“People need motivation to do anything.” Jim Carrey had a point when he said this; without motivation, why would people ever take action? People from different cultures have various reasons for doing things based on their values. In the epic poem Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon code is portrayed by the actions and motivations of the characters. In this poem, Beowulf fights three monsters that are terrorizing both the Geats in Sweden and the Danes in Denmark. In the poem Beowulf, translated by Burton Raffel, Beowulf’s motivations are duty, glory, and sacrifice.
During his first battle against Grendel, Beowulf is motivated by duty. Duty is something that people expect you to do, even if you don’t want to do it. In the poem, Beowulf says, “My people have said, he wisest, most knowing/And best of them, that my duty was to go to the Danes’/Great king.” (page 47, lines 244-246). In other words, the Geats told Beowulf that it was his duty to help the Danes because he
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At this point in the poem, it has been fifty years since Beowulf crushed Grendel and Grendel’s mother; therefore, Beowulf is now fairly old. However, despite his age, he insists on fighting the dragon. He says, “I feel no shame, with shield and sword/And armor, against this monster: when he comes to me/I mean to stand, not run from his shooting/Flames, stand till fate decides/Which of us wins.” (page 57, lines 635-639). From this quote, one can assume that Beowulf knows there is a great chance of him dying during this battle. Even though he is aware of this, he is calm and confident when he heads toward the dragon’s tower. His lack of fear expresses his acceptance of death and his willingness for sacrifice, which means he welcomes death as long as he is dying for a cause. In this case, his cause happens to be the safety of his people. Sacrifice is an obvious reason for Beowulf’s actions toward the