Advice Column
Beowulf has given many pieces of advice to his people and he has many
principles that he lives by. He believes that fate has the final say in who
survives a battle and what the final outcome is. Beowulf says “stand till fate
decides which of us wins” (lines 676-677, page 42) which means that no matter
how fair a fight is it all depends of fate and not who is the better fighter.
Another example of why Beowulf gives the advice of letting fate decide is when
Grendel’s mother had pinned him down and began stabbing at his chest and “He’d
have traveled to the bottom of the earth, Edgetho’s son, and died there, if that
shinning woven metal had not helped”( lines 627-629, page 41). In this fight
Beowulf should have died because Grendel’s mother was the stronger one, but fate
saved him by making his mail shirt strong enough to blunt Grendel’s mother’s
blade. Beowulf also believes in being confident and showing his confidents to
the people so they feel confident that he will win and be able to protect the
people. He gives this advice because he knows that he must assure the people he
is protecting that he is the right man for the job and he is the only one who
can do the job. Another piece of advice from Beowulf is not to use weapons if
the opponent does not have any. Beowulf lives by this because he feels that he
receives no glory if the match is too unfair and that is why he battled Grendel
with no weapons. Grendel only had himself so Beowulf believed that he did not
need weapons if Grendel didn’t. An example of when Beowulf believes in weapons
is when he fought the dragon. Beowulf used weapons in that battle because the
dragon had fire and Beowulf would be defenseless if he fought with his hands so
he used a sword and shield. The last piece of advice Beowulf gave is to fight
the enemy alone until your life is in danger. Beowulf fought all his fights
alone, except for his last because he was fatally wounded so it was fair if
another man helped. Overall, Beowulf believes in fair fights, being confident,
and not being a coward.
Written by: Thomas Putz
Beowulf has given many pieces of advice to his people and he has many
principles that he lives by. He believes that fate has the final say in who
survives a battle and what the final outcome is. Beowulf says “stand till fate
decides which of us wins” (lines 676-677, page 42) which means that no matter
how fair a fight is it all depends of fate and not who is the better fighter.
Another example of why Beowulf gives the advice of letting fate decide is when
Grendel’s mother had pinned him down and began stabbing at his chest and “He’d
have traveled to the bottom of the earth, Edgetho’s son, and died there, if that
shinning woven metal had not helped”( lines 627-629, page 41). In this fight
Beowulf should have died because Grendel’s mother was the stronger one, but fate
saved him by making his mail shirt strong enough to blunt Grendel’s mother’s
blade. Beowulf also believes in being confident and showing his confidents to
the people so they feel confident that he will win and be able to protect the
people. He gives this advice because he knows that he must assure the people he
is protecting that he is the right man for the job and he is the only one who
can do the job. Another piece of advice from Beowulf is not to use weapons if
the opponent does not have any. Beowulf lives by this because he feels that he
receives no glory if the match is too unfair and that is why he battled Grendel
with no weapons. Grendel only had himself so Beowulf believed that he did not
need weapons if Grendel didn’t. An example of when Beowulf believes in weapons
is when he fought the dragon. Beowulf used weapons in that battle because the
dragon had fire and Beowulf would be defenseless if he fought with his hands so
he used a sword and shield. The last piece of advice Beowulf gave is to fight
the enemy alone until your life is in danger. Beowulf fought all his fights
alone, except for his last because he was fatally wounded so it was fair if
another man helped. Overall, Beowulf believes in fair fights, being confident,
and not being a coward.
Written by: Thomas Putz