Analysis Of Anglo-Saxon Culture In Beowulf

Every culture has its own set of beliefs values and customs. Cultural beliefs, values, and assumptions are directly and indirectly acquired throughout a lifetime. A culture is the sum of a group’s way of life and this is no different with the ancient Anglo Saxon culture. Cultures usually have distinct figures that reflect their culture as a whole. The importance of religion, values, and heroes are reflected a great deal in the epic poem of Beowulf accurately showing the Anglo Saxon culture as a whole.

The Anglo-Saxon culture came from the ethos which arose from years of progress and understanding. This culture a unification of independent principalities brought together by one king known as Alfred the Great. The true sense of the culture came with the values of loyalty, kinship, and bravery, which present themselves in the epic tale of Beowulf whose violent victory propelled him from mercenary to rightful warrior and respected hero. where the birth of a hero came from the actions of a rightful warrior.

Many people wonder how you could possibly compare an ancient Anglo-Saxon culture with the sophisticated world that we live in today. Despite numerous cultural and technological advancements, the time of Beowulf and modern day have many similarities. When examining the two cultures closely, it is observed that they have not so much changed as they have evolved. Having an army, fearing literal and hypothetical monsters, and the joy of different forms of entertainment are three of the most common and obvious resemblances. Although, Beowulf took place in the fifth century, our current day society has significant similarities to this time period.

One of the main reasons we study literature from different cultures and different themes is that we can learn about those people, in this case, the Anglo-Saxons. From reading Beowulf, we can learn about the values, religion, and culture of the Anglo-Saxons. Three values that these people found important are loyalty, bravery, and honor.

The core beliefs and the things the anglo-saxons saw as important are clear throughout the story of beowulf. The anglo-saxons believed in strong loyalty to each other and to the leader. The anglo saxons also had a pagan background and saw warriors as high members of society. All these beliefs and core values are exhibited in beowulf.

Beowulf, the great warrior of the Geats hears about a monster named Grendel, a monster who controls Herot. Herot is a town that’s in desperate need for a savior; consequently, Beowulf believes that he can be that guy. The author of this Beowulf is unfortunately unknown. There are many examples of Anglo-Saxon values in Beowulf. Anglo-Saxon’s values are key to how they live their life.

According to the definition, a hero is one who embodies the values of their society. In the epic Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, written by an anonymous author, the character Beowulf is used to convey the value that Anglo-Saxons placed on courage, strength, and loyalty.

Anglo-Saxons were a group of people who settled in the main part of Britain. Their culture soon became the basis for the English culture but as time changed so did the culture of the Anglo-Saxons. The Anglo-Saxons’ early belief gave them little hope so they turned their belief to Christianity, which brought them a new kind of happiness. That happiness is what Beowulf believed throughout his battles. He also had belief that if he died in battle that was the will or his fate from god.

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 Anglo-Saxons had many values they believed were important to their culture such as courage, personal valor, and courtesy. However they considered loyalty to a leader and to the tribe is one of the most appreciated values a person could acquire. In Beowulf the soldiers are loyal to their leader, Beowulf, and Beowulf is loyal to the “tribe”. In “The Seafarer” the seaman remained loyal to his personal leader, the open seas. In “The Wife’s Lament” the wife endured loneliness to stay loyal to her husband even after he left her.

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

Every culture has its own set of values, beliefs, and customs. These values, beliefs and customs create each unique culture, and these cultural constructions are directly and indirectly acquired throughout the lifetime of the culture. A major part of culture is literature; the literature of the time reflects upon daily life and society during the time that the story was composed. Beowulf, an epic poem, is one of the most important and only works of Anglo-Saxon literature. Much like a fable, the epic poem of Beowulf had lessons that taught the people within this society how to behave. This essay will outline how the importance of Christianity and the Germanic Heroic Code in Beowulf are revealed throughout the epic poem as important aspects of the Anglo-Saxon culture as a whole.

Back in the times of the Anglo-Saxons, being a hero was considered to be someone who would go far beyond what anyone else would do, to protect others. The poem of Beowulf, written in the Anglo-Saxon times by an anonymous author, is an excellent example of an Anglo-Saxon hero. This is because Beowulf sailed across the seas, in order to kill a monster who had hunted and preyed upon another kingdom, and had no other reason to do so except that they were in need of help. He also shows amazing strength,as well as bravery, by fighting, and defeating Grendel with nothing but his own hands. Beowulf is a perfect example of Anglo-Saxon poetry, because he has every characteristic that an Anglo-Saxon hero would be.

In Beowulf, the cultural traditions of the ancient Germanic tribes are expressed. Throughout the poem, treasures are a symbol of achievement, glory, and wealth in the Germanic culture. The possession of treasures such as gold earns one respect within the Germanic tribes. Moreover, the act of partitioning is celebrated and it earns you a title of a good king and warrior. While the doing the opposite condemns you and titles you a greedy king and warrior.

The Anglo-Saxons’ cultures and traditions are rooted in their beliefs of the perfect hero. Their ideal hero has many key characteristics influenced by their culture including courage, strength, bravery, thick skin, loyalty, humbleness, and the ability to create strong trustworthy friendships. Beowulf is an epic poem that exhibits the ideal Anglo-Saxon hero. The Anglo-Saxon traditions illustrated in Beowulf accurately represent the Anglo-Saxon traditions of the time period. This is accomplished through the distinct correlation of heroic characteristics between Beowulf and the culture’s traditional depiction of an Anglo-Saxon hero.