Beowulf-The hero for whom the untitled poem was later named, Beowulf is the perfect warrior -- brave,

strong, and honorable. While he displays enough bravado to inspire hope in the Scyldings, he is still courteous. He uses both his wits and brute strength to defeat his foes. Beowulf's only flaw manifests in the latter part of the poem, when he decides to face the dragon alone instead of delegating the task to a younger man, and in so doing leaves his kingdom without an experienced ruler, vulnerable to its enemies. HrothgarThe king of the Scyldings is a wise and venerable leader weighed down with sorrow and loss. Placed in the unenviable position of requiring outside help to solve his deadliest problem, Hrothgar nevertheless stands proud as he decides to accept Beowulf's help. Before the hero returns home, Hrothgar has wisdom to share with him about kingship, for which he believes Beowulf is eminently suited. Grendel The first and most memorable foe that Beowulf must face, Grendel is a hideous creature that is clearly not human; and yet, he displays human emotions and motivations. The poem ties him to the biblical Cain and brands him an outsider, condemned to live beyond the human community in a horrible place. There is a suggestion that envy of the splendor Hrothgar's Scyldings enjoyed and bitterness at being excluded drove him to attack Heorot. Unferth Unferth is one of Hrothgar's Scyldings, and like all the other Scyldings, he has failed to defeat Grendel, and will not face the fiend. When Beowulf arrives and is the focus of his comrade's hopes, Unferth grows jealous, and, having indulged in too much drink, he taunts the hero. Unferth's resentment and inferiority serve to throw Beowulf's greatness into sharper relief. Yet he is the one character who exhibits any growth, humbled by Beowulf's defeat of Grendel and lending his prized sword to the hero when he fights Grendel's mother. However, he understands -- as does the reader -- that he will never be a true hero. Wealhtheow Hrothgar's wife and queen is Wealhtheow. Her appearance in Heorot lends a certain grave splendor to the festivities. It is Wealhtheow to whom Beowulf makes his pledge to kill Grendel or die in the attempt, and it is Wealhtheow's confirmation of Hrothgar's adoption of Beowulf that seems to legitimize the act. In a sense, Wealhtheow symbolizes all that is fine and good in women, especially women of rank and sensibility. Grendel's Mother A swamp-fiend like her son, Grendel's mother -- who is never named -- is just as fierce and dangerous as Grendel. Understandably enraged by the death of her offspring, the hag attacks swiftly and flees, killing Hrothgar's advisor Aeschere. But when Beowulf comes after her, she faces him willingly, dragging him into her lair and attacking him viciously. Just as much a monster as Grendel, the mother shares a very human desire for vengeance. She can be contrasted with Wealhtheow, symbolizing evil in womanhood. Hygelac Hygelac is the King of the Geats. He is fond of Beowulf, yet surprised that he has triumphed over such a deadly foe. By bestowing gifts and honors on the returning hero, Hygelac reveals how Beowulf's victories have earned him respect among the Geats. When Hygelac dies, Beowulf refuses to take the throne; only when Hygelac's son is killed does Beowulf take on the responsibility of ruling Geatland. The Dragon An ancient creature, the Dragon has made his home in an even more ancient barrow, where the treasure of a long-dead pagan chieftain was hidden. When its lair is accidentally discovered, and when only one item is taken from its hoard, the Dragon awakens to bring fiery devastation to Geatland. Beowulf's battle with the Dragon will be his last. Wiglaf A kinsman to Beowulf, Wiglaf is one of the warriors that the hero brings with him to seek out the Dragon, and the only one who joins Beowulf in his hour of need instead of fleeing. For his loyalty and courage, Wiglaf is made Beowulf's heir, signifying that the valued qualities of the warrior live on in the next generation of Scandinavian manhood. Beowulf Plot Analysis Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice. Initial Situation King Hrothgar and the Danes are at the mercy of the marauding demon Grendel, who keeps attacking Heorot Hall. Not only is this what's happening at the beginning, which should tip you off that it's the initial situation, it's also an obvious set-up. A wild demon attacking a defenseless group of people? It's time for a hero to come on the scene and put this to rights. Conflict A Geatish warrior, Beowulf, throws his armor and weapons aside and fights the demon Grendel in a wrestling match to the death. How much more obvious can a conflict get? We've got two guys in a no-holds-barred wrestling competition to the death. If that's not a conflict, we don't know what is. Beowulf isn't usually very subtle about these things. Complication Grendel's mother shows up to avenge the death of her son. This is just the kind of frustrating thing that happens to you when you're a heroic Geatish warrior. Here you are, going all-out and wrestling a demon to the death, and just when you think you've won and you have a few minutes to get drunk and celebrate, the demon's mom comes along and gets her panties in a twist because you killed her kid. We love mothers, but they do seem to make things complicated sometimes. Climax Back home in Geatland, Beowulf must defend his people against a marauding dragon. Just when you think Beowulf is going to live happily ever after, he has to face his greatest challenge yet: a fifty-foot-long firebreather. If anything screams "climactic battle scene," it's the arrival of a dragon. Suspense

Beowulf hangs out on the side of the dragon's barrow, recalling his past glories and wondering if he's going to die fighting the dragon. If you're tempted to yell, "Just get on with it!" at this point, you're not the only one. Beowulf hangs out for several hundred lines, talking about his past glories and wondering if he's going to die while fighting the dragon. Still, it does help to build suspense, because it makes us wonder, too. Denouement Beowulf is mortally wounded, but manages to kill the dragon and win its hoard of treasure. It's a double-whammy: Beowulf dies, but so does the dragon. After that, it's obviously all downhill, so this is definitely the denouement. Conclusion The Geats give Beowulf a splendid funeral and prepare to be attacked by their neighbors. Is anything more conclusive than a funeral? Beowulf is dead, and after mourning his death and celebrating his heroic deeds, the Geats look to the future. Of course, without his protection, it's a pretty bleak future. Setting Beowulf is an Old English heroic epic poem of unknown authorship, dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between the 8th and the early 11th century, set in Denmark and Sweden. In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, battles three antagonists: Grendel, who has been attacking the mead hall in Denmark called Heorot and its inhabitants; Grendel's mother; and an unnamed dragon. The last battle takes place later in life, after returning to Geatland (modern southern Sweden), where Beowulf has become king. In the final battle, Beowulf is fatally wounded. After his death he is buried in a tumulus in Geatland by his retainers. Evidence Beowulf may have been composed as an elegy for a king who died in the seventh century, but there is little evidence to indicate who that king may have been. The burial rites described in the epic show a great similarity to the evidence found atSutton Hoo, but too much remains unknown to form a direct correlation between the poem and the burial site. The poem may have been composed as early as c. 700, and evolved through many retellings before it was written down. Whoever the original author may have been is lost to history. The sole manuscript of the poem dates to c. 1000. Handwriting style reveals that it was inscribed by two different people. Whether either scribe embellished or altered the original story is unknown. The earliest known owner of the manuscript is the 16th century scholar Lawrence Nowell. In the 17th century it became part of Robert Bruce Cotton's collection and is therefore known asCotton Vitellius A.XV. In 1731, it suffered irreparable damage in a fire. The first transcription of the poem was made by Icelandic scholar Grmur Jnsson Thorkelin in 1818. Since the manuscript has decayed further, Thorkelin's version is highly prized, yet its accuracy has been questioned. In 1845, the pages of the manuscript were mounted in paper frames to save them from further damage. This protected the pages, but it also covered some of the letters around the edges. In 1993, the British Library initiated the Electronic Beowulf Project. Through the use of special infrared and ultraviolet lighting techniques, the covered letters were revealed as electronic images of the manuscript were made. Beowulf Theme of Good vs. Evil In many ways, Beowulf is the simplest kind of epic there is. It's about the conflict between a courageous, mighty, loyal warrior and the demons and dragons of hell itself. The forces of good battle the forces of evil again and again, knowing that one day they will be defeated, but at least they'll die fighting. Of course, "good" in Beowulf means "strong, generous, and proud," and "evil" means "demonic creatures from the marshes." This particular battle between good and evil isn't as much about morals as it is about fate and reputation. Beowulf Theme of Violence Violence is a way of life in the Scandinavian warrior culture of Beowulf. When your hero's goal is to kill a local demon who's been attacking people and carrying off corpses by the dozen, you're going to get a certain amount of circumstantial violence. In Beowulf, battle is not only bloody, it's gory and grimy and sweaty and sinews are tearing apart. Corpses don't just burn on funeral pyres; the fluids and gases ooze and bubble out of the bodies as they're burning. People don't just wrestle, they tear each other's arms out of their sockets. You get the idea. Beowulf Theme of The Supernatural The supernatural is definitely present in Beowulf, but it's oddly complicated. First, we have the two demons, Grendel and his mother, and the other assorted monsters of the epic the dragon that Beowulf must fight, the serpentine creatures in the lake, and the sea monsters that Beowulf fought in the past. These are the stock monsters out of an epic fantasy tale. But Beowulf is also deeply conflicted about religion. The poet who composed the poem has a strongly Christian worldview, but also knows that the people he's telling a story about, who are from his distant past, would probably have been pagans. As a result, Beowulffuses the supernatural together with a relig ious depiction of evil in a strange and interesting way the monsters are the Biblical Cain's children. Beowulf Theme of MortalityHardly a line passes by in Beowulf without the narrator reminding us that everyone is going to die eventually. It's really a very morbid poem, in fact. The awareness of death is a constant for medieval Scandinavian warriors, who kill their enemies and watch their friends die on a daily basis. In a life filled with uncertainty and violence, these fighters must accept that everyone shares the same fate death. What matters, then, is to keep one's eventual death constantly in mind and try to perform great deeds so that you can be remembered by those who live after you as a great warrior.