Loyalty and protection has been in our veins for centuries. The outcomes of having these qualities and converting them into use led to remarkable events that changed history forever. A military strategist in five-hundred B.C. referred to Sun Tzu illustrates the lengths of not only loyalty and protection but other similar qualities that can be used as either a tactic to advance or avoid in the playing field that is war. In this military treatise that is The Art of War, Sun Tzu advices that this needs to be taken extremely serious as it can be the difference of life or death. In the same manner, the poet in Beowulf lays similar values that is often referred to as a heroic code and can be applied to The Art of War. However in Beowulf, the code is not entirely flawed in the eyes of The Art of War. Although they intertwine at times, it is important to note the difference in order to value an epic poem written five hundred years apart from one another and in another country.
In The Art of War, Sun Tzu acknowledges the fact that, “Now the general is the protector of the state. If this is protection is all-embracing, the state will surely be strong; if defective, the state will certainly be weak.” (Sun Tzu & Griffith p.81) During this period of time, the general’s responsibility weighed heavy on his shoulders as everything he moves forward can result in an outcome either favorable or not. Considering this, in Beowulf, ensuring protection for your people and your land is