Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Beowulf a tool of cultural change
Beowulf as a representation of old English society
Analytical paragraph on beowulf
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Beowulf a tool of cultural change
After a long journey, you find yourself in uncharted territory. As you scout the area, you notice a small village off in the distance. Upon approaching this settlement, you are greeted by some armed townsfolk. They attack you without warning, and take you to a large hall in the center of town. There, you see many men parading around in an intoxicated stupor, showing off their trophies and talking of their success in past battles and wars. They eat with bare hands, ripping at the food and drinking until they can no longer handle themselves, finding a home on the open floor. The hall is dressed with weapons of war, from shields to swords and everything in between. The women are wrapped in chains, fulfilling their only purpose of serving the surrounding men. After observing all of this, it would not be abnormal for you to view these people as barbaric in nature. You might be right, but there’s a good chance you have not observed all this culture has to offer. The above situation is similar in many cases some of the scenes found in the epic Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf. While one of the oldest literary works known to date, it has been argued that tribes such as the Anglo-Saxons can be considered barbaric, largely because of the numerous wars occurring in and around this time. However, I feel there are various parts to a nation’s culture that must be examined before such a statement can be claimed.
Before moving on, it is important to have a grasp of what we are trying to cover. The question at hand is whether or not we can consider the Anglo-Saxons a barbaric people while using the poem ...
... middle of paper ...
... at this concept of barbarism I feel the Anglo-Saxons make their break. I feel there is sufficient evidence to suggest there was a system of social order and government among these tribesmen. While their system of government, monarchism, is by no means sophisticated, it is none the less a way of establishing social order. The king of the tribe takes lead, making all the laws and customs by which the people follow. There seems to have been no complaints from the citizens about the way in which the government was handled, at least when using Beowulf as our reference. There are few (if any) descriptions of people running about as if under no guidelines or social decrees. Overall, even though the person in power was changing at an unpredictable rate, the government did a fair job in ruling the people and maintaining social order.
The Anglo-Saxons were also fierce in the sense that they delighted in slaughter. George Clark in Beowulf states regarding the epic: “Swords, shields, coats of ring-mail, helmets with sourmounted boar figures . . . all furnish the poem and are ...
Was the story of Beowulf’s battle between good and evil a reflection of Christ battling Satan? There are 3 major battles within Seamus Heaney's edition of the epic poem Beowulf all of which earn Beowulf some heroic status for saving the town from the evil antagonists that lurk, but is there a deeper meaning behind these battles than just an old tale? Is there some metaphor we are supposed to perceive? Throughout Beowulf there are a lot of different themes to pick and choose from, some interesting and more prevailing ones are that of pride vs. humility and sacrifice vs. selfishness. Beowulf for example is very proud but at the same time humbles himself and offers his credit to the Lord. The bible states in Jeremiah 29:11 ‘“I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”’ Seamus Heaney portrays Beowulf as a Christ-like figure to spread the ideals and values of Christianity and God’s Love to the audience.
Anglo-Saxon women are objects who are gifts to generate a fragile peace. Bloody combat between men attempting to earn fame embodies the Anglo-Saxon era. But does history include women? No, in fact, most women in the epic poem Beowulf are unworthy of even a name. Men trap women as objects; those who rebel become infamous monsters in society’s eyes. Because Anglo-Saxon men view women as objects, they are unable to control any aspect of their lives--no matter if she is royalty or the lowest of all mothers.
There are a plethora of different themes, motifs, and symbols to choose from in Beowulf. A recurring theme throughout Beowulf is generosity and hospitality, along with the importance of ones identity. One portion stands out the most against the first theme and it is; The Finnsburg Fragment. A motif that came to mind while reading Beowulf had to have been the importance of the Mead Hall. Something else to think about is the relation to the fall of the hall in The Finnsburg Fragment being told right after Beowulf’s victory against Grendel.
In Anglo-Saxon culture heroes were determined by their bravery, strength, and glory. In the epic Beowulf, Beowulf is the epitome of an Anglo-Saxon hero because he displays all of these traits. Beowulf exhibits his bravery in the way he fearlessly goes into each of his three battles. He then displays his strength as he defeats each of the monsters. Finally, Beowulf is glorified by his comrades because of his heroic actions. Beowulf is an epic hero because he embodies his people’s ideals of bravery, strength, and glory through his battles.
In any classic story about heroes and villains, the monsters involved are often characterized as the evil ones and, consequently, receive no justice under the law. Throughout the epic story Beowulf, the hero of the story encounters three monsters that are threats to society: Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon. The monsters in Beowulf are quickly targeted and destroyed because of the harm they cause to society. However, upon further examination of the monsters and the motives for their actions, the reader can view the monsters not as the cutthroat villains they may initially appear to be, but perhaps as victims of society. In today’s society, murderers and robbers are also portrayed as “monsters” because of the atrocious crimes they commit. While it is undeniably wrong to commit any kind of crime and I do not wish to condone murder or theft in any way, there may also be an ulterior explanation for why these modern “monsters” cause harm to society. In comparing and contrasting the monsters of Germanic epic with criminals of today, perhaps we can gain some insight into the motivation of both.
Our fore fathers experienced the cruelty of barbarians. Barbarians are members of a people considered by those of another nation or group to have a primitive civilization. They were of a fierce, brutal, and cruel person. The ugly side of the barbarians are there cruelty, insensitive, uncultured person and uncaring nature. The best adjective that I can think of to describe them is to call them a boor. They burned homes and left children and families homeless time and time again.
In the past weeks we have read “Beowulf, “by Daniel Donoghue. Beowulf is an old English epic poem which includes three important monsters, Grendel, Grendel’s Mother, and the Dragon. Each monster had a big part of the epic poem. Grendel was assumed to be killed by Beowulf, until Beowulf showed up at the palace and was told the monster attacking them was Grendel. Once Beowulf finally killed Grendel, his Mother appeared. However, at the very end the most important monster to me was the Dragon. The Dragon is the one that put an end to Beowulf’s life.
The legacy Beowulf leaves behind is that of a great and powerful warlord. Violence is what is seen and told in the stories of his greatness. It is barely mentioned that he was a great ruler for fifty years of peace. This is completely forgotten in the histories. What is remembered is his great battles, because human nature is fascinated with violence. It still is today. The top grossing video game is Halo 3, a game which?s entire game play is warfare. Of the top three grossing movies of all time, two are violent Epics. Violence has and probably will always fascinate human society.
The epic poem, Beowulf, a work of fiction, offers more insight into Ancient Anglo-Saxon English culture than the work of Bede, who wrote, A History of the English Church and People. The epic poem Beowulf gives an enhanced illustration and clearer understanding of the culture of the Ancient Anglo-Saxon’s. The epic poem gives the audience a picture of what the Ancient Anglo-Saxon English valued; seafaring, warriors, heroes, and paganism.
...ur verse six of the bible. It was determined that it was time beowulf learned to be grateful and less self centered, Which is why as he went into battle with Grendel's mother, his divine power seemed to vanish and only his chainmail seemed to protect from the fearsome blows Grendel's mother’s razor sharp claws. It was the end of the battle that our Geat suffered a fatal battle wound and later on sercumbed to the effects of the wound and lost his life.
Beowulf is a very brave hero, he has fought and killed many creatures before, but this battle was different. He knew this battle was of great importance to everyone, and that made him that much more nervous. This creature was fierce and had been tormenting their village for as long as they could remember, so her death would be a huge victory for Beowulf and it would be an even bigger relief for the villagers. All of the people in the village were cheering for Beowulf as he walked away headed off to the greatest battle of his life.
In this essay, I will uncover the countless insights that can be learned about the characters in Beowulf, as well as the society as a whole, based on the weapons the characters choose to use in battle. During the Anglo-Saxon time, roughly between 400 and 1066, swords were considered the most precious weapon someone could own. Although it is not certain who wrote Beowulf, and when, many people believe it was composed in the middle to end of the Anglo-Saxon period. Analyzing the different weapons, and significance of each, in Beowulf, and comparing them to the weaponry at the time, provides the readers with a great deal of insight into the society during this period. The use of weapons in Beowulf not only provides the readers with insight into
In my opinion, I think the Barbarians were barbaric. Because of the reported deaths, the size of the empire, and the laws/punishments they had. Some of this information is quite frightening.
On the surface, the poem Beowulf seems to be a simple tale of a brave hero who triumphs over three monsters and who engages in several other battles in order to preserve what is just and right. A more thorough reading, however, reveals that the epic poem is filled with events that symbolize historical and social conditions that prevailed during the European reign of the Scandinavians in the seventh century to around the ninth century, following the Danish invasion of England (Sisson 1996).