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Theme Of Fate In Beowulf

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The theme most evident throughout our selection from the Exeter Book, Beowulf , and The Man of Law 's Tale from The Canterbury Tales, is wyrd: or a concept from Anglo-Saxon culture and society and correlate to fate and one 's personal destiny. Wyrd plays a large role in all of these literary pieces, because they’re in part descended from Anglo-Saxon literature, and is an ancestor to modern British literature. Theses stories helped preserve and channel the beliefs of the Anglo-Saxon culture. Throughout the Anglo-Saxon Culture the theme of fate, or known as wyrd, is heavily prevalent, and can be expressed as one 's personal journey.

Beowulf is an epic poem, that takes place in modern day Denmark and Sweden, around the sixth century. Our …show more content…

The Man of Law 's Tale, from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, is different from the rest of completed tales. Fate plays an important part in all of the poems but unlike the other tales, The Man of Law focuses heavily upon free will as well. The poem is about a young roman princess who is unknowingly thrown into a life of cruelty and violence, over religious quarrels, jealousies, and hate thought to be enacted by Satan. The theme of unrelenting calmness and obedience is also present in the piece, and this could be due to her being a true follower of Christ. No matter if she is treated to a life of pain, bitterness, and backstabbing but throughout she remains loyal to Jesus and God’s Plan. Unlike the other two poems, The Man of Law confronts the aspect of God’s plan and the choice of free will, it is almost as if this tale implies that God is ‘wyrd’, or fate, and he controls everything. Comparatively, the other two tales separate God and fate and then categorize them as two distinct forces who rule the universe justly and bring balance. Like some of the poems from the Exeter Book, The Man of Law is in a way a psalm which tells followers of Christ how to live their life, and follow him, for what on Earth is temporary, what in Heaven is Eternal.

Unlike Beowulf, The Wanderer labels wyrd as a force that is swayed by the person 's decisions and provides an outcome. In Beowulf wyrd is a seemingly independent force from God, who decides the fate of men and keeps universe in check.

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In Beowulf, the most prominent theme is the duty. A duty to be fulfilled by the person that is assigned to. It gives characters in the poem unique identity because of their devotion to duty. This means the warrior must fulfill his obligations to protect the people of the land and risk his life for their king. It also applies to women, in Beowulf, a woman's duty is to entertain the men as well as to serve a symbol of peace.

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The anglo-saxons have beliefs about fate and how people were destined to fulfill some of the legends. Many stories have fate as an underlying tone that impacts the flow of the article. “.... Heard how Grendel filled nights with horror and quickly commanded a boat fitted out….” (112-113) in the beginning you can infer someone will come along to defeat Grendel. The person destined to defeat Grendel is a young warrior named Beowulf. Beowulf is centered around fate and the inevitable results that are planned with any action.

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· Highlight the places where Beowulf refers to fate. “The omens were good and they urged the adventure

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Taking risks is a necessary action to live a full life. Although many risks have unwanted consequences, they can also result in good consequences. The Deep, Beowulf, and the Challenger all address the idea taking risks can have positive outcomes. In the epic poem Beowulf, Beowulf takes one of the greatest risks, his life, to protect his people. Beowulf puts himself in danger simply by choosing to fight the Grendel, a huge man-eating monster that has been terrorizing Herot for twelve years.

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It is evident that the Beowulf poem should not be viewed as a historical document, but it is hard to deny its connections to its context and its time. In this essay I will explore and compare the Norton critical edition of The Beowulf poem and the revised edition of the Poetic Edda. I will look into how the two correlate with each other, some of the common themes and ideals that are evident in the texts as well as how the

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In the epic poem of Beowulf, people with the Christian or Pagan belief may have acquired their individual view of fate. Meanwhile, Beowulf seemed to have his own concept of fate. Throughout the poem, Beowulf's duty is to protect his people. Beowulf proves that his journey to take on countless creatures is driven by fate. Fate is a controversial idea within the Anglo-Saxon society.

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The Anglo-Saxon society centered around several main beliefs. One of the more prominent ones was wyrd, or in today’s terms, fate. Throughout the epic, Beowulf, the belief in fate is evident. Throughout the journey with the protagonist, Beowulf, the reader sees the development of fate. This theme is clearly demonstrated in various places in the epic which with be discussed further in this essay.

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If someone were to read Beowulf straight through and not think into any of the deeper meanings or symbolism in the story, the whole tale would come off as fairly superficial and typical. It would seem like just another story of a powerful hero slaying monsters and receiving lavish rewards in return. Going through the story in that fashion would be doing it a great disservice because there is so much more to Beowulf underneath all of the grandeur of the basic story. There are many recurring themes that hint at much deeper messages and even some darker, more nihilistic themes. As if ripping the arm off of a creature and then hunting down and killing its mother wasn’t already dark enough.

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Typically, today in modern Judeo-Christian culture, one god determines the fate of human beings, yet in Danish culture there are no gods who are interested enough in the events of man enough to try to control their destiny (“Beowulf's Pagan and Christian Elements.”) In this epic, Beowulf includes several direct references to fate, which can also be known as Wyrd. An example would be “Wyrd often saves an undoomed hero as long as his courage is good,” which implies the fact that if a man’s courage holds out, he has a hope of winning through since Wyrd will often work to help such a man, as long as he is not doomed; conversely if a man is doomed then not even his courage can help him stand against ‘the course of events.’ (Wyrd: The Role of Fate) This can be seen during the fight with Grendel, when it was said “But fate, that night, intended Grendel to gnaw the broken bones of his last human supper,” meaning that no matter what Beowulf did, he was meant to beat Grendel.

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Once upon a time, there was a marvelous warrior that was a hero to so many and king to some. In the story of Beowulf, the hero, Beowulf, must follow and go through the hero’s journey. The hero’s journey has twelve stages, or three acts. The stages go in the order: 1) The Call to Adventure, 2) Assistance, 3) Departure, 4) Trials, 5) Approach to the Inmost Cave, 6) Crisis, 7) Treasure, 8) Result, 9) Return, 10) New Life, 11) Resolution, and 12) Status Quo (Winkler). Since Beowulf is facing three different monsters, there is not only the story’s significant journey, but also multiple inside it.

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He knew what they had tholed, the long times and troubles they'd come through without a leader; so the Lord of Life, the glorious Almighty, made this man renowned." This quote describes how God played a large role in the success of Beowulf. Assuming that all acts of heroism proven successful are really acts of God. Thus, leaving you thinking success must be a form of divine assistance, in the hands of God. The poem takes on both beliefs of Paganism and Christianity.

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Motivations The three cardinal motivations for Beowulf to fight the monsters.     People often have very different reasons to do something than others. Sometimes, people wonder why others do the things they do.

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In writing, authors use different types of tone. Tone is an expression of a writer's attitude toward a subject. An author may use specific words or phrases to convey their intended tone. The author of "Beowulf" uses a variety of tone to express their attitude towards certain characters and events. This author's tone adds more depth to the plot and provides entertainment for the reader.

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A hero's journey is a pattern of narrative identities that appears in many dramas, storytellings, myths, and psychological development. The journey consist of twelve different steps and in the story Beowulf we read about the magnificent and rough journey that Beowulf and this men accomplish. Many people question if Beowulf is considered a hero and if what he did was good. The journey that he embarked on, leads me to believe that Beowulf is a hero and always will be. The first step in the hero's journey is called the “call to adventure” this is when something is disturbed from external pressure of from inner conflict.

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