Beowulf Analysis of the Epic Beowul

In a locating in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bargon, light-haired hole with nothing in it to sit down on or eat; it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort (Tolkien 1).

In Beowulf, on the other hand, we are hurled now into the realm of the romanticistic, which has trivial if anything to do with the comfort of the hobbit. The horrible slaughters carried out by the the Tempter Grendel against the people of the kingdom are recounted, and Beowulf steps forward to watch over the romantic destiny set out for him. There is no fear or doubt in this romantic booster as he offers to fight the monster:

Then Beowulf rung: . . . "Fame-winning deeds/ have condescend early to my hands. . . ./ These men [who urged me to come fight Grendel] knew well the weight of my hands./ Had they not seen me come berth from fights/ where I had bound five Giants---their blood was upon me---/cleaned out a nest of them? Had I not crushed on the dither/ sea-serpents by night in narrow struggle,/ broken the beasts?" (Beowulf 64).

Beowulf immediately demonstrates all of the attributes of the romantic scrapper: courage, skill in battle, a sense of responsibility and loyalty to the community, a get outingness to fight and become flat for his fellows, a desire to win battles in the name of secure against evil, a fearless sense of adventure, and so on.

omes from a family and a society which expects and honors none of these attributes---aside, perhaps, from a "respectable" sense of community, although this communal inclination has much more(prenominal) to do with conformity than with the willingness to fight and die for others. Bilbo and his family are considered "in truth respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they ne'er had any adventures or did anything unexpected" (Tolkien 2). Of course, Bilbo ultimately is drawn into the romantic and heroic life, and it is precisely this wearing away of his respectable indisposition to behave heroically which gives Bilbo the greater ability to connect with the modern reader.

As Tolkien notes,

This is the story of how [Bilbo] had an adventure, and found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained---well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end (Tolkien 2).

Certainly Tolkien's new can hardly be called realistic. It is, in fact, a poof tale populated with make-believe, mythical creatures. However, ironically, the personality and character of its hero Bilbo are more recognizable as "realistic" than those of the gallant "human" hero Beowulf. Certainly Beowulf gives better speeches than little Bilbo in terms of expressing romantic ideals, but here again we are taken with the irony that Beowulf is more convincing as a speech-giver than as a man of action, for action, not talk, is the hallmark of the romantic hero.

A breach in the giant/ flesh-frame [of the monster] showed then, shoulder-muscles/ sprang apart, there was a snapping of tendons,/ bone-locks burst. To Beowulf the glory/ of this fight was granted; Grendel's lot/ to flee the slopes fen-ward with flagging heart. . . . / [Beowulf], deep-minded, strong-hearted, had saved the hall/ from persecution (Beowulf 77).

His little sword was something new in the way of stings for them. How it darted to and fro! It shone w
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