Beowulf's Pagan Traditions
Beowulf, an epic poem written in the late tenth-century, in the kingdom of the West Saxons, steeping with pagan tradition, this epic depicts nature as hostile and forces of death uncontrollable. Blind fate chooses random victims and people never feel at peace with the world. Also Beowulf ends as a failure to help heal the wounds of his society. Although there are parts of this statement which can be construed as true, for the most part, it doesn't give Beowulf the credit he deserves. For someone whose life was cut short, Beowulf did many great deeds for his time in the world.
The statement illustrates nature as hostile and forces of nature uncontrollable. This fraction of the statement is contradicted in the beginning, as the setting is being described, "...these beautiful plains marked off by oceans/then proudly setting the sun and moon to glow across the land and the light it...(8-9). This sets the scene as peaceful, soothing and calm. "The corners of the earth were made lovely with trees/and leaves, made quick with life..."(11-12). When you think of oceans and trees, it brings a sense of reassurance of nature's beauty, not its hostility. Within Beowulf there are obvious places where nature isn't on the peoples side, and many problems arise during this complex tale, but this opening landscape paints a different picture of the period, which followed me throughout the rest of the poem.
Despite the fact that many innocent people died within the poem, the phrase, "blind fate picks random victims" can be used for many instances. This phrase is even true today; many innocent people are random victims of violence within our society. Fate isn't something that can be argued lightly. In Grendel's introduction he, "Snatched up thirty men/smashed them unknowingly in their beds..."(37-38). This can be taken to mean that these men were meant to die that night at the hand of the evil monster Grendel, that it was their fate. But on the other hand, on line 36 it states, "He slipped through the door and there in silence..." Which indicates that Grendel didn't try to handpick his victims, but just went for anyone that he could grab.
Beowulf is steeped in a pagan tradition that depicts nature as hostile and forces of death as uncontrollable. Blind fate picks random victims; man is never reconciled with the world. Beowulf ends a failure. There is some truth in this conclusion, but for the most part, someone who didn’t have a well-lived life has most likely portrayed it.
In the Anglo-Saxon times, honor, bravery and loyalty were very important morals. Beowulf and Wiglaf showed loyalty in this poem by sticking to their word. Beowulf killed all the monsters and also risked his life. Wiglaf sticks by Beowulf side when he knew that his king were struggling to kill the dragon. The battles between the monsters and the clear descriptions give the poem a more vivid approach and gives the audience bold
In the epic of Beowulf, Herot is plagued by the monster Grendel. A hero, Beowulf is summoned to defeat the beast. Beowulf is a Christian and Pagan based poem that includes several examples of each element. There are several biblical illusions in the text that give insight into the use of Christianity but just the same, there are several references to the Devil and Hell and Cain. Therefore the poem must be both Christian and Pagan because it represents both.
In the poem Beowulf, the protagonist is portrayed as a heroic figure who strives to spread his name and glory out across the land in order to be remembered. Although his acts may not entirely be for the right reasons, Beowulf does express his heroic qualities of bravery, arrogance, and brute force.
While the classic battle between good and evil forces is a major theme of the medieval epic Beowulf, one may question whether these good and evil forces are as black and white as they appear. Scholars such as Herbert G. Wright claim that “the dragon, like the giant Grendel, is an enemy of mankind, and the audience of Beowulf can have entertained no sympathy for either the one or the other” (Wright, 4). However, other scholars such as Andy Orchard disagree with this claim, and believe that there is “something deeply human about the ‘monsters’” (Orchard, 29). While Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon are indeed portrayed as evil and violent foes, there are parts within Beowulf that can also lead a reader to believe that the “monsters” may not be so monstrous after all. In fact, the author of Beowulf represents the “monsters” within the poem with a degree of moral ambivalence. This ambivalence ultimately evokes traces of sympathy in the reader for the plight of these “monster” figures, and blurs the fine line between good and evil within the poem.
I am an invisible man. With these five words, Ralph Ellison ignited the literary world with a work that commanded the respect of scholars everywhere and opened the floodgates for dialogue about the role of African-Americans in American society, the blindness that drove the nation to prejudice, and racial pluralism as a forum for recognizing the interconnection between all members of society regardless of race.
Even as her power was fading, she still stayed devoted to the people of England. She retired to Richmond Palace, one of her favorite homes. She would not let the doctors examine her, nor would she rest in bed. In her final hours, soft music was played to soothe her. It is believed that she died of blood poisoning, but nothing was ever confirmed. She passed away on March 24, 1603. With her death, ended the house of Tudor, which had ruled England since the late 1400's. She was succeeded on the throne by James I. He was the son of Mary Stuart, a formal rival of Elizabeth's.
...exotic. A 1965 "Book World Poll" identifying Invisible Man as the most distinguished postwar American novel. During Ralph Ellison's writing career, he wrote the novel "Invisible Man." His novel was based on stories he had heard from his friends from Tuskegee who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Several of Ellison's short stories were published while he was in the military. Two of the more popular ones were "King of the Bingo Game" and "Flying Home." Thus he began making a name for himself as a short story writer. It had been Ellison's goal to portray the richness and fullness of black life in America and the importance of black folk tradition in defining the black person. He was determined to illustrate the blending of black and whites cultures in America, and realized that he personified the theory and was himself a product of all the great writers of the past.
The poem Beowulf is a renowned story that displays many different surroundings and religious beliefs. Some may believe the story of Beowulf portrays pagan beliefs or customs and others believe that the poem is more in agreement with Christian ethnicity. The author of Beowulf uses both Christian and pagan elements in the poem to define the heroic warrior, Beowulf, and the evil dragons. After reading Beowulf the author clearly shows how Beowulf is a man who is filled with Christian customs and is willing to die and defend the world against evil using the help of God.
While the author of Beowulf is still a mystery, the greatness of the character that he or she created will live on forever. Beowulf is the model of what a hero was supposed to be in the middle ages. He was fearless in the face of death, nearly undefeatable, and cunning. Even as a king, Beowulf was generous and helped his people however he could.
Every culture has many stories and poems to represent what they believe in, and what they look for in a hero. The heroes written in these stories and myths are brave, and are leaders. However, every hero comes with a flaw or two. The epic poem Beowulf by Seamus Heaney, has an extraordinary hero named Beowulf. Beowulf was a hero to the Anglo-Saxons which were fierce warriors who fought a lot. Beowulf fights many brutal monsters and threats in his days, but the most barbaric of them all is the inside threat within him. Beowulf had a big ego, and focused more on creating a name for himself than thinking about the real risks ahead. Two of his major battles that he faced along with his internal peril was against the dragon, and the beast Grendel.
Beowulf was written in the time when the society was in the process of converting from Paganism to Christianity. In this epic poem, these two religions come through the actions of its characters. The acceptance of feuds and the courage of war are just a few examples of the Pagan tradition, while the Christian mortalities refrain from the two.
Queen Elizabeth and all of those around her had a very eventful lifetime. Even when she was just a baby, Princess Elizabeth, had many things, including her mother’s death, going on. She was known by other names as well and she was such an extraordinary queen, that there was an entire era during her reign known as the Elizabethan Era, which was often considered the golden age in English history.
Elizabeth led England during it’s greatest time of influence as a nation despite the prejudices against her gender. Many people believe that her life was like a fairy tale-“Beloved by the kingdom; dressed by servants in jewels and gold, silk and velvet; pampered and treasured by kings and married to princes”, but in reality her life did not come close to being a fairy tale. Many of her subjects hater her from the moment she was born. She experienced imprisonment, her sister threatened to kill her, and she was almost forced in marriages with men she hated. Some of her friends caused uprisings in her name. Her enemies tried to assassinate her. Her father had her mother beheaded and ignored her for most of her life. Although she had many suitors, she never loved any of them. She understood the common people and eventually gained the loyalty of those who hated her. She could also be ruthless. The city gates and London Bridge held the bodies of the people that she executed during her reign.
Beowulf is the single greatest story of Old English literature and one of the greatest epics of all time. Ironically, no one can lay claim to being the author of this amazing example of literature. The creator of this poem was said to be alive around 600 A.D. and the story was, since then, been passed down orally from generation to generation. When the first English monks heard the story, they took it upon themselves to write it down and add a bit of their own thoughts. Thus, a great epic and the beginning to English literature was born.