Value System In Beowulf

Honor, something powerful enough to sculpt the world’s oldest and most powerful empires. Throughout history great empires such as China, Japan, and the Anglo-Saxons have fought and died in the hunt for honor and fame; bringing life to many great and powerful heroes. Beowulf, one such hero, who fought many great battle in the name of honor and fame; putting his all into each battle he encountered. In the epic Beowulf, Beowulf decides to help Hrothgar with the dreaded monster Grendel and then battling him bare handed. Throughout the epic of Beowulf, Beowulf is mainly concerned about honor and fame, in his hunt for honor he agrees to help Hrothgar and fight the monster, Grendel, bare handed; but why?

The historical document of Beowulf, which also shows the importance of literature, reveals the important cultural values of the warrior society. The epic poem, set in Sweden during the 6th Century, tells the story of a warrior named Beowulf. Scops, or storytellers, keepers of an oral tradition, told stories of heroes and culture from their times. They performed and told the tale of a great thane, finally writing it down sometime around the 8th Century; the only surviving epic poem from this time. As a great piece of literature, this poem follows the life of Beowulf from that of a young and loyal thane who becomes a great respected king and dies proudly, as a warrior. The warrior culture at this time reflects the values of the society of

Each individual culture has many cultural truths that a group of people follow and believe in. Cultural truths are principles, values, or standards important to a group of people, which display moral behaviors that are respected and immoral actions that are scorned at. Also, cultural truths are norms in a society that you are born into and are expected to do daily because they shape the lifestyle of a group. For example, during the Anglo-Saxon period, there were a number of cultural truths that were applied to everyday actions and attitudes. An epic poem, composed based on the Anglo-Saxon period called Beowulf, written by an unknown author translated by Seamus Heaney, depicts many of the cultural values of the time period. In the poem, is it revealed that all the cultural values in the Anglo-Saxon culture are developed from the idea of a warrior culture. The epic poem is about a hero named Beowulf from the Geats tribe who goes off and helps Hrothgar and the Danes defeat a monster, Grendel, who attacks their mead hall. Before Beowulf meets his fate he fights three monsters, which includes Grendel, to protect the lives of people in two different tribes. Within the epic poem Beowulf, there are several of cultural values presented and focused on such as, courage in battle, fidelity to one’s word, and loyalty to kinsmen, which are all demonstrated by Beowulf.

This helps reassure Beowulf as an mighty, valiant hero rather than portraying him as a mediocre, ordinary mortal. The kingdom of Hrothgar is agitated and frightened by the attacks of the vile Grendel, who is unable to be defeated nonetheless harmed by a warrior's sword. “I have heard, too, that the monster’s scorn of men is so great that he needs no weapons and fears none”(Beowulf Poet 38). Grendel shrieks at the sound of jubilant music as well as the sounds of joy coming from Hrothgar’s mead hall. To compensate for this agonizing pain, Grendel decides he is going to kill some of Hrothgar’s men. Grendal murdering Hrothgar’s men reassures Grendel’s evil nature and his constant intent to carry out malice. Hrothgar looks far and wide for a brave, noble warrior who will help rid them of this behemoth. Beowulf accepts the strenuous task of obliterating the malevolent Grendel in order to retain the kingdom of Hrothgar and his people. Beowulf accepts Hrothgar’s task not for the wages he will receive, but for the bravery and honor that come with killing such a magnificent beast. The acceptance of this challenge bolsters the fact that Beowulf is willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good of the people rather than a person of greed who is in it for their

Men dominated the Anglo Saxon society and the people loved a great hero like that of Beowulf. They believed a hero should be a keeper of his promises, be boastful and produce

Some of the most common values during the Anglo-Saxon period include courage, loyalty and generosity. The Anglo-Saxon era was almost always in the state of war which is why it is a time when fighting is valued more than working things out. This meant that heroes of this period fought for fame, glory, and pride. Heroes were expected to boast. Beowulf, the best symbol for Anglo-Saxon heroes, proves this by volunteering to fight the monster just because he was bored and wanted to do something he can brag about. In the story, Beowulf boasts of his bravery by talking about his past battles and victories. Beowulf basically acts more for his own glory than for the general well-being to his people. While in our modern period,

Beowulf is an epic poem passed down from generations during the Anglo-Saxon era of the British empire. It tells the story of a brave warrior who overcomes great obstacles including a serial killer and his mother and even a dragon. The greatest obstacle that Beowulf faces is that of proving himself as noble. Merriam Webster has two interesting definitions for the word noble: “possessing outstanding qualities” and “possessing, characterized by, or arising from superiority of mind or character or of ideals or morals”. Which is interesting because Beowulf is noble in the sense of possessing outstanding qualities. The Beowulf poet commentates his opinion on the Anglo-Saxon warrior culture all-the-while distributing evidence to prove that Beowulf,

Beowulf took it upon himself and accepted the task of killing Grendel “Heard how Grendel filled nights with horror/And quickly commanded a boat fitted out” (line 111-112). Beowulf heard how Grendel was killing kings Hrothgar men and knew no one could stop him but him and if he did he would be remember forever by them. Beowulf leaves his home to help people he does not even no “The young warrior Beowulf, a nobleman from the land of the Geats, travels to the kingdom of the Danes, where he saves the people of King Hrothgar by slaying the monster Grendel and his mother”. He comes to a land of sacred people and kills not just one beats but two he will forever be remember by them. Even after years Beowulf will still put his life on the line for the fame “In endless battles. I am old, now,/But I will Fight again, seek fame still/If the dragon hiding in his tower dares/to face me” (line 625-628).

After Beowulf defeats Grendel’s mother, Hrothgar warns him of such a fate though a tale of the warrior Heremod. When a mighty warrior kills, he loses a fraction of his humanity. The more he kills, the more he develops a killer instinct. Unless he keeps this instinct in check and reminds himself that he fights and kills for a cause, he becomes a monster. In the case of Heremod, “he grew great not for their joy, but for their slaughter, for the destruction of Danish people”. Hrothgar knows a mighty warrior such as Beowulf will take the lives of many in his time, and urges him to be mindful of his tale. This knowledge, not the defeat of Grendel and his mother, is Beowulf’s true victory.

Although viewed as ruthless savages, the Anglo-Saxon culture was not founded on the sole idea of barbaric brutality. The Anglo-Saxon beliefs were established by loyalty, generosity, and valor. As a result, the people of the Anglo-Saxon culture lived life by these ideals which created a great thirst for fame in being the best version of themselves. If one was decent at fighting, they would train to be the best fighter they could be, or if someone was intelligent they would devise complex riddles to boast of their intelligence. In order to fulfill their beliefs, there were many aspects of the Anglo-Saxon culture that were not only prevalent in their day to day life, they were expressed through their literature as well. In Beowulf, the

In the old english poem, Beowulf, many religious beliefs are presented in ambiguous manners throughout this epic, Both biblical and secular elements are laced throughout this story by various characters, either in favor of living in the moment, or preparing oneself for the afterlife.

Originating in the Anglo-Saxon period, the epic poem Beowulf portrays a legendary hero. Beowulf established the earlier form of heroism, and was then later introduced in to the English culture. Praised and admired by many people, Beowulf possesses several distinct traits that allow him to be defined perfectly as an ideal Anglo-Saxon hero; his eagerness to seek glory and fame, rather than richness and treasures, his loyalty and graceful attitude not only to his rulers but also to his followers, and his contradictory beliefs of faith and fate

The king of Danes, Hrothgar, was first introduced as an accomplished and wise king. He comes to be well known as a young king when he protected Beowulf's now departed father, Ecgtheow. Hrothgar wergild peace with Ecgtheow's enemies so that the bloody feud would end. With Hrothgar doing this generous deed to help Ecgtheow and his kingdom out Beowulf devotes his assistance in the beginning of the poem. One thing that makes Hrothgar a good king is that he always seems to stay true to his word, as is told at the beginning, “the king kept well his pledge and promise to deal out gifts, rings at the banquet” (53-55). It was clear that Hrothgar was an exceptional military leader with his bravery and strength but he is aged now and cannot fight the same as he used to. The Danes are then faced with an evil and wicked monster, Grendel, who terrorizes his realm. Beowulf asks Hrothgar if he could fight this battle for him to pay back his family debt and Hrothgar agreed. Hrothgar makes a promise to reward Beowulf if he succeeds in killing the monster Grendel. He says, “For his gallant courage I’ll load him with gifts…. shall know not want of treasure or wealth

Culture and Values: An Analyzation of the Beowulf Epic and the Beowulf and Grendel Film

In terms of values, their point of view can be a bad view for us. Beowulf provided us information about the expected values before. A person can be heroic if he shows bravery. A brave man that can