The stories of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are littered with monsters that have to be dealt with. The monsters range from Beowulf's Grendel, Grendels' mother, and a fire breathing dragon to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight's woodwose, forest creatures and the Green Knight. There is also a monster that doesn't fit the description of a monster, in the way we would see one today; something tangible, something that can be destroyed. This monster is time. Through these works, the authors seemed to pose the following idea. Time is an evil monster that they can not fight. The purpose of the monsters that are faced within these stories, are to act as distinct points in the timelines of the heroes lives. They show the gradual disintegration of the hero's stamina, willpower and most of all life. As they get older, the monsters they face get stronger and more difficult to destroy, because of the heroes withering lives and sapping strength.
             In Beowulf, the first time we are faced with a monster, is when Beowulf faces Grendel. The fight between Grendel and Beowulf is the medium through which the author chooses to express Beowulf's youth and superhuman strength.
             "Grendel is no braver, no strongerThan I am! I could kill him with my sword; I shall not,Easy as it would be. This fiend is a boldAnd famous fighter, but his claws and teethScratching at my shield, his clumsy fistsBeating at my sword blade, would be helpless. I will meet himWith my hands empty-unless his heart Fails him, seeing a soldier waitingWeaponless, unafraid.Let God in His wisdomExtend His hand where He wills, reward whom He chooses!" (Beowulf, 44).
             This is a great speech composed by Beowulf himself, as he speaks to Hrothgar, and the rest of the men. Within this speech, he shows his youth and his strength. To fight a beast that has been killing strong honorable soldiers for such a long time, with shield and armor and s...