Examples Of Anglo Saxon Code In Beowulf

The Anglo-Saxon time period was complicated and violent. The different tribes and peoples are at war for treasure, land, and fame. In addition to the violence, the religion of the Period is a mixture of pagan religions and Christianity. Another important belief of the time was the belief that fate ruled. As a result of the violence and the various beliefs, an important unifying factor for these people was the heroic code. The epic poem, Beowulf, was written during this hard time and uses the hero, Beowulf, as an embodiment of the code. The poet uses frame story, Biblical allusion, and foreshadowing throughout Beowulf in order to effectively create a representation of the heroic code and the belief in fate.

more than use art to rid of unwelcome spirits. Shields, churches, even the handles of swords have been known to have pictures, or art, on them by this time. Much like Egyptians, important members of society would generally be buried with artifacts to keep them protected in the afterlife. Which is a peculiar sight to see since the Anglo-Saxons did not believe the afterlife as pagans, but as stated, they were converted into Christians when the St. Augustine came to the pagans.

The Anglo-Saxon culture came from the ethos which arose from years of progress and understanding. This culture a unification of independent principalities brought together by one king known as Alfred the Great. The true sense of the culture came with the values of loyalty, kinship, and bravery, which present themselves in the epic tale of Beowulf whose violent victory propelled him from mercenary to rightful warrior and respected hero. where the birth of a hero came from the actions of a rightful warrior.

The Anglo-Saxons’ cultures and traditions are rooted in their beliefs of the perfect hero. Their ideal hero has many key characteristics influenced by their culture including courage, strength, bravery, thick skin, loyalty, humbleness, and the ability to create strong trustworthy friendships. Beowulf is an epic poem that exhibits the ideal Anglo-Saxon hero. The Anglo-Saxon traditions illustrated in Beowulf accurately represent the Anglo-Saxon traditions of the time period. This is accomplished through the distinct correlation of heroic characteristics between Beowulf and the culture’s traditional depiction of an Anglo-Saxon hero.

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.

Every culture has its own set of beliefs values and customs. Cultural beliefs, values, and assumptions are directly and indirectly acquired throughout a lifetime. A culture is the sum of a group’s way of life and this is no different with the ancient Anglo Saxon culture. Cultures usually have distinct figures that reflect their culture as a whole. The importance of religion, values, and heroes are reflected a great deal in the epic poem of Beowulf accurately showing the Anglo Saxon culture as a whole.

The Anglo-Saxon period was a time around 410 AD where settlers from Modern Germany invaded Britain after the failure of the Roman Empire. Anglo-Saxon warriors were hired to preserve the Roman way of life but decided the land was good for themselves. Therefore, Britain became their home. Anglo-Saxons contributed greatly to the foundations of Britain by spreading their culture in ways of their language, literature, religion and traditions in law and government. They were referred to as the “First Englishmen” and left the strongest reminder of their presence in ways such as the Exeter Book. The Exeter Book was literature that expressed all the ways and values of the Anglo-Saxon people. “The seafarer”, “the wanderer”, and “the wife's lament” being part of the Exeter book expressed the central theme of isolationism.

During the Anglo-Saxon time period, individuals wrote poems about achievements, deaths, emotions, and adventures taken by certain individuals. There were many popular poems during this era including, “Beowulf” translated by Burton Raffer and “The Wanderer” translated by Charles W. Kennedy. Although both these poems were written during this era, “Beowulf” was an epic poem and “The Wanderer” was an elegiac poem. However, both of these pieces shared certain characteristics related to the culture and values of the Anglo-Saxon culture. Many attributes that make up this culture are related to both Pagan and Christian beliefs. This includes many ideals relating to fate and God. The culture and values of Anglo-Saxons through “Beowulf” and “The Wanderer”, suggest that along one’s quest emerges an individuals outlook on ways of life.

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

Beowulf, an epic poem composed during the Anglo-Saxon period and translated by Seamus Heaney, is about a fierce warrior named Beowulf who takes on evil, time and time again. During the epic poem, he meets with Grendel and Grendel’s mother and engages in battle with them in a heroic fashion. Beowulf has great accomplishments throughout his life and has the criteria to meet the heroic code. It is not an easy task to meet it and takes a special type of warrior. The code is not taken lightly, this code defined how a noble person acted back in the Germanic societies. Beowulfs actions are seen as complying with or going against the code. The standards that are required are individualism and dislike of humiliation, courage, strength and pride. Beowulf demonstrates over and over how he executes these traits, making him a hero who strictly adheres to The Heroic Code.

Anglo-Saxon literature passes along history and values of the time through spoken verse and incantations. Many cultural values are respected by the Anglo-Saxons through different epics and elegies. In the epic Beowulf and the elegies “The Seafarer” and “The Wanderer” these values and characteristics are prominently shown. In Anglo-Saxon literature the three main cultural values of justice, bravery, and loyalty are admired and respected.

After reading "The Wife's Lament," I am left feeling as if the author's purpose in writing this poem was to bring about a voice for women and their feelings/struggles. According to our textbook, "Old English literature focuses largely on masculine and military concerns and lacks a concept of romantic love" (118). Rather than being told from a masculine point of view, a woman is the speaker in "The Wife's Lament," and the entire poem is based upon her feelings and what she is going through. The poem begins with, "I draw these words from my deep sadness, my sorrowful lot" ("The Wife's Lament" 1-2), which immediately tells us that this is a poem coming from a place of her feelings. Because of the time period that this poem was written in, and

Her sorrow and pain when her husband leaves is miserable to read, you can’t help but feel pity for her. Dealing with exile in this poem is probably the way that someone who is in depression would handle someone leaving them. The women in this poem puts herself in exile just like the rest of the poems. This poem talks a lot about how all of her friends have someone to wake up to in the morning and she has no one. In the Bible, Psalms 25:16, “Turn thee unto my, have mercy, upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.” This verse talks about asking God for mercy because they’re going through a hard time and aren’t sure entirely what to do. The wife in Wife’s Lament wanted to be shown mercy and affection again but her husband wasn’t coming home so she put herself in

Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon epic poem, contains several rhetorical strategies. The poem follows the life of a noble warrior named Beowulf while he quests to live up to his father’s name. In the poem, Beowulf overcame many obstacles primarily those of which involved battling supernatural creatures. Epic poems were generally written during the Anglo-Saxon era. They are commonly written in an elevated style in order to glorify the deeds of a legendary hero or god. Literary works during the Anglo-Saxon era usually focussed around a quintessential war hero of strength and noble standing while often times referring to the Bible and Christianity. These traits of Anglo-Saxon writing can undoubtedly be found within Beowulf. Throughout the poem, the author expresses epic poem traits through the use of rhetorical strategies. The author used literary devices such as imagery, allusion, metaphors, and tone to express the epic traits of a legendary hero with significance, a vast setting, and supernatural beings.

One of the most famous literary pieces from this period is a poem titled ‘Beowulf’ it was written around the 8th Century. Mastin claims that “The 3,182 lines of the work shows that Old English was already a fully developed poetic language by this time, with a particular emphasis on alliteration and percussive effects” (Mastin, 2011). Furthermore, Horne suggests, “The Old English language was capable of poignant and haunting poetic expression”. Considering that the Anglo Saxons contributed not only their language, but also the influence of their religious beliefs and the Latin used in the church, it can be concluded that they had a major influence on the formation of the English