Alexandra Franks

WLIT 1113-901
Professor Hunt
October 18, 2015
Essay 1
Peace and War in Beowulf
The great philosopher Socrates once said, Are not all things which have
opposites generated out of their opposites? The poem, Beowulf, supports Socrates
Theory of Opposites in revealing that war generates peace. It begins with a brief
summary of the life of Scyld Scefing, the first ancient Danish ruler. Though Scefing had
to use strength and power to fight, conquer, and rule, his ultimate goal was peace for his
people and himself. Scefings great-grandson, King Hrothgar, also ruled with the ultimate
goal of peace. He built the great mead-hall, Heorot, for his people, after winning many
battles. Heorot represent the Danes peaceful values that were reached through war. The
battles of the great warrior and king, Beowulf, are another example of achievement of
peace through war. Beowulf defeated two deadly monsters to gain peace for the Danes.
The issue that war is the only thing that generates the Danes valued virtue of peace is
revealed through the heroic life of Scyld Scefing, Hrothgars Heorot mead-hall, and
Beowulfs defeat of the monsters.
Scefingss life began floating peacefully on a boat filled with treasure in the sea,
after his parents abandoned him. This tragic, yet peaceful beginning led him to a life of
hard work and focus. Scefing worked to gain great power and strength as a warrior, and
eventually became the initial King of the Ancient Danes, known by all. He believed that,

Behavior thats admired is the path to power among people everywhere, (24-25).
Admirable behavior is described in the Germanic heroic code. This code depicts the
values that heroes and warriors should exhibit. Scefing overcame the adversity that he
faced as an orphan and became a prime exhibitor of the heroic code values. The values
included, strength, courage, loyalty, generosity, and hospitality (Candon). After a life full
of hard work, war, battle, and leadership, King Scefing had gained such widespread
honor and worship by his people, that his Danes honored him with the most peaceful
burial. He was able to leave the world just how he entered it; on a boat full of treasure,
floating in the sea. This honorable, peaceful burial for the worshipped warrior-king
shows that the Danes valued peace over all other virtues. However, this peace only
resulted from Scefings not-so-peaceful life of hard work, battle, and leadership.
King Scefing set an example of how to be, a good king, (11) for his
descendants. One of those descendants, King Hrothgar was a good ruler of the Danes for
many years. He won many battles and wars. In order to reward himself, his warriors, and
his people after such military success, he built the mead-hall called Heorot. Heorot was a
beautiful safe-haven for the Danes. It was a place that the warriors came after battle to
seek refuge from the rough and dangerous outside world. It was a place that only Danes
entered, where they celebrated, drank, danced, gossiped, shared stories, and overall
enjoyed each other. After Heorot was built, the Danes enjoyed years of peace and
prosperity. They clearly still value peace as they did when Scefing was King. However,
Heorot was only built in reward for many years of victorious war. Therefore, those years
of peace were generated through their opposite; war, just as Socrates stated.

Just as the peace under King Hrothgar was generated through war, it ended with
war. The monster, Grendel, lived near the Danes, in a cave in darkness and muck. After
many years, he had enough of the celebratory Danes. He could no longer stand hearing
the happiness coming from Heorot. He attacked the Danes ruled under King Hrothgar for
twelve years. A Geat warrior, Beowulf, who had the, strength of thirty men, came from
Geatland to regain peace for the Danes. He battled and killed the monster, Grendel, and
became the new King. He ruled well for a long time, before Grendels brother, a dragon
raised attacks on the Danes. Beowulf took it upon himself to battle the dragon. Beowulf
lost his own life in battle, but he did win. His final victory saved his people and regained
peace for the final time in the story, proving Socrates theory; again, that peace for the
Danes was only achieved through war.
The story of Beowulf transitions back and forth from times of war for the Danes to
times of peace for the Danes. King Sheafson set the example and standards for how
warriors and kings should live in order to fight for peace and prosperity for their people.
He lived a life by the Heroic Code, with the ultimate goal of peace for his people. While
the times of war were extreme, treacherous, and destructive, the times of peace opposed
them equally with great celebration, happiness, and fun. King Hrothgar built Heorot as a
peaceful reward to many war victories. Heorot symbolizes the Danes values of peace,
because it was a beautiful place where they celebrated and were joyous. The happy times
that they had in Heorot revealed that they valued peace more than anything. Because they
valued peace over everything, they spent a lot of time fighting in order to gain it. The
only reason that they ever lost peace was from external forces trying to take the peace
away, such as the monsters Grendel and the dragon. In turn, the only way that they ever

gained and maintained peace was from going to war and battling the negative
externalities that affected the state of peace in the first place, such as when Beowulf
defeated the monsters Grendel and the dragon. Socrates Theory of Opposites is
exemplified well in Beowulf. Socrates believed that, All things which have opposites
[are] generated out of their opposites. In Beowulf these opposites are peace and war. The
life of Scyld Scefing, the Heroic Code follower, King Hrothgars celebratory, peaceful
mead-hall, Heorot, and the warrior Beowulfs winning battles against the monsters all
support the issue that peace for the Danes was only ever generated through war, in perfect
accordance with Socrates theory.

Works Cited
Candon, Caroline. "Heroic Code." Heroic Code by Caroline Candon. N.p., n.d. Web. 18
Oct. 2015.
"Beowulf." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.