Beowulf as a Dynamic Character
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Although Beowulf is portrayed by Frederick Rebsamen as a heroic and great man throughout his entire poem, Beowulf has some qualities as a character that change over time, making him a very dynamic person. As he experiences the transition from youth to old age, the way he acts changes dramatically.
When Beowulf is first introduced, he is a young adult with an extremely confident and boastful personality. When he hears word of Grendel, a monster that is terrorizing Heorot, he does not hesitate to lead his men over to take care of the Danes' problem. Beowulf tells Hrothgar, king of the Danes, that he is the man who will alone kill Grendel. He has no doubt that he will win this first battle, as he shows by saying, "But I'll show him sooner than he knows a new kind of battle with men of the Geats." (20, 601-603) He even goes as far as to fight without weapons or armor to protect himself. "I'll bear no swordblade no shield to that fight no boar-head helmet---with my handgrip only I will fight this fiend find his life-core man against monster." (15, 437-440)
Though Beowulf defeats Grendel, he does not kill him in the battle as he planned. He first shows humility after this battle when he says to the Danes, "I hoped to bind him hard in my graspbring you his death---but his body betrayed me...