Epic Of Beowulf Essay: Women's Role In Heroic Culture

Beowulf is an Old English poem written somewhere between the eighth century and the tenth century; the culture of Germanic times is depicted through varying concepts of masculinity that not only describes their capability as a warrior, but also their aptitude as a leader. Beowulf shows of a demon named Grendel attacking Heorot, and the king, Hrothgar, calls Beowulf, a warrior, for help with the slaying of Grendel. Characteristics and qualities of leadership are directly linked to the masculinity of the characters within Beowulf. The leaders in the prologue are demonstrated with the aspects of masculinity through their strength and brutality. In Beowulf, a man demonstrates his essential worth through evidence of masculinity as seen in Unferth’s cowardice, Beowulf’s heroism, and Wiglaf’s bravery.

In the movie Beowulf, the women are depicted differently than in the poem. The women in Anglo Saxon culture had more power than demonstrated in the movie. For example, the servant in the Mead Hall is clearly objectified. She is wearing a tight dress with her breasts showing, wanting to gain attention from the men. While she is washing the table, she is bending over so her breasts are exposed. All the men are surrounding her and staring. The main reason for the servant being at the Mead Hall is so the workingmen can look at her. The men are only interested in the servant in a sexual way. An example of this is when a working man states, “…No wonder my loins are burning.” He wants his sexual desires to be completed by the servant. He

    The Peace-weaver is a crucial role played by Hildeburh, the Danish princess married to the King of Jutes. A Peace-weaver is centrally known as a female; “ who is married to a rival house, and who are innately peaceful and meant to bring it to their household” (Phipps pg. 1).

Women were looked at to be as picture perfect as a God was seen because they had to be part of the same ideal that their society had placed upon them. During Beowulf’s time women were known for much less than men. Women were not heroes or seen as strong under any circumstance. It simply wasn’t seen possible for a woman to possess a powerful aura. Thrith was an extremely compelling opposition to these standards. Many had their opinions of Thrift, but not as one to regard modelly: “And how great a sin for a woman, Whether fair or black, to create fear And destruction, for a woman, who should walk the ways Of peace, to kill with pretended insults.” (81 Line 1940) However,

In the Anglo-Saxon times women did not have a major hero role. They just mainly did the things women usually do when the men are out which are them raising the children, educating, managing the house, being hostess, and divorcing. Beowulf is a great example of what times were like back in that time period.

Beowulf is an epic poem, which takes place in ancient Denmark and Geatland and describes the adventures of Beowulf, a Geat hero. Through their heroes, epic poems usually describe the traditions and beliefs of a certain culture. An Anglo-Saxon author wrote Beowulf about the Danes and Geats. The Anglo-Saxon’s had similar beliefs to that of the Dane and Geat’s, so the poem gives us some idea of what the Anglo-Saxon culture was like. Throughout Beowulf, it is illustrated that women were thought to be virtually valueless; that Anglo-Saxons believed in paganism, and that there was great emphasis on valuables and weaponry.

When people read Beowulf they get this assumption that the women are frail, wicked, or under the dominance of men. However, the female presence in Beowulf is far from a submissive one and must be reevaluated from an Anglo Saxon perspective. Back then, the societal expectations of the time were different. Men and Women were equal with the “compensation for a maiden is

In today’s society, some people have the characteristics of untrustworthiness and cowardliness. However, others choose to have personalities seeded in loyalty and confidence. The story of Beowulf shows these positive attributes through warrior’s loyalty and Beowulf’s bravery. Also, today’s society opts in equality for women, as women have strong and independent traits. Beowulf presents a strong woman figure, Grendel’s mother, as Beowulf not only struggled against her, but she showed the motherly aspects of wanting to fight in anger for Beowulf murdering her son. These traits of loyalty, bravery, and strength were important in the Anglo-Saxon culture, and in essence, still relate to society today as many people want these characteristics in their relationships and movements.

The women in Beowulf, The Wife of Bath, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight all hold very important roles within these works. At first glance when reading these works the women do not appear to be significant characters, or even worth stopping to give a second thought to. “The medieval landscape, as viewed through the eyes of scholars, was hardly populated by women. Particularly, young unmarried women or "maidens" have been paid little attention” . (Phillips)

Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon epic that was written around 1000 AD and passed down through scops orally, eventually being written down. There is a stereotypical notion that Beowulf is a male dominated story, one that is written and told in a society where women are subservient to men. It’s clear to see why many believe this stereotype to be true, as throughout the poem male characters commonly demonstrate their dominant role in society. Beowulf provides us with a vivid picture of the Anglo-Saxon culture; one that is warrior based and male centered. Conversely, women tend to the more subtle roles, and their sole purpose is to serve the men during that time.

Beowulf is known for displaying the importance of male heroism via Beowulf, but what about the significance of the women in the poem? The significance of women in Beowulf is overshadowed by the great heroism of the character Beowulf, but the women each have a reason for participating in the epic. The ideal woman was someone who was a noble, a mistress and loyal. An ideal woman is described in Maxim I: “at mead drinking she must at all times and places approach the protector of princes first, in front of the companions, quickly pass the first cup to her lord’s hand”. The significance of women in Beuwolf is a minor detail in the epic, but proves to be vital to Beuwolf. The epic of "Beowulf" illustrates three major roles for the women in the society: the hostess, the peacemaker, and the monster. Five women in Beowulf play the major roles throughout the epic: Wealhtheow, Freawaru, Thyrth, Grendel's Mother, and Hildeburh. These women entertain, bring peace, and contradict societal expectations of the female gender, either directly or indirectly.

However, as queen, Wealhtheow shows her intelligence and ability to control men, to some degree, despite her limited powers; accordingly, the author expands her role from that of a traditional Anglo-Saxon woman to include gift-giver and guardian of the throne. Following Beowulf's fearless victory over Grendel, Wealhtheow offers a toast to the Geats and gives Beowulf rewards for his heroism. She tells Beowulf, "Have luck with this neck-ring beloved Beowulf / accept these gifts gold-gleaming treasures / and use them well&emdash;may you win always / make known your strength and save for these boys / wise counsel-words&emdash;I'll reward you for that" (ll.1216-20). Wealhtheow cleverly uses this opportunity to safeguard her two children from Hrothulf, their mischievous older cousin. Should the king meet an untimely death, Wealhtheow needs to guarantee that Hrothulf

The women in Beowulf, which was written around 70 CE by an anonymous poet, fill many different roles, ranging from peacekeepers to wives and monsters, all of which are evidenced in the Queen Wealtheow, Queen Hygd, Hidleburh, and Grendel’s mother.

Beowulf, the hero of Anglo-Saxon epic, had many adventures, and many companions and fellow-warriors are mentioned throughout his story. Some of them seem noble and courageous, truly living up to the standards of their culture; some seem cowardly. But all have gained immortality in the words, many times transcribed and translated, of the famous epic. However, the women of the time are rarely mentioned in Beowulf. Still, even from those few women who are mentioned and from other documents of the era, it is possible to see the position of women in of Anglo-Saxon society. In many cases, they enjoyed more rights than women in later Medieval cultures.

In the epic poem Beowulf majority of the characters are males; with the exception of a few females in the poem. When going back to the