A
Boastful Hero: Reflecting the Values of Society
Beowulf,
being one the oldest example of an English epic poem has greatly influenced
other works, including literature, art, and films, both directly and
indirectly. Therefore, many similarities can be found between Beowulf and modern works. One work that
shares similarities with Beowulf is
the film Thor, based on the comic book
superhero Thor, who is in turn based on the Norse god Thor. In both Beowulf and Thor, the main hero takes great pride in and is boastful of his glory,
honor, and superhuman power. Additionally, in both works, the other characters’
reactions to the hero’s pride serve as a reflection of the values of the society
in which the hero’s story was created; while Beowulf’s pride is accepted and
even valued, Thor’s pride is not.
In
Beowulf, there are many examples that
demonstrate Beowulf’s boastfulness and pride in his honor and achievements. One
instance occurs when he first arrives at Heorot and speaks to Hrothgar. He
states, “Every elder and experienced council man / among my people supported my
resolve / to come here to you, King Hrothgar, / because all knew of my awesome
strength. / They had seen me bolstered in the blood of enemies/ when I battled
and bound five beats, / raided a troll-next and in the night-sea / slaughtered
sea-brutes” (Beowulf lines 415-422). Here,
Beowulf essentially lists all his achievements as a warrior so that Hrothgar will
allow him to demonstrate his strength once again by fighting Grendel. Before he
fights Grendel, Beowulf again boasts about his strength when he says that there
will be no “weapons, therefore / for either [Grendel or Beowulf] this night:
unarmed shall he face me / if face me he dares” (Beowulf lines 683-5). By announcing his intention to fight unarmed,
Beowulf makes it clear that he wishes to demonstrate his great strength and
power. A
final example of Beowulf’s boasting comes when he decides to attack the dragon
and he says that he will “pursue this fight / for the glory of winning” (Beowulf lines 2513-4). Beowulf does not
says that he will fight the dragon because it is killing a lot of people.
Rather, he states that he will fight the dragon because he wants to win. Therefore,
as demonstrated by these examples, Beowulf is very boastful and even arrogant
of his strength as a warrior.
In
Thor, Thor is also initially boastful
of his strength and power as chiefly demonstrated by one primary event. At the
beginning of the film, a few “Frost Giants” break into Asgard, which is Thor’s
home, to steal back the Casket of Ancient Winters, which is the source of the
Frost Giants’ power. The Asgardians originally confiscated this casket after they
defeated the Frost Giants, who were trying to conquer the “nine realms” of the
universe. After this group of Frost Giants is defeated, Thor, being heir to the
throne, gathers a group of Asgardians to destroy the Frost Giants at their home
world against the Asgardian king’s wishes. In this moment, Thor wishes to use his
power to defeat the evil Frost Giants once and for all in order to prove his
strength and to gain glory just as Beowulf would have done. Therefore, as this
example demonstrates, Thor initially is boastful of his strength.
Since
both Beowulf and Thor at some point in their respective stories both are excessively
proud and arrogant about their strength and power, these stories are similar. However,
the ways in which other characters react to this trait are vastly different. In
Beowulf, others value Beowulf’s pride
since when Beowulf dies, other people “extolled his heroic nature and exploits
/ and gave thanks for his greatness” (Beowulf
line 3173-4). However, in a key difference between Beowulf and Thor, the
king of Asgard banishes Thor’s powers before Thor can defeat the Frost Giants. The
king only returns Thor’s power when Thor learns not to be arrogant and boastful
of his powers. This crucial difference can be attributed to the societies in
which Beowulf and Thor were created. In the time of Beowulf, honor and glory were valued
above all else. Today, these characteristics are not so highly valued and
expressing one’s pride of one’s glory, achievements, and power can often be
viewed as arrogance, so humility is of greater value in today’s society than it
was at the time of Beowulf. In this
way, both Beowulf’s and Thor’s boastfulness and others’ reactions to this boastfulness
reflect the society in which these works were created.
Ultimately,
Beowulf and Thor are similar because both heroes are boastful of their strength
and power. The extent to which the hero’s boastfulness is valued is greatly
different between the two stories so they send very different messages to the
reader. Beowulf admires glory, honor,
and strength, and Beowulf’s bragging about his strength serves as an example of
how important these characteristics are. Thor,
on the other hand, while it considers these characteristics to be important,
significantly diminishes their importance compared to Beowulf, and it preaches restraint of strength instead. Therefore,
these stories are similar because of the main character’s views on glory and
honor but differ in the message they send about the importance of these traits.
