Luke and Beowulf

In general, Luke and Beowulf are two completely different types of heroes. Luke is an unwilling hero that is pulled into serving the rebellion as a jedi. Beuwulf in every one of his battle volunteers in order to be a hero. Luke comes from a more humble beginning than Beowulf. Beowulf is born and raised by a great warrior, Luke is born from Darth Vader who was a very powerful individual, but he was raised by his meager aunt and uncle. This leads to him being an unwilling hero in that he is pulled into the service of being a hero by the fact that his parents were murdered by the empire. Beowulf volunteers to fight the dragon and grendle. Another key difference is that Luke has to fight what creates him, The thing that gave him all of his powers, the fact that his father was a jedi before him is the biggest conquest that he has to make whereas Beowulf is just defeating monsters and fighting random bad guys that are wreaking havoc.

Wiglaf

I feel that Wiglaf in many ways is a more pure hero than Beowulf. After reading of Beowulf’s exploits it seems to me that he is willing to do heroic things more in order to become a hero than with more pure motives. The moment that Wiglaf comes into fruition is when Beowulf is fighting the dragon and all of the men waiting for the fight decide to leave Beowulf. Wiglaf steps up and realizes the wrong that is being committed. Having been raised to his current standing by the grace of Beowulf he realizes a debt. He realizes that he and all of his cohorts with him are in debt to Beowulf for all that they have and that deserting him would be wrong. After giving a speech to the deserting men and calling all of them cowards. (A bold thing to do in my mind) He goes in to help Beowulf fight the dragon. Working together they are able to slay the dragon but Beowulf dies in the process. Wiglaf entered the situation and the fight solely because he felt it was his duty to help the man that had promoted him and not for glory. This in my mind gives him a better backing to his heroic acts and makes him a more complete hero.

Beowolf

Unfirth is a jerk. He is trying to tarnish Beowolf's reputation in order that he might seem greater. He is known as the greatest warrior among the Danes and is the strongest of Hrothgar's men. When Beowolf, this great warrior comes to town, Unfirth becomes jeaolous. He does what he can to try and discredit Beowolf in order to make him seem like people are making a big deal about nothing. The way he tries to do this is by bringing up a contest that Beowolf had that Unfirth says he lost. He said that Beowolf lost the contest and was washed up on the shore. Beowolf however, responds like a hero should. First he questions Unfirth's motives, easily seeing through is phony attempt at power. However, he does not go on a rant about the failings of Unfirth, instead he makes a passing remark about him and goes on with his story. He corrects Unfirth's story and turns the doubt that was cast into more confidence in Beowlf. He tells the tale of How he was not washed up on the shore, but that he swam some great distance and battled and killed monsters along the way. Overall he did what many people at the time thought was impossible, turned swimming into a really really hardcore activity.