When first reading Beowulf, or even before that, many people often cringe at the idea of having to analyze, process, and understand Old English stories from the Anglo-Saxon period. Along with the frustrations of comprehending just a sentence, sometimes the deeper meanings and overall image of the story can get lost. In the case of “Beowulf”, this story is no exception. However, not only is this Anglo-Saxon story a heroic tale of a brave warrior who fights evil, but in reading the tales of Beowulf, it gives us a way to compare our own lifestyle and core values, to those of the warriors and people of that area.
In our modern world, we associate warriors to be a variety of people who face challenges that far exceed those of the average human. Who have to face their fears and, to some extent, the possibility of losing their lives. To us humans, not only are these the (courageous) criterias of being a warrior, but we also expect them to be humble, selfless, and not to be arrogant or boastful about their achievements. Yet unlike our society today, however, cultural traditions and expectations from society back in the Anglo-Saxon period were quite different, if not the opposite, in the ways warriors acted and held themselves in society.
After first being introduced to Beowulf and his men, many readers would probably agree with the fact of being surprised by their appearance and first impressions when they came to Denmark. For starters, the idea of Beowulf and his fellow warriors
The exalted perfection in craftsmanship lent warriors strength in times of distress. In the end, the unknown author of Beowulf orally perpetuates a glorified version of the Anglo-Saxon heroic ideal through the lense of their masculine-dominated, violence-encrusted society; with the constant, looming threat of invasion, these hardened peoples sought refuge in the glory of depicted excellence in competition, overly-dramatized battles as well as an intense worshipping of fine craftsmanship.
To honor the Beowulf’s heroic life and battles, I’ve been assigned as one of his closest warriors to exclaim his appellation and share the stories of his battles. One of the citizen came up to me and asked, “I heard that Beowulf was an amazing guy, but I never fully knew him. Could you tell me more about him?” I was extremely excited as this man was the first person to ever ask me about Beowulf. “Beowulf was a strong leader and a great friend. Although he might not have been a very humble man, he was nowhere near being a bully. He’s the type of man that would belittle anyone who hurts the weak and innocent. Beowulf was mettlesome and was never intimidated by any menace.” The man’s eyes were already widen. “He sounds like a guy I would wanna be protected by,” the citizen said, “Can you tell me about one of his battles?” I prepared myself as I was about to begin a long lecture of how strong Beowulf was.
Hrothgar reminds Beowulf that Heremod’s “rise in the world brought little joy to the Danish people, only death and destruction.” (1711/1712) Because Heremod “vented his rage on men he caroused with” and “killed his own comrades” in his “bloodthirsty” pursuit, he “suffered in the end for having plagued his people for so long” and his life consequently “lost happiness.” (1713-1722) Through Hrothgar’s discourse, Heremod fully emerges as a vilified character. Now, Beowulf has been provided with the opportunity to hear Heremod’s story twice. Beowulf’s lack of response either to the mention of Heremod seems indeed to mark him as the “undaunted hero.” (1816) While Beowulf might not respond to this rising forewarning, his impending honorable actions toward Geatland begin to speak for themselves.
Michael Payne Ms. Hart English IV P.1 September 19, 2014 Beowulf, written in the year 1060, and the more modern film of “Beowulf”, produced in 2007, is an attempt to do justice to the Beowulf Poet’s masterpiece. They both have key similarities and differences, which influence the reader/viewer. In Beowulf, the poet uses imagery to characterize Beowulf as a hero in order to show conflict in his battles, which shows his archetypal characteristics. It also gives us a look into the Anglo Saxon culture, which is well known for their loyalty, courage and bravery.
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 and his group of Geatish warriors arrive “at the homeland of the Danes to rid that country of Grendel, a seemingly invincible, man-eating monster
In “Beowulf,” the hero is faced with challenges that are both physical and moral, both of which threaten his life. Beowulf could be considered the ideal hero and king. From an early age, he has proven his worth for both of these titles, and in this epic tale the reader is able to learn his history to see how he came to fame. As an epic hero, Beowulf possesses the qualities of valor, loyalty, generosity, and honor. He fights for the survival of his tribe. Even as a hero, he
Beowulf is a classical epic poem which describes Beowulf’s heroic deeds and his acts towards bringing justice and peace to the Scandinavian society by eradicating Grendel. The original manuscript (700-1000A.D.) and the modern film (2005) reveals significant differences between the characters’ traits and descriptions, an important quotation, descriptions of places, motives, a character’s presence and events that have taken place. Thus, this modern adaptation, Beowulf and Grendel, of an ancient text, Beowulf, is significantly flawed as any modern adaptation of an ancient text will be.
Within every culture come certain values and beliefs that signify them. The Anglo-Saxons have prided themselves on their great heroic warriors throughout the years. To be a hero was the greatest form of respect to them, and to achieve such greatness you need to have bravery, faith, strength and loyalty. In the story, Beowulf, the great warrior embodies all of the coveted traits of an Anglo-Saxon warrior. The significance of bravery, faith, strength and loyalty are shown heavily in Beowulf, accurately detailing the Anglo Saxon culture and their beliefs in its entirety.
Beowulf was a hero that influenced many people’s lives by showing his epic characteristics. He achieves that by undertaking a quest and achieving something of tremendous value. It is evident Beowulf shows the two themes of the living and the dead and the struggle between good and evil through his epic characteristics with his battle with Grendel.
Despite its continuous aging, the epic poem Beowulf is still currently discussed in modern day English courses, allowing the reader to unfold and discuss certain literary themes associated throughout the epic poem. One arguable theme associated with the Anglo-Saxon styled poem is that if a great warrior can also be a prominent ruler of their land or not. A warrior is usually associated with being victorious in challenging situations, automatically associating themselves as being a great leader or king of a kingdom. However, heroic actions cannot simply determine a great leader, but rather the character’s traits unique to each great warrior which are needed to produce a great leader. Traits such as: god like strength, courage to
Beowulf is the classic hero archetype, his personality and heroics lauded and replicated in literature to this day. However, the same cannot be said about the Northern Anglo-Saxon society that fashioned him. A thorough dissertation of Beowulf exposes a society principally centred on opulence, strife, vengeance, brutality, superstitions, and chauvinism although underlying positive aspects subsist. Often disguised as “honor, glory, might and wealth” battle glory, affluence and retribution were rudimentary aspects of life for the Ring Danes, Geats and other pagan Anglo-Saxon warriors.
The Anglo-Saxon poem “Beowulf” takes the reader back into a time long past; one of family, fate, and fealty. Beowulf offers a glimpse of a society struggling between two different paths, one path being the assimilation into the new Christian traditions and the other is the fast fading past of glorified warriors and family ties. In the poem, the reader can see the attempts of the poet to convey the values and stories of Judeo-Christianity in a society of Anglo-Saxon paganism. The poet illustrates the infiltration of the Christian teachings and how they might have appeared within the lives of the people through the literary devices of symbolism, allegory, and allusion.
The epic tale of Beowulf was written sometime after his death. In other words, a long time ago during the Anglo-Saxon period. Today, directors in Hollywood did not keep from creating their own rendition of this epic poem As a result, plenty of modern interpretations of Beowulf, such as Sturla Gunnarsson’s Beowulf and Grendel, have been released. Naturally, the cultural values that might be reflected in modern Beowulf renditions will demonstrate a clash with those of the original fifth century Beowulf literature. One reason for this is that in the modern age we value characters with profound characteristics, characters that change due to the challenges they experience; characters that we as the audience can attach to. Flat characters like those of the original Beowulf text are difficult to empathize with since they are not realistic enough for our standards. Due to these differences in culture and values, the Beowulf and Grendel from the original Beowulf text possess definite contrasts when compared with their Beowulf and Grendel counterparts.
The poem of Beowulf is an epic poem written by an unknown author. Beowulf is about a strong, mighty man who fought monstrous monsters to protect the people of Geats and later he succeed the throne. The three things that are important to Beowulf’s culture are Lof, Comitatus, and Wyrd, these three important value show Beowulf’s appearance as a great warrior.