Beowulf

Beowulf The Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf is the most important work of Old English literature, and is well deserved of the distinction. The epic tells the story of a hero, a Scandinavian prince named Beowulf, who rids the Danes of the monster Grendel, a descendent of Cain, and of his exploits fighting Grendel’s mother and a Dragon. Throughout the epic, the Anglo-Saxon storyteller uses many elements to build a certain depth to the characters. As I read Beowulf, I found it full of important character elements such as Wealth & Honor, Biblical & Paganistic, and Man vs. Wild themes. Many of the characters in Beowulf are, like in most epics, defined by their status. But, in addition to status, the Anglo-Saxon culture also adds an element of honor. To the Anglo-Saxons, a character’s importance, as well as their wealth and status, where measured not only in monetary terms, but was also measured in terms of honor, fame, and accomplishments. Hrothgar, king of the Danes, is one example of the Anglo-Saxon measurement of importance in Beowulf. In Stanza 1, the storyteller describes his wealth and importance, not as mounds beowulf, grendel, evil, wealth, honor, god, shows, epic, themes, danes, wild, hero, character, biblical, status, motif, man, grendel’s, anglo-saxon, shown, religious, paganistic, one, important, example, characters, beowulf’s, because, vs, therefore, symbol, serves, nature, motifs, including, importance, hrothgar, good, gives, extent, depth, christian, battle, archetypal, ways, very, tower, time, throughout