The hero’s journey does not always follow the same path. The greatest difference between Beowulf and Luke Skywalker is what age they come from. Both are supposedly from a long time ago, yet Luke lives on some futuristic world, while Beowulf lives in an age of Vikings and swords. In Star Wars, Luke’s heroic setting, we do not see our hero until a back-story has been revealed. This is also the case with Beowulf who only shows up after some background info and a short lineage.
Once the backgrounds of the stories have been provided for our heroes they finally make an appearance. In Beowulf we are told that our hero is the hero by the guard standing watch on the Danish shores. Beowulf is described as a strong man in a hero’s armor. His own armor. He tells people that he intends to help them with Grendel, their besieger, without weapons. He does so and sends the monster back to it’s cave, after ripping one of it’s arms off with his bare hands. He lives up to his reputation, and makes himself known well on this foreign land.
Luke’s journey is different in Beowulf’s in that Luke is asked to help save Princess Leia, whereas Beowulf must requested permission to go fight Grendel. And even after Uncle Ben begs Luke to assist, he tells Ben that he can’t go because he must help his Aunt and Uncle. Only after Luke returns his wrecked home is he willing to go with Ben to save the princess.
Both of these heroes undergo the steps of a hero’s journey, yet they follow different paths to get there
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