Beowulf Beowulf As A Hero

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than loyal to his king. In fact, it was considered noble to be loyal to anything that was significant to humanity. In Beowulf, Beowulf is loyal to Higlac. “Higlac is my cousin and my king…(142)” says Beowulf in his preparation to do battle with the threatening monster, Grendel. Loyalty to the Anglo-Saxons was heroic; however, the tale of Beowulf has lived on so many years for a greater reason than Beowulf being a loyal individual. Heroes today, as well as heroes of yesterday, such as Beowulf, all share the characteristic of their willingness to die in their attempt to accomplish their heroic act, thus making the act in itself heroic. Beowulf knows that there is a chance that he may die in his great battle against Grendel when he says, “No, I expect no Danes will fret about sewing our shrouds, if he wins. And if death does take me, send the hammered mail of my armor to Higlac…”; yet he is still willing to attempt to conquer Grendel. Beowulf says, “My hands alone will fight for me, ...

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