Beowulf

Beowulf
	Reeve of Herot
Gender:	Male
Family:	Unnamed father; Unnamed wife; Unnamed son
Species:	Human
Status:	Alive
Appearances:	12 (see #Appearances)
Portrayed by:	Kieran Bew (adult); Jack Hollington (child)

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Beowulf (Kieran Bew), known to the Warig as the Defiler after he set fire to their burial grounds, (Episode 9) is the warrior protagonist of Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands.

Profile[]

Beowulf (Kieran Bew)

Beowulf is a heroic legend, a flawed but fearless warrior, who has long lived a nomadic, iterant life across the Shieldlands and beyond. He is a solitary figure, whose experiences of life are greater than the sum of his years. Now, trying to rekindle hope, love and friendship, Beowulf returns to the place that was once his home but in an ever-changing, hostile world, that home needs a protector more than ever. ^[1]

Personality[]

Beowulf is an exceptional and intelligent warrior with a reputation as a fearless ‘hero’ that he struggles to live up to and accept. What Beowulf and Breca realise when they arrive in Herot, is that the town is in trouble. Corruption and plotting are rife within the Alliance, and within Herot itself, and what it needs to survive isn’t a Reeve who will ‘go by the book’ but one who’ll do what it takes to ensure its survival. Beowulf doesn’t arrive looking for a job – but one is thrust upon him – and he knows, deep own, he has to step up for this community to stand a fighting chance. ^[2]

Biography[]

Early life[]

When Beowulf was a young boy, he was chased with his father by a pair of trolls. Told to run to safety, Beowulf saw his father slay one of the mudborn before dying at the hands of the second, who he managed to maim. The survivor, however, continued its pursuit but was amazingly slain by Beowulf himself. Following this, Beowulf was met by Hrothgar, Thane of Herot, who was passing through with his cohort before stopping to pay. Hrothgar told Beowulf that his father would be welcomed in the Halls of the Dead before adopting the boy as his ward. (Episode 1)

Banished from Herot, Beowulf eventually made a family, having a wife and a son until one day some Warig slaves escaped from a neighbouring village close to where they lived, Beowulf having joined the effort to hunt them down as they were in need of men. However, a few slaves got away from the party and circled back. Beowulf recounted that by the time he returned home "all that was left was ashes." (Episode 9)

Return to Herot[]

20 years later, having learned that Hrothgar was dying, Beowulf returned to Herot, accompanied by his new friend Breca, who he had recently rescued from a lynch mob who were pursuing him for killing a man. Breca was curious as to why Beowulf saved him from them, Beowulf replied simply that "we all make mistakes." Having parted with Hrothgar on bad terms, Beowulf refused to leave it that way. On their way, the pair discovered a body which Beowulf found to have been killed by a Mudborn, not having time to bury the body in order to make it to Herot by nightfall. (Episode 1)