Heroism

Colin Phillips Mrs. Stamp Composition Heroism What happens when the most dark and evil creatures are abundant' Or what happens when it seems impossible to overcome a great obstacle' Heroes of high status save the day and with their courage they can overcome these obstacles. Three heroes, Beowulf and Wiglaf, from the story Beowulf, and the Seafarer from “The Seafarer” translated by Burton Raffel, have all faced and overcome obstacles and challenges with courage. In the story Beowulf, Beowulf’s courage is demonstrated in his battles with evil creatures. These creatures, such as Grendel, are the darkest and most evil creatures that have ever stalked the land. Grendel, a dark beast who picked up thirty men at once and ran off with them, is obviously an evil being. Beowulf is a very strong hero and is described on line 110 “greater and stronger than anyone anywhere on this world.” With this super hero strength, and his great courage, Beowulf hearing of Grendel quickly sent out himself along with fourteen others in search of the beast. Beowulf is so powerful and so brave he attacked Grendel with his bare hands and ripped of his arm. Beowulf also had the courage to search for Grendel’s mother at the bottom of a dark and scary lake. Beowulf was courageous enough to fight several creatures at one time and he never backed down from a fight. Another character in the story Beowulf who faced challenges and conquered them like a hero is Wiglaf, a soldier of Beowulf. Wiglaf has courage for staying with Beowulf during the fight against the dragon even after Beowulf was clearly losing and all the other soldiers ran away deep into the woods. Wiglaf is very brave and considered a hero because he had enough courage to stay with the weakened Beowulf and fight the dragon. Together, Beowulf and Wiglaf defeated the dragon. Beowulf’s legendary status inspired Wiglaf to become a hero himself. Wiglaf displayed a great amount of courage for helping Beowulf slay the dragon. In the poem ‘The Seafarer” the narrator shows how he is a hero because he is very brave and courageous. He puts himself in challenging situations and overcomes obstacles in order to do his job. His passion is for the sea. Fishing is his livelihood and is all he’s ever known. He shows he is brave because he has the will to go back out on the sea even though it has cost him a great deal of misfortune. Cold and stormy weather conditions created a big challenge for the Seafarer. The Seafarer lost many friends due to tragic accidents at sea. All his life the narrator vanquishes challenges set upon him by the sea. His courage and brevity is what makes the Seafarer a hero. Beowulf, Wiglaf, and the Seafarer have all faced and overcome obstacles and challenges and have become heroes. It takes a great deal of courage to be a hero. Heroes are very brave and strong for overcoming different challenges. Heroes in the Anglo-Saxon era have beaten the odds and are extremely courageous.