Beowulf's Loyalty In The Heroic Code
The poets within Beowulf sing about tales of heroes and their heroic deeds. The sing about these deeds, even if some of them have failed. They sing their songs to King Hrothgar, his subjects, Beowulf, and his men. The poets sang to share these stories, back then stories were always passed down orally through
Because Beowulf found and died for his people, now he is seen as a great hero. Especially, the soldiers and the people all loyal to him. Finally, by Beowulf the loyalty of the soldier and his people, one can get a great deal of information that loyalty was a very important value at
His courage is shown by not hesitating to risk his own life to pursue the Dane’s enemies. Beowulf seeks to make a name for himself, he must focus on fate and his reputation late in life beacuse it is his most valuable possession. Beowulf showcases his devotion and loyalty by helping the Geats defeat their
Beowulf is part of another tribe and is willingly offering to help the Danes. This shows that providing protection and safety to the people, even those of another
Beowulf’s father, Ecgtheow, “began the greatest feuds” for killing Heatholaf, and was denied by everyone except Hrothgar for refuge (16). Hrothgar not only helps Ecgtheow earn back his honor by paying off his debt for killing Heatholaf, but he provides Ecgtheow with enough money and resources to be able to return to home. Since Hrothgar showed Beowulf’s family a great deal of hospitality and generosity, Beowulf traveled to the Danes to return the same generosity and kill the monster that had been terrorizing and killing Hrothgar’s men. The monster Grendel, gives Beowulf a way to not only pay back Hrothgar’s kind act towards his family, but also a way to restore honor to his family name and improve his heroic reputation by killing this monster that has been undefeatable for twelve
The effects of leadership throughout our timeline in this world have had a major toll on how we shape our lives today. We have many types of leadership like democracy, theocracy, and many more. We see these types of leadership in the poem Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney. In the epic the main kings are Hrothgar who is a generous and a natural leader of the Danes, and Beowulf who is known as a noble and loyal king of the Geats. Both of these kings went through many events that had many different impacts on them and they succeeded.
I believe that the story of Beowulf is a story of loyalty and honor. Beowulf starts off with a king named Hrothgar, who happens to be a blood relative of a great warrior named Beowulf. Beowulf hears that Hrothgar needs help defeating a monster named Grendel. Grendel lives below the mead hall and at night eats the drunk, passed out men. Beowulf
In the epic Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, Beowulf is depicted as a heroic figure who fights monsters and defends the weak. During its time, Beowulf would be considered a great hero, however in today 's standards Beowulf would only be considered a great warrior. That’s because a hero should value the lives of the people and not seek to be rewarded. Instead, Beowulf committed heroic acts for his own selfish reasons and never shows to values the lives of the people. From fighting Grendel to slaying the dragon, Beowulf only fought because he value the fame and fortune that comes along with those accomplishments.
These nations were all founded by Anglo-Saxons and while they shared languages, religions, and culture, they were constantly at war with each other, as all Anglo-Saxon warriors must embody possibly the most important of the Anglo-Saxon values, loyalty. Warriors must be absolutely loyal to their own kings and must fight to protect him and the kingdom even at the cost of their own life. In Beowulf, both loyalty and lack of loyalty are displayed. Beowulf's loyalty is shown when he asks his king, Hygelac, if he could be allowed to help King Hrothgar defeat the monster Grendel, who had been attacking Hrothgar's kingdom for the past 12 years. His victory over Grendel added greatly to his reputation as a warrior, and he had earned the respect of Hrothgar, but Beowulf remained loyal and returned to his king.
He did travel across the sea to kill a demon and then the demon’s mother for what seemed to be good will. Beowulf even states he is helping Hrothgar since he had helped Beowulf’s father in the past and Beowulf is returning the favor. Yet, Beowulf is still acting on his pride. He wants to defeat Grendel being that no one has been able to in the past and killing the monster for the Danes would surely bring him more honor and treasures. Beowulf never says that is why he is helping Hrothgar, but the context in which Beowulf says why he is there would suggest he cares more about glory than loyalty like he originally said.
He did carry the ways of a Anglo-Saxon which were honesty, kindness,loyalty, and honor. But all of that was soon covered up with his prideful thinking. Beowulf came to the aid of the king Hrothgar and his people willingly, knowing he could solve the king’s problem. Beowulf succeed in killing the monster getting fame , glory, and riches. Although Beowulf brought along his mighty warriors he persisted that they stay and watch him defeat the monster named “Grendel’’ all alone.
Additionally, in Germanic societies, such as the one in which Beowulf takes place, there were heroic codes which defined how a noble person should act. It is composed of strength, courage and honor, these codes also included loyalty, generosity, and hospitality. The heroic code was of great importance in warrior societies. In Anglo-Saxon culture and literature, to be a hero was to be a warrior, which signifies the importance of the Heroic code (Stitt). Many examples can be seen with Beowulf, just as said in the book “Often, for undaunted courage, fate spares the man it has not already marked."
The epic poem “Beowulf”, translated by Burton Raffel, focuses on a hero by the name of Beowulf who goes on a quest to rescue King Hrothgar and his people from an egregious monster by the name of Grendel. This Anglo-Saxon tale gives insight into the values and beliefs of the people from whom the story originated. Their war-centered ideology and views on loyalty and courage were the principles that the Anglo-Saxon culture was founded upon. While warfare was a focal point in their lifestyle, it was far from a savage, barbaric state of fighting. Honor and prestige were bestowed upon those who died during battle and selflessness for fellow warriors was a fundamental belief.
In the epic poem Beowulf, the heroic code persistently appears within the main character Beowulf. He is courageous, loyal, and is renowned, but what is the most important out of his three main characteristics? The most important is courage. Without courage, Beowulf would not have been able to face or defeat Grendel for the greater good of the people. The three main characteristics of the heroic code are courage, loyalty, and reputation.
He has true honor and respectfully distributes treasure and gifts to those whom he believes rightfully deserves them. Beowulf’s loyalty to the Danes helps shed light on his true character. He expresses that he believes he may die in battle between Grendel, but that does not dissuade him from fighting the beast. Another example is when Hygelac dies, Beowulf is asked to take the throne. In doing so, that would mean the the son of Hygelac would be stripped of his own inheritance, which is dishonorable in Beowulf’s eyes, and thus he declines the offer.
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