uge beast. Then the ring-giver scorned to approach the dragon with troops, with a full army; he did not fear a fight with the serpent; its strength and fire seemed nothing at all to the strong old king, since he had endured much violence before, taken great risks in the smash of battles, after he had cleansed Hrothgarss hall, rich in his victories, crushed Grendel and his kin in battle(Beowulf p191) Beowulf, in his last speech to his troops before facing the dragon, even admits that he goes about looking for adventure and fame. Often I dared many battles in youth; I wish even now an old folk-guard, to seek quarrel, do a great deed, if the evil doer will come up to me out of his earth-hall.(Beowulf p199-201) Here he is even daring the dragon to come out and fight him, stating that in his youth he had many battles and this is just one more fight. But as a result of his overconfidence, unfortunately he is killed while fighting the dragon. If he had taking into account the fact that there is always a first time for losing, he would have brought an entire army up with him to help fight the dragon. It was actually a very selfish move on his part since it left his kingdom without a powerful ruler, and since they had many enemies, soon after his death his kingdom was taken over. Beowulf perfectly fits the description of a tragic hero in the epic poem, Beowulf. He is defiantly the hero in the story, but as a result of his tragic flaws of having too much pride and seeking fame, he loses his life and his kingdom falls into the hands of the enemy. Although often times overlooked, Beowulf is as much of a tragic hero as the famous Macbeth....
