anglo saxons essay

William Butler Yeats stated that, “Supreme are is a traditional statement of certain heroic and religious truths, passed on from age to age….” When he said this, he is most definitely talking about the Anglo-Saxon era and their style of writing. The Anglo-Saxons were very into warriors and heroes and how heir stories are handed down from generation to generation. When these stories were written down, monks wrote them down. The monks then added parts about God and the heavens, and about all the religious facts they could. Thus mixing the warrior and heroic mentality with the religious faith of the Christians.

This aspect of the heroic and religious truths is no more evident than in the story of Beowulf. In Beowulf, we can clearly see the mix of ideas. Beowulf is this huge hero who is not afraid of anything at all. He knows that he can win, and he knows that no matter what he will win. When he steps up to battle with Grendel, he fights with no armor at all. He does not even use a weapon. He kills this huge monster that destroyed all of Herot, with his bare hands. He had so much faith in the strength that God gave him, and he didn’t even believe he needed any help. That idea worked until he had to fight the huge dragon. When Beowulf fights the dragon, he is killed. He does slay the dragon, but in doing so he gives up his own life, which shows that he is mortal and God could take him from this life.

Another example of the mix of heroic and religious truths is in the poem The Seafarer. The main character, or the speaker, is talking about his life at sea and all of the aspects of it. He talks, “Of smashing surf when I sweated in the cold. Of an anxious watch, perched in the bow. As it dashed under cliffs.” We can see that the life at sea is not a very easy one. Nor is it very safe at all. There is the heroic part of it. The religious part of this piece is at the end, and it is very hard easy to miss. Towards the end of the piece, the speaker says that he would like to go “home.” Home is where he started out, and home is where he is going to end up.