The Battle for God

and God are at the core of their stories. Poems from The Exeter Book and the poem Beowulf demonstrate these values. By reading their stories people can better understand the Anglo-Saxon society. Perhaps the best way to determine a culture’s beliefs and values would be to analyze the heroes they created in their stories. In the poem Beowulf, the hero exhibits strength, loyalty, bravery, and a strong Christian faith. In the Anglo-Saxon culture, being a warrior and fighting to bring glory to God and

wisdom to his people has he fights battles. Beowulf has physical strength and bravery, which shows everyone what a ample warrior he is. Beowulf shows his courage by willing to die for the life of other people. Beowulf rids the Kingdom of every demon, dragon, and anyone that is harming his people. As Beowulf battles become stronger and harder to defeat, he becomes stronger. He proves his nobility and courage through every battle he wins. No matter how sever the battles get, Beowulf always puts himself

year war between the Trojans and the Greeks. The two sides, with blessed champions on both sides, are fighting over Helen, the most beautiful mortal woman ever born. In addition, both sides fight for glory, as Ancient Greek society valued success in battle and the amount of spoils one brings back from war. While Hector and Paris both are champions of Troy, and share a noble pedigree, the two heros show a different set of priorities on the battlefield; Hector wishing to return to the battlefield as soon

David Breeden and the Chivalric poem of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by W. A. Neilson have some similarities, such as possessing the characteristic of bravery and being noble, they do contrast greatly. To survive his adventure, Beowulf relies on God and faith for protection. Whereas, Sir Gawain relies on truth and promise. Regardless of how they accomplished their tasks, they completed them and continued until they were not needed anymore. In Beowulf the audience can view his use of survival

“For my own death, I’ll meet it freely”, “I’ll lie in peace, once I’ve gone down to death. But now, for the moment, let me seize great glory” (Fiero)! Achilles knows dying in honor will result in great honor because he was doing the bidding of the gods. Throughout the

her first spiritual experience, but her revelations continued to become more vivid and frequent, as her life continued. She was convinced they came from God. People either thought she was special because she heard voices from god or because they thought she was mentally ill. Joan had realized that her voices were telling her that she was chosen by God to rescue Dauphin Charles and the country of France. Joan was directed to a town called Vaucouleurs to get help from the governor and prepare to rescue

and a bronze helmet on his head.” (1 Samuel 17:38) The small peasant reaches the cave of his problems which places David directly in front of Goliath. A nine foot giant clashes with a small sheep tender from the town of Bethlehem. The loser of the battle soon became the victors servants which means David needs to defeat Goliath. Before the match, David prepares a slingshot with five rocks as the weapon of choice. Usually to take down a giant, the opponent uses a sword and shield or a spear, but David's

"good" may not be what we expect, additionally, Like a man outlawed for wickedness, he must await the mighty judgment of God in majesty. (976-8) Grendel may be a demon from hell, but he's insignificant compared to the mighty power and goodness of God. Beowulf may be a battle between good and evil, but the two sides are nowhere near equal. This isn't a dualistic fight between God and

Goddesses may help less able heroes in battle by removing them from the field, or disguising them. Aphrodite rescues Paris [p74] and Aeneas [p100] from the field when they are having difficulties. Goddesses physically influence the weapons being used in battle. In the case of Pandarus breaking the truce between the two sides, Athene stops the arrow fired at from being fatal by deflecting it. Another

king of the Myrmidones in Phtia, and Thetis, a sea-nymph. As the legend goes, Achilles got his strength and battle skills when his mother dipped him in the river Styx. Achilles was thereby made invincible. However, Thetis forgot to wet the heel by which she held him and because of this grievous error, Thetis destined her son to defeat. It was prophesied that he would be defeated in battle by being pierced in his only vulnerable spot: Achilles' heel (thus the expression). This single weakness