Layman 1

Isabella Layman

Boulas

Honors English 12

10 November 2019

Reputation and Glory

Honer was immensely crucial back in Beowulf’s time period. Beowulf the epic poems’ main

motivations were reputation and glory; they valued their legacy. Having a superior name is the

same as immortality because it will be placed in history. This epic poem demonstrates how fame

was all anyone cared about by saying “For this, this gold / sold my life for this treasure / The

brave Geats build me a tomb,” (2794-2802). The only reason why Beowulf fought those

gruesome monsters were for the stardom.

Beowulf takes place in a century where reputation is everything to the Vikings. When he battles

appalling monsters such as Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon it’s because he wants the

people to love him. It was Beowulf’s ego that made him help Hrothgar. As soon as he met The

Danes, he certainly mentioned all of his victories that he made in his homeland. The final lines of

the poem articulate, “Praising him / As noble as his name / His body behind.” (3173-78). How he

showed that he was willing to die to protect everyone gained him a positive reputation.

Grendel is a descendant from Cain who is known for killing Abel out of jealousy. He didn’t get

to control what other people thought of him; he was born to be vile and villainous.“Gleamed in

the darkness / and his heart laughed / swift hard claws” (725-38). To Grendel, he never really

had a choice in what his reputation was going to be. Although he acted resentful and vicious to

mankind, he was actually just envious of humans.

These three things have a buried meaning to them: Mead-Hall, The Forfeited Sword, and the
 Layman 2

Banquet. The Mead-Halls symbolization represents praise and reputation and is in memory of

The Kings’ noble exploit. Also, the Forfeited Sword means Beowulf’s strong character and value

of himself, as well as fearlessness. Further on, The Banquet symbolizes deep gratitude,

assumption, and The Kings’ hospitality.

 Layman 3

Work Cited

Beowulf. Translated by Burton Raffel. New American Library, 1963. Print.