only one in the
world who could win the battle against the demon named Grendel. God gave
Beowulf the ability to act in such ways to destroy Grendel. Beowulf does all
things for God, because without God, Beowulf couldn’t defeat the demon Grendel
and Beowulf couldn’t have saved the Danes from Grendel’s destruction.
1) Did
Beowulf fight Grendel for God or for his own glory?
2) Who
gave Beowulf his supernatural strength?
Bobby, this is a fine start and I like that you chose a specific passage, but I need you to keep pushing your analysis to go deeper. This blog seems very much like a summary and not like an analysis of the two modes. Where specifically does the author or characters shift between their two beliefs. Pull in some quotes to help you. Finally your questions are pretty basic: Beowulf claims to fight for God and for glory (a better questions would be can Beowulf fight for both or what does he care about more). Questions that ask why are often better than simple what or who questions. Keep pushing yourself and your blogs will get better. These are your opportunities to really take a moment to think, question and respond to what we are reading.
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