RE: Supernatural strength

 Clynton pointed out that Beowulf was a supernatural man, much like Gilgamesh here. I really didn't think about that until after class. It's rather interesting that the tellers of his tale didn't feel the need to explain how Beowulf got his "powers".  It's almost as if they took it for granted. It just happens sometimes.

We know how Gilgamesh got so strong, he was part god, and Superman was an alien, so where does Beowulf's strength come from? In my attempt to figure out where Beowulf's strength came from I found several instances where people pointed out that Beowulf seemed to rely less on his strength in each subsequent battle. Also, his weapons seem to fail him. source

I think Clynton was on to something when he wondered "if one wrote about a mortal with super natural strength, maybe that was a desire for the ancient time." In ancient tales the hero often had supernatural strength. Hercules, Achilles and Samson are a few that come to mind. It seems that all had supernatural beast to fight as well. Samson and Achilles did both fail in the end, much like Beowulf so perhaps this was the ancient formula for story telling?

This line of thought made me curious, what does Grendel represent? Micheal Delahoyde claims he "represents everything a warrior should not be." source  He further muses that Grendel's mother is the opposite of what a woman should be, as women were thought of as the "peace-weavers". The dragon also serves as an opposition to a good king, as a good king is generous and a bad king is miserly.

With these things in mind, maybe Beowulf was more of a cautionary tale. The people who were hearing the tale would know what a good warrior, wife and king is and know that the monsters were the opposite. It could be said to be a cautionary tale, on which they could base their lives.