Beowulf 17

Beowulf is truly a perfect example of a modern day superhero. Beowulf goes into battle for the glory and fame of it but he saves many peoples’ lives in doing so. Since he saves many peoples’ lives he is a superhero. The picture perfect superhero has strength, power, arrogance, ethics and fights evil. Beowulf possesses all of these traits which make him a superhero. Beowulf is very similar to the modern day Batman because they both have the same tactics about being a superhero.
Some attributes for being a superhero is they have to be arrogant. Beowulf is a very arrogant character, for example he says,
They have seen my strength for themselves,/
Have watched me rise from the darkness of war/
Dripping with my enemies’ blood. I drove/
Five great giants into chains, chased/
All of that race from the earth. I swam/
In the blackness of night, hunting monsters/
Out of the ocean, killing them one/
By one; death was my errand and the fate/
They had earned. Now Grendel and I are called/
Together, and I’ve come. (Raffel 36, 417-426)
In order to be a superhero you have to be arrogant and Beowulf shows that when saying this because he is talking about how he drove away five monsters and even though Grendelis a huge monster he hasn’t backed down. Another example of him being arrogant is when he is just about to fight Grendel and says,
Grendel is no braver, no stronger/
Then I am! I could kill him with my sword; I shall not,/
Easy as it would be. This fiend is a bold/
And famous fighter, but his claws and teeth…/
Beating at my sword blade, would be helpless. I will meet him/
With my hands empty-unless his heart/
Fails him, seeing a soldier waitng/
Weaponless, unafraid. Let God and his wisdom/
Extend His hand where He wills, reward/
Whom he chooses! (Raffel 44, 677-687)
This means that Beowulf does not need a sword to kill Grendel, the monster; he only needs his bare hands to defeat him. Beowulf and Batman both...