Essay on Characters in 'Beowulf'

In my reading of Beowulf and The Saga of the Volsungs, there are themes throughout each of these readings that connect. The main theme that connects the two of these readings is the theme of revenge. Both of the books show different ways of having revenge as a theme as if it was for family or people they look up like Beowulf to Hrothgar or even Beowulf to his father. The mentality of revenge is an “eye for an eye” mentality. This mentality is shown every time someone is killed by another character then another character wants to seek revenge on the killer. Revenge is completed several different times, but mostly for the sake of family. The way revenge is portrayed in both of these books is the same in that once the character is plotting for revenge it happens and revenge is celebrated by the characters rather than criticized by anyone in either book. The main characters in both are mainly Beowulf and Sigurd. Both of these characters complete the most revenge in both of their books respectively to prove their power, faith, and dedication to family. Both Sigurd and Beowulf want to be respected by everyone and they want everyone to know who they are so not only do they complete revenge for their family they also do it for themselves. Even though some people may say that either text does display revenge in criticism both the texts display revenge more in celebration rather than criticize the practice of revenge.

Beowulf throughout the story completes the act of revenge many different times to avenge different characters in the story. The first time Beowulf seeks revenge is on the monster Grendel because he attacked the men of Hrothgar. Every time Beowulf seeks revenge it is for a certain reason to help people instead of himself. The poem celebrates revenge for Beowulf more than criticism. After the death of Grendel the next morning everyone gathered to praise Beowulf for his doings, “Beowulf’s doings were praised over and over again. Nowhere, they said, north or south between the two seas or under the tall sky on the broad earth was there anyone better to raise a shield” (ll 855-860, p.57). This quote shows the amount of respect and honor they had for the act of revenge Beowulf put on Grendel for saving the people from more attacks from Grendel. Beowulf also felt the need for revenge in defeating Grendel because he needed to live up to the acts of his father. Beowulf’s father, Ecgtheow, was well respected by King Hrothgar and all of his people, so once he was killed Beowulf wanted to prove he was as noble and as respected as his father was. This is why Beowulf fights Grendel, Grendel's Mother, and the dragon. Another important story of revenge in Beowulf is the way that Grendel’s mother wants to avenge the death of her son Grendel. The story goes on after they praise Beowulf for killing Grendel, but then Grendel’s mother comes out and says that she has to go after Beowulf for her son who is now dead. This comes shortly after Grendel has passed and in the book, it says, “he died in battle, paid with his life; and now this powerful other one arrives, this force for evil driven to avenge her kingsman’s death” (ll 1337-1340, p.93). This quote comes from the words of Hrothgar telling Beowulf what is going to happen because he knows that Grendel’s mother is going to come after him. Beowulf ends up going on to defeat his mother also in battle and again they rejoice in Beowulf. Beowulf ends up bringing Grendel’s head back to Herot as a sign of what he did and so everyone knows that he killed both of the monsters.

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On the other hand, revenge also takes place in the book The Saga of the Volsungs. Revenge comes up in a lot of different places in the book, but an example comes when Sigurd, one of the main characters, is talking to Gripir asking him to tell Sigurd his fortune. There is a little delay in the process of Gripir telling Sigurd his future, but he ends up telling him in the end. This discussion brings up a conversation with Regin and Sigurd. Regin tells Sigurd that he needs to kill Fafnir the dragon as promised, but Sigurd replies to him with this, “I shall do that, but first I must do something else: avenge King Sigmund and my other relatives who fell in battle” (Saga p.60). This quote shows the fact that Sigurd is putting family and revenge first rather than listening to others telling him what to do. The aspect of revenge is prevalent, especially with family and once he knew who killed his father he had to avenge his death first. Sigurd ends up getting a sword made new so he can go kill Fafnir to avenge his father. This shows how significant revenge is for his family, but also himself because he can let everyone else down. In the novel, it says, “Make a sword now with your skill so that its equal has never been made. Do this and I will be able to work great deeds if courage helps, and if you want me to kill this dragon” (Saga p.59). Sigurd had the sword created for the sole fact of revenge on his father and to kill the dragon which he does. Again just the same as Beowulf in The Saga of the Volsungs it is celebrated that Sigurd killed the dragon not criticized. Revenge is something that has one thing set in mind and nothing else. This proves that whenever Sigurd was plotting revenge he was not thinking about anything else, but the fact that he was going to kill this dragon. It goes the same for Beowulf, he knew exactly what he wanted to do and who he wanted to do it for so he thought about killing Grendel and his mother and then put it to use. Another example of revenge used in this novel is between Brynhild, Gudrun, and Sigurd. The conversation starts with Brynhild and Gudrun talking about who has the better husband. Gudrun then shows the ring that Brynhild had given to Sigurd, when Brynhild sees the ring she realizes that she had been tricked. She then goes on to tell Gunnar that she knows he deceived her and that Brynhild will seek revenge on Grimhild and kill him. She wants to seek revenge because they killed Sigurd and she also says that it is the worst mistake they could have made by killing Sigurd. This is because of the aspect of revenge. Every time someone is killed by someone else in the story someone goes to avenge that person's death.

Both of these novels Beowulf and The Saga of the Volsungs have different examples of revenge. In both of these also revenge is celebrated amongst people rather than criticized by people. In Beowulf, the examples of revenge include Beowulf trying to be like his father and avenge what he did, but also Grendel’s mother symbolizes revenge because she wants to kill Beowulf after Beowulf kills Grendel. On the other hand in The Saga of the Volsungs, the revenge mostly comes from the death of someone where it is an eye for an eye mentality. Examples of these were Sigurd going to kill Fafnir to avenge his father's death and then later in the book Brynhild wanting to kill Gunnar and seek revenge on Grimhild for killing Sigurd. Both of the times in The Saga of the Volsungs showed how the family was strong and important therefore revenge was a necessary aspect for them. In both of the texts, the practice of revenge was one of the main themes and through the main characters Beowulf and Sigurd, revenge helped them to become more appreciated by the townspeople, but especially their families which makes it a happier time for their families, and the townspeople therefore putting celebration over the act of criticism.