The mythological hero is a multidimensional hero. He is a hero capable of transcending boundaries; he is a war-hardened hero with the unmitigated ability to be constant in the face of a quagmire of contrasts. Beowulf is a quintessential example of the mythological hero for his heroism in word and deed, in war and peace, and in life and death.

First, Beowulf boasts of mighty deeds accomplished, and those yet to be accomplished; never, however, does he boast a falsity. When Beowulf first entered Heoret, he entered into the hero’s quest first in word: “…that I should once and for all accomplish the wishes of your adopted people, or pass to the slaughter, viced in my foe’s grip…This vow I shall accomplish” (71), and then later in deed: “We willingly undertook this test of courage…and performed it all” (81). He has the teeth to back his tongue, the courage to carry out his words. In this we find not only the making of a mythological hero, but of any hero: valor, courage, pride, strength, and honor. They are characteristics that rail against two of the basest of human emotions – fear and selfishness – yet are unflinching in Beowulf.

Second, Beowulf’s reign in peace supplemented his heroism in war. Neither scenario changes who he is: a righteous champion of the people. He lives and rules with the same enduring qualities he displayed in his word and deed; he is the unchanging noble ideal of a war-hero, and remains so until and through his last breath.

Finally, even in that last breath, Beowulf’s death is fought and “won”, much like his life. Even in death, his heroism does not waver. He approaches it with a dutiful resolution that appears to supercede normal human ability; he approaches it as the mythological hero. As his “soul left its case”, it was well on its way “to the glory of the righteous” (140). His comradeship in his dying battle is a final testament to what he could be - almost everything to everyone.

Beowulf is a myth of oral tradition, spiritual realities and universal ideals. Its non-linear approach to the world is part of what gives Beowulf the ability to be the unrelenting, nearly error-proof hero he is. His death is neither a fall nor a defeat; as it gives birth to the new mythological hero, Wiglaf, it is simply another boundary Beowulf is able to shatter in the uncompromising cycle of the universe.