Beowulf is an archetypal hero: a man of supernatural courage, strength, and skill. To become a king, he must also learn that he is mortal, and his powers can’t defeat the grave. An ally of the Geatish King Hygelac, he sails to Hrothgar’s lands to prove himself against the monsters that plague the Danes. Hrothgar’s gratitude and love for him help to shape him into the king he becomes.

Beowulf might usefully be compared to Malcolm, the rightful heir who inherits the throne at the end of Shakespeare’s play Macbeth’s: Both characters understand that complete manhood demands both action and feeling. While Beowulf often carries off impossible feats without breaking a sweat, he’s also capable of deep sympathy, as in his sensitive imagining of his foster father Hrethel’s grief over his murdered son. 

Beowulf’s eventual defeat at the claws of the dragon is both tragic and fateful. In this last battle, which he intends to take on alone (as in all his past monster-fights), he must at last accept help from the gracious Wiglaf. Beowulf’s pride is his downfall—but there’s something splendid in that. His heroism sets him apart, but he must remain in contact with the world in order to display it; if the security of the world is built around him alone, that world collapses with him.