Who_Knows....

The epic poem of Beowulf has many themes throughout it. . There are instances where the themes of dark versus light, self-identity, and tensions between value systems and doing what is right and what is wrong. However, most people would agree that the major and most running theme would be the many encounters of good versus evil in the poem. Good versus evil is most notably seen in the battles that Beowulf has with Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the evil dragon. This poem shows the struggles of the heroic achievements of Beowulf and his quest for all goodness in his world. The goodness in Beowulf is represented by the characters of Beowulf, himself, King Hrothgar and Wiglaf. Beowulf portrays many good qualities and he seems to be the ultimate example of a hero. His acts of goodness are shown through his efforts to rid King Hrothgar’s hall, Heorot, of Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and finally the evil dragon. King Hrothgar’s goodness is portrayed by his love of his people and the way that he welcomed Beowulf to his kingdom. Wiglaf was a great warrior and he is seen as good because of his decision to risk his own life for Beowulf. When all of Beowulf’s chosen band of Geats abandoned him in the final battle with the dragon, Wiglaf chose to stay and help his king. In contrast the evilness in Beowulf is represented by the characters of Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon. Grendel is a man-eating monster that has haunted the halls of Heorot for twelve years. Beowulf hears about King Hrothgar’s troubles with Grendel and offers to help him defeat Grendel and make the halls of Heorot safe and happy again. Beowulf fights Grendel unarmed since the monster was also unarmed. Beowulf saw that using a weapon in the fight would be an unfair advantage in the fight. During the fight Beowulf proves himself stronger than the terrified demon. As Grendel struggles to escape, Beowulf tears his arm off. Grendel becomes mortally wounded and slanks back into his swamp and dies. As a symbol of the victory the severed arm of Grendel is hung high in the mead-hall. After Grendel’s death, his mother comes to Heorot to avenge his death. She ends up killing Aeschere, one of King Hrothgar’s trusted advisors before slinking away. To avenge Aeschere’s death the company travels to the swamp where Grendel’s mother lives and Beowulf dives into the water and fights Grendel’s mother in her underwater lair. He kills her with a giant sword and then he finds Grendel’s corpse and cuts it up. Then he brings the head as a prize to King Hrothgar. Finally the Danish countryside is rid of its long haunting monsters. Beowulf becomes king of the Geats after King Hygelac is killed in a war against the Shylfings and after Hygelac’s son dies. When Beowulf is an old man a thief disturbs a mound where a dragon lives. The dragon becomes angry and leashes a fiery destruction on the Geats. Beowulf goes to fight the dragon and with the aid of Wiglaf he succeeds in killing the beast. The dragon however was able to bite Beowulf on the neck and the venom kills Beowulf soon after the initial bite. The Geats then fear that their enemies will attack them after Beowulf’s death. In each of the three battles good versus evil is represented. In the first battle the good is clearly Beowulf who is trying to help King Hrothgar rid his people of Grendel. At the end of that battle the good is able to overcome the evil. The battle with Grendel’s mother is however very confusing. One could see that Grendel’s mother was hurt by her son’s death and wanted someone to pay for it. In a way that is how most people feel after a close relative is killed. It is hard to say whether or not Grendel’s mother was a villain in that case. But in the end Beowulf prevails against Grendel’s mother. The battle with the dragon is the most confusing battle of the three. The dragon was disturbed by a thief from the Geats and so he attacked them. The thief was wrong for disturbing the dragon but the dragon was also wrong for attacking the Geats. In the end the saying “Two wrongs don’t make a right” is true in this situation because not only did the dragon die but Beowulf also lost his life due to the stupidity of someone from his kingdom. In the end Beowulf is not only a story of good versus evil but also a story of triumph, majesty, and great mourning.