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Analysis Of The Anglo Saxon Code And Beowulf 's Motivations

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Beowulf, the Anglo Saxon Epitome:
An analysis of the Anglo Saxon code and Beowulf’s Motivations

The story of Beowulf is an outstanding example of the Anglo Saxon code. But what is the Anglo Saxon code? What is a code? A code is something to live by, often an unwritten pledge and standard to live by as one resides or partakes in a team with unity. Code is defined simply as “program instructions.” For instance, if one participates in a school sport activity, such as cross country, there is an unwritten code that each participant needs to be nothing but positive, that each athlete, no matter how good or bad, contributes to the team in some way, and that each athlete gives their full effort even if it doesn’t measure up to the effort of the ‘best’ athlete on the team. Each sport has a code, some similar to the cross country code, and each team tailors it to their own unity within that team. Codes are important to have, although sometimes even more important to break as recent American events have proved in the eyes of some. The anglo saxon’s had a code that was clearly displayed in the story Beowulf. The characters portray this code by their actions and thoughts. Though the code is much more broad than the story Beowulf itself, this is certainly an epic poem that identifies the key aspects of the anglo saxon code and in many ways identify the personna of the people, and more specifically the reasons for certain things they did and could possibly still be doing. Anglo saxon
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