Beowulf As An English Poem

These first 300 lines of Beowulf do a decent job setting the stage for the entire epic. They present the readers with historical background, introduce the first main conflict, and set the general mood of the entire story. In other words, the readers are lead into a seemingly hopeless situation where all anyone really needs is a hero, and Beowulf is just the warrior for the job.

Beowulf was a poem written as a foundational text in British Culture, by Seamus Heaney. Beowulf is the story of shame future told through the eyes of a guilt culture. Not only does it critique the way society runs, but reinforces how critical a society is. The Anglo- Saxon society relates to the poem to critique everything wrong in society, such as bravery, truth, loyalty, and perseverance. Beowulf as a story is still relevant in today's world because he shows that his personal code of honor or ethics is stricter than that of the people around him, when he's offered a distinction that many people want him to accept and turns it down because it belongs by right to someone else.

One of the first pieces of British literature recorded is the epic poem Beowulf. The poem concentrates on the life of the adventurous Geat warrior, Beowulf. Beowulf faces several challenges throughout the poem that depict him as a man who would go to extreme lengths to accumulate fame. While creating a legend for himself, Beowulf and other characters within the poem reveal several values of the Anglo-Saxons. These values include their belief in boasting, revenge, and loyalty.

As warrior is known for many different traits and values, none of them are equal to how important the value of honor has on a warrior. The value of honor is important as it sets up the base of how a warrior should act. This value can be seen, throughout Beowulf as it is the main value that Beowulf centers around. At the beginning of the poem, Beowulf demonstrated his honor by coming to aid the Danes as not only to help the country but to also show off his strength as a warrior. The honor shown by Beowulf can also be seen through most of his boasting as he not only brings honor to his own country but himself as well. As the art of boasting during the time frame was very popular among warriors,

The high renown associated with battle prowess was highly valued by people during the sixth century. Fame and gold were earned through conquering and songs were song only of those who had proven themselves. The poet of the epic poem Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heany, uses the text as a parable, illustrating that a society oriented around the quest for glory is destructive to both the individuals and the community as a whole.

The Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf touches on the vice of pride, and is instilled in the main character, Beowulf, the great and mighty warrior. His boasting and arrogance when first dropping anchor at Heorot transitions throughout the poem, and, in contrast with his ideal kingsmanship, motivates him to accomplish and overcome the many challenges he faces as an epic hero. The contrast of his absent humility in the rise and fall of the story help promote the progression of the story, through its different purposes. Beowulf, when first landing upon Hrothgar’s kingdom, boasts, which does not go unchallenged, so that he might gain the trust of the Danes, but when knowingly facing his last battle, uses bragging to comfort and brace himself for his ultimate demise.

In Beowulf’s time period, boasting was viewed very differently than the way boasting is viewed in society today. In present day, boasting and bragging is considered rude, intolerable, disrespectful, and selfish. In the time setting of Beowulf, boasting was not as negatively looked upon as it is today. Boasting was how a warrior was able to

Beowulf starts boasting as soon as he is introduced to the King Hrothgar. Beowulf tells him, "... every elder and experience councilman / among my people supported my resolve / to come here to you, King Hrothgar / because all knew of my awesome strength" (Beowulf 415-18). His boasting grants him an opportunity to battle Grendel. Later on, after he actually fights Grendel he proudly hangs Grendel's' arm in the wall to prove just how great he is. "Clear proof of this Could be seen in the hand the hero displayed High up near the roof: the whole of Grendel’s Shoulder and arm, his awesome grasp" (Beowulf 832-35), this is an example of symbolic boasting because it represents one of his greatest accomplishments. Beowulf makes many boast, time after time he boast about all his glories. He slowly starts to get more and more prideful till his very end.

Beowulf and Grendel are two different stories, and characters, who look at the same situation in polarized ways. Each character has their own story that is written from different time periods: the Anglo-Saxon time period and America in the 1970’s. Both of these time periods have different attributes that make them special; the Anglo-Saxon time period consists of the literary movement of the epic poem and America in the 1970’s consists of the literary movement known as postmodernism. Beowulf is shaped by the Anglo-Saxon time period through its use of the heroic code and religious influences and Grendel is shaped by the American 1970’s time period through its use of metafiction and an unreliable narrator.

The Anglo-Saxon 's wrote an epic poem more than 1200 years ago. Around 1997, The 13th Warrior, a movie, was created based on Michael 's Crichton 's best-selling novel Eaters of the Dead. In the movie and the epic poem, tell the life of people who fight evil beings and evil things to protect their home, land, and property. In both renditions many battles took place. In the poem Beowulf only had three battles but in the movie there was four. Another battle once they all came home. I guess to show that there were always be new battles to fight. There would always be new evils to fight. The 13th Warrior and Beowulf, despite their many similarities, the battles had differences in location, weapons, and the people who were involved.

Set in pagan Scandinavia, the historic narrative of Beowulf extensively explores the function of boasting within the culture presented. Boasting is seen to function as a necessary, respected aspect of the culture, allowing individuals from both within and outside of the community to assert their position and power within a community. Further, due to the culture’s reliance on oral traditions, it is suggested that boasting also functioned to as a tool to put forward credibility of an individuals’ character. These representations of the function of boasting is evident throughout Beowulf, particularly evident throughout the exchange between Beowulf and the warrior Unferth in lines 499 to 610.

    Some popular elements of imagery in Beowulf are the mead-hall, the sea, swords, armor including shields. Let us discuss these items and, where applicable, the archaeological support for them.

Beowulf the movie and poem A hero is an individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. In the poem of Beowulf it was told by the Anglo-Saxons, they gave us many visual and detailed descriptions of what they believe in and how their style of living was then. They rejoiced with each other telling stories and playing musical instruments by the fire or acted in ways that showed everyone around them who they were. Although the Beowulf movie and poem share many similarities, the different portrayals of the roles women play and how they were compared to men, the behavior of a hero, and Beliefs in the Anglo Saxons reveal the values of the societies in which they are told.

Beowulf. Beowulf killed Grendel and then he would have to kill Grendel’s mother who was

The classic poem Beowulf recorded by a monk during eleventh century A.D., and of unknown authorship, is thought to have been passed down over time through oral traditions of storytelling, popular during that period in history. Most likely the listeners and retellers of these types of these stories would have been warriors themselves, much like the typical characters in these tales often were. A warrior, as Beowulf certainly was. Beowulf is a great example of such an epic.