Kingship is someone held in higher regard or respect over others and one who possesses characteristics or personality traits of a king. “Kingship” or leadership is seen throughout the readings of “Everyman,” “Beowulf,” and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” Another way that people would describe kingship in the fourteenth century is by saying, “The emergence of more elaborate ways of addressing the king is, in fact, of great consequence in revealing important developments in the nature of the fourteenth-century parliament, a dramatic shift in the culture of the royal court and, ultimately, a reconfiguration of the expectations of kingship itself” (Dodd 2014). Finding out what makes a good leader can be determined based off of characters …show more content…
The first example of a character possessing kingship qualities in the poem “Beowulf” is Hrothgar. Hrothgar is incredibly powerful and possesses kingship and leadership qualities such as strength which enabled him to be the king. Hrothgar represents a strong leader which is what the people wanted as they felt fear. Beowulf is the second character in the poem “Beowulf” who possesses kingship qualities. One example of kingship qualities on display is when Beowulf defeats Grendel, we know Beowulf won the battles as the story states, “Beowulf was granted the glory of winning; Grendel was driven under the fen-banks, fatally hurt, to his desolate lair” (Beowulf 58). When Beowulf is involved in battles against Grendel and Grendel’s mother, and the dragon he is showing kingship qualities as others did not want to face these gruesome fights. We see how challenging battles are when the poem goes into detail informing readers that Beowulf rips off Grendel’s arm, causing Grendel to disappear and shortly after diapering dies. Grendel was supposedly the strongest so when Beowulf defeated him he became an honored hero. After being honored Beowulf returns home where he is now called the King of the Geats. Based off of this short, little summary readers see that Beowulf holds many of the kingship and good leader qualities. As the poem “Beowulf” continues …show more content…
For example, King Arthur has the characteristic of being brave and proving his boldness as he is the first person to go up against and try to fight the Green Knight readers can determine this as the poem says, “His men were also hurt – those words had pricked their pride. But born so brave at heart the king stepped up one stride” (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 192). This quotes says that by nature, King Arthur is bold. We then go on to see how Sir Gawain has kingship and leadership qualities when the author describes his shield which happens to be in the shape of a pentagon. This is otherwise known as the pentangle, each side of the pentagon shaped shield or the pentangle represents something that Gawain is good at. One side represented his five senses, another side, which most proves his kingship, represents the five virtues he possesses. The five virtues consist of fellowship, chastity, generosity, charity, and courtesy. These five virtues are the reason why Sir Gawain has good leadership and kingship. Something also mentioned within this poem is the code of chivalry, a virtue a king should possess in order to hold kingship and good leadership. David Beauregard said, “In his analysis of the virtue of fortitude, St. Thomas begins with the proposition that fortitude has to do with the passions of
Beowulf demonstrates characteristics of a king because he is fearless. He isn’t just strong and dreamy like the average king we see on television, he is extremely courageous. For example, Beowulf traveled the sea to ask Hrothgar permission to battle Grendel. After his victory with Grendel, Grendel’s mother seeks revenge for her son so she targets one of Hrothgar’s closest friends. Hrothgar asks Beowulf to kill Grendel’s mother. Beowulf
The first trait Beowulf shows off is his bravery. He shows his bravery by traveling across the ocean to ask the Danes if he and his men can go out and defeat the terrorizing monster Grendal. In the poem Beowulf goes to the King of the Danes and says “… Grendal and I are called/ Together, and I’ve come. Grant me, then,/ Lord and protector of this noble place,/ A single request! … That I, alone and with the help of my men,/ May purge all evil
Real hero knows how to communicate with people and gain their respect. Great example of true hero in the article, “Beowulf and Teaching of Leadership” by the authors Tom Loughman and John Finley. Beowulf represents a significant example of leadership. Being a hero does not require only physical strength, but it also need smart, humble person who can protect his people from any danger. Beowulf can be descried as perfect model of leadership. He had very strong personality physical appearance but he was humble with his people. His technic allows him to gain people’s respect. I realized after reading Beowulf story that not anyone can be a leader. There are too many requirements to be successful leader, which it appears in Beowulf personality. Beowulf teaches us important lesson about leadership, his character illustrates that strong leader must be fearless, wise, has strong confident personality and humble to get people’s love.
The tale of Beowulf has been taught and studied for hundreds of years. As such, it only makes sense logically that scholars should discern certain lessons from the text, relevant to the original tellers’ lives and to our own. Throughout the poem, we see examples of leaders in Hrothgar and Beowulf, both epitomizing great leadership and displaying characteristics that people could learn from today. Beowulf shows us that a great leader inspires courage in his followers, remains true to his word, can swallow his pride, and rewards loyalty and acts of valor.
A leader in any tale is an exceptional figure, whether good or evil, they also display tremendous strength above all others be it physical, emotional or mental. Their qualities instill in them a reverence that all of their subjects come to realize and respect. The role of leader is usually first assigned to a different character and upon completion of his journey the main character usually becomes the leader or a figure who has the potential to lead others, the leader is usually a well-known, revered, however they are alone, both figuratively and physically. Beowulf written by an unnamed poet has multiple characters that the reader can identify as leaders, one whom is within the first five lines of the text. Shielf Sheafson, is described
The poem, Beowulf, shows many examples of leadership. Beowulf would be the first ideal “leader” to come to mind. Throughout the poem he chooses to be an effective king, defend his people and be a brilliant warrior. We all want good leaders in our lives, but knowing what makes a good leader can be hard to figure out in certain situations. A leader should be able to guide you in the right direction and show characteristics that you would want to grow to be. The men who were leaders in Beowulf showed many characteristics of loyalty, charismatic and bravery.
Leadership skills are exemplified in the poem Beowulf through Beowulf’s characteristics and actions and his ability to lead and motivate his thanes. Unwillingness to give in to pride is also a leadership skill revealed in Beowulf. Beowulf displays courage and confidence during the battles of all three beasts of Beowulf. He ensures that his warriors trust in him enough to believe that they may be able to achieve a definite goal together. Beowulf, however, does allow his pride to obscure his vision of the future, therefore he does not possess all the necessary skills a leader should have.
For many years there have been leaders of societies. Some have presidents, popes, and some have dictators. Throughout time there’s been many examples of a good leader and a bad leader but what exactly makes a “good” or “bad” leader? How does America compare to the Anglo-Saxon society?
A characteristic of Beowulf is courageous. Courage is the ability to do something that frightens you. Beowulf wasn’t necessarily frightened, but he did do something that frightened the men of Hrothgar. Beowulf does many things to show his courage to the people of Hrothgar. One way he shows his courage is when he fights Grendel, the monster who was killing and eating the men of Hrothgar, without any
The five edges stand for characteristics that make Gawain ``foremost of men'' (30. 655), worthy of the pentangle on his shield. Note that Gawain must live up to his shield; he measures himself by his shield,
[W]e are remarkably lucky to have [Beowulf]: not only is it unique, the sole survivor of what might have been a thriving epic tradition, but it is great poetry. Approached as an
Interpretations of Beowulf’s theme vary much more than commentary on the poet’s style. In this essay I hope to state clearly some of the popularly mentioned themes running through the poem, and to carefully delineate many aspects of the author’s style.
Beowulf was also a loyal and noble warrior. Even though he kills Grendel and is ready to go back to his kingdom, he stays when Grendel’s mom attacks. He gave his word to Hrothgar and followed what he said plus more. Beowulf also leads the Geat kingdom for fifty years in peace and prosperity. The book states Beowulf is a “noble protector of all seamen” since he would do whatever he could to get rid of the bad to insure good.
Leadership is the ability of motivating an assembly of people to act towards a common goal and has the skill to make others want to follow in their direction (Ward). The epic Beowulf, contains various scenes of how the protagonist hero, Beowulf, shows great leadership. Beowulf portrays good leadership by his confidence, his physical strength, and his loyalty, which are important qualities of the Anglo-Saxon time.
Beowulf, the oldest of the great long poems written in English, may have been composed more than twelve hundred years ago, in the first half of the eighteenth century, although some scholars would place it as late as the tenth century. After reading Beowulf many times, I was able to get to know the characters, as well as gain some insight of the many themes portrayed throughout the poem. The story of Beowulf is not the easiest to understand, and is also extremely complex. But, with that said, this reading left me with many questions hanging over my head, more so concerning the many themes that are illuminated throughout the reading. My list of questions was extremely large to say the least, so rather than discuss every single question, I