The Medieval Poem Beowulf, Essay Example

The medieval poem Beowulf was written long ago, and it is considered to be the Anglo-Saxon work. Generally, Beowulf was written under the strong influence of the oral traditions that were, in fact, carried through the war years. That is why, reading an epic poem Beowulf, one can face the heroism appraisal practically on every page and that makes the plot thrilling and noble. Obviously, a peculiar thing is that the author brings into contact various layers of characters. However, among the list of characters introduced in Beowulf, Grendel is inevitably the one who came alive for me. As for this essay, it is mainly aimed at examining Grendel’s personality as well as motivation from the perspective of human nature.

Grendel is described as the villain in the discussion poem. Evidently, the given character can be characterized by possessing a maximum degree of magic embodied. Grendel has the power of will, which makes him practically impossible to challenge. This way he is opposed to protagonists who rely only on their physical strength. Considering Grendel as one of the main antagonists, it is worth saying that his behavior is absolutely natural, and initially, the readers cannot but encounter the fact that the evil power is presented to be difficult to challenge. It is important to male mention that this attribute makes the poem unforgettable, absorbing and colorful. All in all, moving through an epic poem, which is under discussion, it becomes apparent that despite Grendel’s cult of invincibility, Beowulf still managed to kill him.

The opposition of good and bad is presented in the constant struggle as the main purpose. Though all evil power is shown to be the strongest in the story, the positive characters are described to fight them. Nevertheless, the epic poem breaks the point of human power in general, since it describes humans not to be able to fight everything on their ways. That is why the death for Beowulf is not spontaneously induced. Although Beowulf overcame Grendel, he was fatally injured, and this pinpoints the mutually feral nature of this battle.

To sum up, it is necessary to say that Grendel emerges as quite a relevant character today. It is obvious that mankind is undergoing dreadful trials by way of numerous human sacrifices and irreparable injury to world’s civilization; it goes without saying that Grendel matches the role of modern-day trouble-maker, focused on exceptionally destructive projects. In my view, Grendel’s personality, even though being pretty much negatively motivated, still expels in the fact that good will definitely triumph over evil; for all that, many of civilian residents will not escape death.