Symbolism in Beowulf Essay

The Anglo-Saxon society was constructed upon fixed values and morals on which the behavior of individuals was based and judged. This society had a strong sense of community and treasured fame and success as a passageway to immortality. By fighting with Grendel, his mother, and the Dragon not only assured the survival of the Danes, but by doing so Beowulf legitimized his god-like qualities through his heroic deeds. Each of the monsters Beowful faced beared a level of symbolism, in which Grendel represents evil,

The reader sees the values of the Anglo-Saxon society embodied by the brave, fearless and exemplary soldier called Beowulf. This character is brought upon conflicts and challenged by inhuman creatures that threaten his existence and the perseverance of his culture. Throughout the epic poem, Beowulf battles three monsters. The adversaries and their conflictsare an allusion to the war against the fall of the Anglo-Saxon society, their values and morals

The first beast he encounters is one described sinisterly as a dark, lurking devilish creature that hates humans and their qualities; and feasts on human flesh, terrorizing the Mead Hall of the Danes. This creature of the night is confronted by Beowulf in a graphic battle on which the herofights with courage as his only weapon. With little struggle, the protagonist rises as a victor in a symbolic fight against the disintegration of his society. Grendel and his quarrel with Beowulf represent the first corruptions against the values the epic hero represents. The cause of this conflict is the survival of a society, a great cause for a battle, but as the poem progresses, this is no more.

The subsequent menace to the Anglo-Saxon existence is Grendel's mother, who found reprisal after his son's violent death. She is by far a more challenging and threatening than her offspring, with darker qualities and petrifying physical attributes. Beowulf's strength is matched in this quarrel, finding himself against the pure evil of whom his original adversary was created. The escalation of the society's demise is apparent but it manages to survive this direct confrontation against the corruptive evil that infiltrates his community. This will be the last battle for which the cause is a moral one, therefore signaling the near conclusion of the ethics present in the Anglo-Saxon beliefs.

Fifty years later, the reader is confronted with the inevitable reality of time; Beowulf is far older and perhaps wiser when he fights his last battle in opposition to the greatest personification of evil: a dragon. He is accompanied by a new generation of soldiers that at the first sign of peril flee the scene and leave the courageous hero in his time of need. ."..None of his comrades came to him, helped him, his brave and noble/ followers; they ran for their lives, fled..." (Line 746) Only one remained: Wiglaf. Here, the reader can perceive the lack of values that fifty years before used to be part of everyone's life. Hypocrisy, lies and corruption eventually penetrated Beowulf's society and robbed it from its pride, dignity and bravery. The final battle of Beowulf would be also the last hope for the survival of Anglo-Saxon beliefs and in it, the great hero dies, sacrificing himself for a treasure, not the survival of a cultureand values like before, but a superficial cause of a society in demise.

The epic hero battles against something inevitable: change. He does it with great pride, dedication and courage; while encouraging others, like Wiglaf, to continue the tradition of honorable men that seem to be a minority in the new society. Each monster and their increasing evil are the steps of a society whose integrity is being progressively diminishing. The reader is left with hope for a better future in the character of Wiglaf. He stands aside in the new generation of leaders, and maintains the values on which Beowulf lived upon. "Praising him for heroic deeds, for a life/ as noble as his name" (Line 833).