Paising The Heroic Code In Beowulf’s Poem

Beowulf is an epic poem that was written many years ago and is still praised in today’s times. A lot of this poem is written around the heroic code, and it praises it. It speaks highly of the importance of strength, courage, and loyalty that warriors must-have. It also includes having hospitality and a giving soul, the king must also have political skills. Now all those are for men; women must keep their reputation and their names in high manners according to this code.

Throughout Beowulf, it follows along with the heroic code pretty thoroughly. For example, even though Hrothgar was a great king his old age held him back; therefore, it held him back from following the heroic code. People saw him as a lesser king because of his age since the heroic code is restricted by age. Beowulf on the other hand was very strong but he had his flaws. 1,000 years ago, it was very important to follow the heroic code and do your best to live up to it.

Everyone lived by the heroic code, it was focused on the idea of generosity, courage, hospitality, and being loyal. If you did not live up to this code, you would not make it very long in this day and age. This was sort of their law system, because back then they did not have law enforcement and not much of a government. People sort of relied on blood revenge as justice; this is exactly what Grendel’s mother did, well at least tried to do. After Beowulf defeated Grendel, Grendel’s mother wanted justice and made it known she wanted blood for blood.

Grendel’s mother broke the code and honored it at the same time. She honored it by seeking blood revenge for her son. This took courage and strength along with selflessness. However, her being a woman violated the heroic code by going out and fighting. Ultimately, she was going against the code because she was one of the villains Beowulf had to face.

Now, going along with the heroic code Beowulf defeats three villains that are all beyond human strength. A hero has to perform heroic deeds which Beowulf never failed to do. After hearing how Grendel is murdering Hrothgar’s men, he goes to Heorot to fight Grendel. It took Beowulf great courage to go up against Grendel especially unarmed. It was even more heroic once Beowulf kills Grendel by ripping off his arm. After he kills Grendel’s mother, he sees Grendel lying there (dead) and cuts his head off to take back to Hrothgar. He does this to assure the king that he will have no more troubles. Now, this is very important to the heroic code, Beowulf showed his loyalty and courage by bringing Grendel’s head as proof he defeated him (Grendel).

After Grendel’s death, Beowulf then fights Grendel’s mother. This is another act of heroism and bravery since it took great strength and courage to battle this woman. He tries to kill her with his sword, but it melts, he could have run and fleeted in fear but instead, he began to fight with his bare hands. Ultimately, he wins the battle and defeats Grendel’s mother honoring the heroic code. He put his life at risk to protect his kingdom and honor his people, he showed courage and he never showed any fear. He was loyal and honest, he was willing to do whatever was necessary to keep his people safe, even putting himself in danger.

Fast forward 50 years and Beowulf now has to face the 3rd and final monster in this epic poem, the dragon. The dragon is very strong and will be the hardest battle for Beowulf especially due to his old age, he does not have the strength he did 50 years prior. He gathered his men and went to seek the dragon and defeat it. However, once his men saw the dragon all of them except one fled, this is an act against the heroic code since they did not stay loyal, they were not courageous nor were they brave. Beowulf fights and does not give up, he tries to kill the dragon with his sword but fails. Beowulf’s sword snaps in half after swinging it at this mighty dragon, but he does not give up, this shows his loyalty to protecting his kingdom. The dragon then bites the king’s neck and poisons Beowulf, despite this fact Wiglaf helps him defeat the powerful dragon. Even during his life slipping away, he refused to give up and ultimately defeated the dragon, this is exactly what the heroic code says a king should do. However, Beowulf then dishonors the code by being selfish, in his last moments he asks Wiglaf to gather the treasure so he can see it before he dies. He wanted to know he did not fight and die for “nothing”.

I see Beowulf as praising the heroic code; however, I get how some may view it more as criticizing. In this poem, there is a bunch of death and killings, but this goes along with heroic code because this is the sort of system they had back then. Now I can see how one might think this poem is criticizing the code by showing how there is a lot of chaos, feuds, and battles that are bound to come with following the heroic code. People nowadays would view this code as unreasonable, but you have to try and view it from the perspective of back then. It was normal to them; they had no other sense of authority like we do in today’s time. Try and think if you were alive in this time period, would you question the system or would you fight to stay alive, especially if that is all you have known and were brought up to know. However, I see it as praising because you see how the heroic code helped separate the good and the bad and helped to weed out the bad. Therefore, Beowulf was written praising the heroic code rather than criticizing it. Despite the fact that this poem picks out the “bad” qualities people have according to the heroic code it still honors it and gives a point of view from people’s perspectives who lived during those troubled times. 

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