Beowulf, The Warriors, And Their Belief System

The story “Beowulf” is an epic poem written by an unknown author. In the story Beowulf, our protagonist, is the strongest man in the world who has to take down three monsters and faces challenges when facing two of them. In the story lof, comitatus, and wyrd is shown in the story and plays an important part of the Beowulf’s culture.

In the poem “Beowulf” the protagonist encounters three enemies of large proportions: Grendel the serpent, Grendel’s Mother, and a Dragon. All these creatures pose a large and terrifying threat that need a special protagonist to fight what the land’s strongest warriors could not accomplish. Before monks wrote this fabled tale in the form of a poem, Beowulf captured the attention of its listeners and teach them lessons about their cultural society and how to act in the society all in an oral fashion. Each battle has many similar environmental, physical, Moral, and cultural elements, but also differ in what elements were better represented from battle to battle.

Beowulf is an epic poem that, above all, gives the reader an idea of a time long past; a time when the most important values were courage and integrity. The only factors that could bestow shower fame upon a person were heroic deeds and family lineage. Beowulf, as the paradigm of pagan heroes, exhibited his desire to amass fame and fortune; the only way to do so was to avenge the death of others. This theme of retribution that is ever present throughout the poem seems to color the identities of its characters.

“No better king had ever lived, no prince so mild, no man so open to his people, so deserving of praise.” This is an ultimate description of the heroic events of Beowulf, an old Anglo-Saxon poem about a warrior who battles and destroys three horrifying monsters. Although written long ago, the emotions expressed within this work, emotions of bravery, valor, and ethics still speak to us centuries later. The anonymous author of the poem convinces us through the masterful use of various literary elements that emphasize its meaning and message. Conflict, imagery and setting are three literary elements that contribute to the effectiveness of the poem.

Beowulf, known as the oldest poem in the written English language, written with no known author, tells a fascinating story involving an epic hero of his time and a not so understood “monster.” The hero’s name is Beowulf, purposefully being the same title as the poem itself, he sets out on a journey from his home to the Danes from a terrible creature that’s harming innocent people. As any “hero” would. Beowulf wants to prove to himself and the people that he is, in fact, the strongest man on earth. Although Beowulf is a fine piece of writing on its own, it fails to tell all of the story, just like any other one-sided story does. But, thanks to the novel, Grendel, written by John Gardner, we get to peek inside the villain’s life for a change, which ultimately very well may change the reader’s view of the story completely.

Beowulf is a very well known Anglo-Saxon poem. It shows characteristics of leadership, trust, loyalty, honor, and motivation, and has been an example for leadership skills for ages. (Loughman) Thus, this story has been appreciated for over 1,000 years. Beowulf, the Scandinavian warrior-prince left the Geats and traveled to Deans, made alliance with them, and assisted Hrothgar and his people of the distress their in. Shortly after arriving, he discovers Hrothgar’s mead hall, Heorot, has been under attack for 12 winters and lay empty at night when men should be celebrating. (McDowell) The monster who has been bringing this distress is the almighty Grendel.

Beowulf is a classic story of a hero. His immense strength allows him to complete impossible deeds, and his honorable personality and strong moral compass means he is focused on helping people, not on winning glory. Beowulf’s strength as a hero beyond physical strength is exemplified by his extreme stubbornness and persistence when faced with a difficult challenge. His battles follow the arc of his character development, from a minor hero to a powerful and loved king with his conquests being so important in the warrior-culture which he lived in.

“Beowulf” is an epic poem that exemplifies the true meaning of being a hero by using the

The epic poem Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, provides examples of bravery which were valued during the Anglo-Saxon period. Beowulf is at that time known for his superhuman abilities. From defeating monsters such as those who are descended from Cain, first biblical murderer, and a revenge seeking dragon, Beowulf proves that he exhibits great bravery in everything he does. In this work, Beowulf’s battle against Grendel and the dragon portrays that an effective and noble leader expresses immense bravery by protecting their people while keeping thoughts of fame and glory in mind.

Beowulf is an interesting, old English epic poem. Often referred to as one the most important works of Old English Literature. The author of the poem is unknown, but the date the poem was made into a manuscript is c. 975 – 1010 CE. Although, the manuscript was damaged from a fire in 1731. The poem of Beowulf is set in Scandinavia c. 700 – 1000 CE. It starts with Hrothgar, king of Danes building a mead hall for his loyal followers. Then Grendel, the monster hears everyone’s joyfulness and is over come with jealousy. The over jealous Grendel decides to attack the men in their sleep. No one is brave nor strong enough to stand up to Grendel either. This goes on for 12 years until a young warrior by the name of Beowulf over hears of Hrothgar’s troubles.

Almost every culture is represented by a story-like poem called an epic. One of the oldest, written around 1000 C.E. is called Beowulf. Originally, this story was told orally, but much later was written in old English. This language was a hybrid of many other languages and has developed into the modern English we have today. Beowulf is about an Anglo-Saxon warrior who embarks on a journey to another land to kill a demon named Grendel, however, things don't go exactly to plan and Beowulf is faced with two creatures he must battle. Beowulf represents the ideal warrior for the Anglo-Saxon culture. The foundational principles of the culture and the motivations that drive Beowulf

The epic poem Beowulf is told throughout history, and from generation to generation Beowulf’s strengths stayed the same. Examining his super human strength, extreme bravery, and high morality, shows exactly how much of an epic hero he really is. The life of the “strongest geat” (456) Beowulf is dangerous, but his life is also a story to tell that is so interesting to hear. The darkness that lurks behind every corner, will soon be brought into the daylight. The story that is told, but never forgotten will go down in history. The power that Beowulf himself possess is unimaginable, and unbelievable, therefore

During the medieval times Vikings were known as warriors or heroes. These heroes were known mostly for their superhuman strength. Most stories tell the journey of these warriors and how they are honored after defeating an evil creature. A prime example of this would be the poem of “Beowulf”. Beowulf is known for his superhuman strength as the Vikings or warriors once were. However, Vikings were not only known for their physical qualities, they were also known for their leadership in battle and their interaction with those they serve as well as the courage they displayed. In this poem, Beowulf displays many characteristics as that of a medieval warrior through his acts of bravery, loyalty, generosity, courage, and an accomplishment of a great task.

Beowulf is the title of a heroic epic poem that was written by an unknown author in old English. It is believed to have been written between the eighth and the tenth century. It is one of the major works of Anglo-Saxon literature (North, p.2). The writer of the poem focused on the story’s hero, Beowulf, where the events in the story revolve around him as he fights against an unnamed dragon and a monster named Grendel. Believes and religion concerning the people who lived at the time and place of the setting of the poem has been explored in the story. Paganism was the major religion of the Danish people referred to in the poem. The author incorporates various elements of Christianity and paganism through different characters, beliefs, and habits to indicate how people in the society react in different situations relative to their religion. This essay seeks to describe the interweaving of the religious values, of the warriors' society, which was pagan and those found in Christianity linking them to the characters and events in the heroic poem, Beowulf.

The epic poem, Beowulf, is the oldest recorded poem in English and at 3200 lines long, comprises roughly ten percent of the surviving poetry in Old English. Although written in this language, Beowulf focuses on the feats of the poem’s namesake Beowulf, a Geatish prince, and the invading Germanic tribes in Denmark. Understood early on in the poem, these tribes have a lengthy and powerful warrior culture; a culture heavily influenced by heroic virtues, blood vengeance, and paganism. Along with these values of the Germanic tribes, many aspects of Christian tradition coexist within the poem, which is most notably seen through viewing Beowulf as a Christ like figure. This depiction of Beowulf in correlation with the Christian allegories throughout Beowulf creates tension in the poem between the values of the Germanic tribes and Christian belief system. This has led to the widely supported theory that Beowulf manuscript is the work of a single, Christian poet. That is, the suggested religion of the narrator leads to conflicting ideologies within the poem because the author added many of the Christian features to the manuscript not originally found in the oral version. To explore this tension, I wish to consider in greater detail the values of the warrior societies found in the Beowulf, look at specific events in the poem, and analyze how these events relate to Christian tradition in correlation with the ideals of the Germanic tribes and affect the plot of the story overall.