Beatrice and the King

“I can do it. Just give me a chance.”

He shifted in his chair, unable to look her in the eye. “If you fail, you will die. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Hand me the sword, I’ll be back by sundown.”

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Once upon a time, in a faraway land in a medieval kingdom, a monster was terrorizing the inhabitants and the king was desperate to eliminate him before he destroyed any more lives. He had already commissioned ten of his best and strongest knights, but they had all failed and were killed. He could not afford any more blood on his hands. He was running out of time. The more lives the monster destroyed, the stronger he became.

As a last resort, the king sent out a message to the entire kingdom, stating his intent to hire someone to slay the monster. Their reward would be all the treasure currently in the castle. Whoever succeeded would be able to bring back enough treasure for their families to enjoy for hundreds of years.

Naturally, every man in the kingdom came before the king claiming their exuberant strength and cunning intelligence would make him the ideal monster-slaying candidate. The king wasn’t easily impressed, however, and dismissed every candidate who presented himself. The king was about to send his last knight out for the task when one more candidate asked to present their case before the king-a young girl, not more than seventeen years old, who couldn’t have been taller than 5’3 and looked to weigh about one hundred pounds. Her long brown hair was tied into a long braid that swayed behind her as she walked. She was dressed rather untraditionally for a girl her age-stockings, a tunic, and leather boots were more common among peasant men than attractive women like herself. She was pretty, but her confidence stood out more than her natural beauty.

The girl, whose name was Beatrice, stood proudly before the king. She confidently looked him in the eye while he sized her up.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. “Are you aware of the task looming before you?”

“Yes,” she replied. “I am fully aware, and I intend to slay the monster, just as you have asked.”

The king laughed. If all the strong, burly men that tried before her died at the hands of the monster, how on earth would this small, soft-spoken hummingbird of a girl be successful?

“I don’t think you have what it takes, but thank you for your willingness to serve. Your bravery is admirable, and I respect you for applying. I’ll have my servants show you out and I’ll be sure to give you something for your troubles so you won’t leave empty-handed.”

“Wait,” the girl said, as the servant emerged and began ushering her towards the door. “Let me explain why I will be successful-I have something all the men that tried before me didn’t have.”

Intrigued, the king sat up a little straighter in his chair. He leaned forward. She had his attention. “Go on,” he said.

“My size is going to work in my favor. I will be able to hide in places the other men couldn’t, which means I will have a better chance of catching the monster off guard. I also have considerably more patience and intelligence than the other men-no offense.”

The king smiled. She was witty; he liked that.

She took a step forward, her voice rising slightly with adrenaline. “I also know how the monster thinks. I’ve been studying him for two years. I know all of his patterns, habits, and tendencies. I know his weaknesses and I know how to use them to my advantage.”

The king was silent. Millions of thoughts and emotions ran through his mind. Could he really send this girl to do a man’s job? Could he live with himself if she did not succeed?

Beatrice looked at him with a pleading look on her face. “I know the risks, and if I didn’t think I would succeed I wouldn’t be offering. I can do it. Just give me a chance.”

Author’s Note: This is a re-telling of the story Beowulf. In the original story, a man named Beowulf kills a monster in his kingdom and becomes a hero. The king is indebted to him forever and gives him many treasures to take back to his province. Beowulf is hailed as a hero for many years and eventually becomes king himself. I wanted to re-tell this story and make Beowulf’s character female, because the theme in all of my portfolio stories is strong, female protagonists. I thought that by making the hero that slays the monster in my story female, it would be a great way to show some “girl power” in my story. I really enjoyed pointing out that the very characteristics that make her different from the men, like being small and soft-spoken, would actually work to her advantage. I like challenging gender stereotypes in my stories because I feel like there aren't enough female heroes in stories with monsters and dragons, and who is to say a girl isn't capable of slaying the fire-breathing dragon? I wanted to think about things that would give a girl an advantage over the guys that tried to kill the monster, and I thought that her petite size was something that normally would be considered a disadvantage, but in this story she used it as a tool.

Story Source: The Story of Beowulf by Strafford Riggs with illustrations by Henry Pitz (1933)

Beatrice. Source.