Many of us fight battles everyday, whether it is against people or against ourselves. People can seem to have a handle on the outside while the inside can be a different story entirely. Beowulf is the story of a dual ordeal: an external battle with vicious opponents and an internal battle with human tendencies of pride, cowardice, betrayal, and self-concern.
In the story, Beowulf faces many obvious external battles but his internal battles are harder to notice. The issue of pride during Beowulf's confrontation with Unferth is a prime example. Unferth slanders and almost curses him by speaking great volumes of his past failures. Beowulf maintains his composure and goes on to correct Unferth and put him in his place. Beowulf could have easily killed him but he refused to let pride get the best of him.
In dealing with cowardice, Beowulf dives into the bottom of a lake to fight the monster Grendel's mother. It is obvious that Beowulf was dealing with some fear in doing this. He had to deal with the fact that no one would accompany him and that his last water battle was somewhat of a failure (Remember Brecca?). However, despite the odds, He slays Grendel's mother and saves the village.
Later on in the story, while confronting a disgruntled dragon, our hero is betrayed by one of his men who runs off during battle. Beowulf is obviously offended by this but he shrugs it off and continues on.
And finally, the last issue, self-concern. In his bout with the dragon, our now aged hero finds himself in a dangerous situation. The dragon is too much for him .and he knows it. However he remains calm and gives the dragon a run for his money. Although, despite his valiant efforts, he is eventually consumed by the dragons flames.
After taking all of this into consideration, one thing is clear. Beowulf is indeed a story of a dual ordeal. He fought every battle, internal or external, like a true hero and never let his human tendencies get the best of him.
