Abandonment Of Beowulf Essay, Research Paper
Justification for the Abandonment and Solitude of Beowulf
Beowulf is the classic tale of a mighty and heroic Geat leader who comes to an
unpleasant and seemingly early end. Throughout his life, Beowulf had been an excellent
leader and had led his army to many victories over many foes, of his land and of many others
as well. At his peak, Beowulf was the mightiest warrior on all the earth: ?There was no one
else like him alive. In his day, he was the mightiest man on earth, high-born and powerful.?
(297-298). Eventually, Beowulf would come to be ruler over many people. During this time
he would defeat many enemies, two of which being Grendel and his mother. After their
defeat, Beowulf and his people experienced a time of peace and prosperity which was
enjoyed by all.
He remained undefeated until the bitter end when he was defeated by the dragon in the
underwater hell-like grave. Beowulf?s death marked the end of not only his reign, but also of
the safety know by his people, and also the end of his kingdom. The reasons for his
abandonment of his people and his insistence to fight alone are not clear, although many
have theories as to why the great warrior chose the fate he did. The first topic at hand is why
Beowulf chose to fight by himself, especially in the case of the dragon.
Beowulf was a very valiant warrior who fought his greatest battles alone, or at least
single-handedly. First of all, his battle against Grendel was brilliantly maneuvered in that he
awakened from a complete slumber to slay the mighty Grendel and mutilate his body.
Secondly, Beowulf battled against Grendel?s mother (who was excessively disturbed about the
death of her beloved son) and won a triumphant battle. In both battles, Beowulf won by his
own means and was very victorious in each occasion. The question could be raised as to why
he chose to fight alone as opposed to having many skilled warriors to help him in his plight
to defeat the evil in the world. One possible theory is that it is much more valiant to be the
victor of a battle which you yourself have fought and won. This way, there is only one person
who is capable of receiving credit for the battle which could help in later times as to the
correctness of the tale. Perhaps Beowulf did not wish for people to wonder as to who the
true hero was, so he simply resolved the issue by fighting alone. Also, if a battle is fought and
won by a single person, they are automatically more glorified than if a whole army was to
have won. This may be because it is simply easier to maintain records of one person as
opposed to a whole army or group of people. The winner in this case is able to receive all
the glory which is due them and not have to worry about someone horning in on their
moment of well-earned fame. By being more glorious and not having to share their fame, a
leader?s position of authority (whatever it may be) is less likely to be challenged than if many
people were involved in the victory. In this case, the leader receives a little more cushing in
their position, which is generally a very positive thing for any ruler to experience. After all,
no one would like to be overthrown because of their weakness and inability to perform under
pressure in a battle.
Now the question as to why Beowulf abandoned his people is at hand. He most likely
did not do this on purpose and had no intent to destroy his kingdom which he had worked so
hard to create. A possible theory as to why this happened could be that he simply did not
think about the void he would leave if he was to leave his throne for some reason. One point
that must be observed here is that Beowulf had to blood relatives which could succeed him
on the throne, so he would of had to hand picked one of his subjects to follow after him, and
only hope that his choice of leadership would not be undermined by those who wished to be
rulers but in reality were not capable of a leadership position which involved so much
responsibility and integrity. Of course, there is also the possibility that Beowulf was aware
that if he died his kingdom would crumble, so he did the valiant thing and ended the
kingdom at the same time its king ended. This way, the kingdom would have a rather subtle
end instead of a violent one in which many people fought over the rights to the kingdom.
This also prevented corruption of the kingdom and the throne by the rulership of a bad or
unjust king.
There remains only one question now, which is Beowulf?s reasoning for fighting the
dragon alone. Surely he was aware of the dangers involved with fighting a ferocious creature
that late in his life, especially when one considers that Beowulf was not only aging, but also
that he was fighting on uncommon ground and all the odds were against him. Perhaps he did
this because he wanted to prove to his people that he was still a mighty and heroic leader,
even though it put him in a compromising situation. If he did not go to battle, then he would
be viewed as a weakening and a fallen king by his people, but then again, if he did fight, but
lost he would not be any better off than if he were to not fight at all. The most he could
hope for would either be victory or death if he chose to fight. And, withe being the heroic
warrior he was, and with wanting to protect his people from harm, he decided to fight
against the dragon in his underwater hell-like lair. Maybe Beowulf wished to be extra
victorious in his waning years by defeat the great dragon alone, or he may have realized that
a good way to live on (in spirit) among his people would be to exit the world in a heroic
battle. Regardless of victory of defeat, Beowulf would be honored for being a victorious and
heroic warrior and a good leader for his people. In a way, Beowulf ended his reign at a peak,
even though he had already experienced many high points along the way. One can theorize
all they would like, but the only person to really know the motives of Beowulf is Beowulf, and
since there is no way of truly finding out, the only thing left to do is to guess the best we can
and hope that possible somebody somewhere will create a believable theory which all people
can believe and end the wondering. Until then, all are free to wonder and theorize and
attempt to make sense of all the wonderment and complexities of the allusive Beowulf.