In Anglo-Saxon times literature escalated as an oral tradition. It was past along generations including songs, ancient stories, and poems. The poems did not posses the expected rhyme, they particularly had a strong beat. These traditions all held unique types of alliteration. Anglo-Saxon traditions in Beowulf illustrate how the Anglo-Saxon traditions became a strong influencing focus in Beowulf.
In Anglo-Saxon culture and literature, to be a hero was to be a warrior and ultimately a king. He had to possess the traits of strength, intelligence, integrity, and bravery. Warriors had to be willing to face anything against all odds, and combat to the death for their resplendence and the people they most truly loved. The Anglo-Saxon hero was able to be all of these and still be humble and sweet in all ways. When he is praised by the Danes after prevailing his victories with …show more content…
All it took for a person to be displaced was for one mead hall to attack and take over another mead hall. In other Anglo-Saxon works like "The Seafarer" and "The Wanderer," this seems to be the central problem in Anglo-Saxon life. And, essentially, this is what happens in Beowulf. What is Grendel? He is every Anglo-Saxon's nightmare. He is the mead hall wrecker who displaces mead hall residents, and turns them into exiles and wanderers. He is the worst thing that could happen, and often did happen, to Anglo-Saxons. There was no central government, police force, legal system, etc. in Anglo-Saxon England. Kings weren't kings in the way we think of them today. There were no knights as we think of them or as they appear in King Arthur myths (not until the Middle Ages), and chivalry was centuries away from being thought of. Knights and chivalry are medieval ideas, not Anglo-Saxon ideas. And feudalism came to England via the Normans in 1066. Anglo-Saxon society was
In Anglo-Saxon culture and literature, to be a hero was to be a warrior and ultimately a king. He had to possess the traits of strength, intelligence, integrity, and bravery. Warriors had to be willing to face anything against all odds, and combat to the death for their resplendence and the people they most truly loved. The Anglo-Saxon hero was able to be all of these and still be humble and sweet in all ways. When he is praised by the Danes after prevailing his victories with …show more content…
All it took for a person to be displaced was for one mead hall to attack and take over another mead hall. In other Anglo-Saxon works like "The Seafarer" and "The Wanderer," this seems to be the central problem in Anglo-Saxon life. And, essentially, this is what happens in Beowulf. What is Grendel? He is every Anglo-Saxon's nightmare. He is the mead hall wrecker who displaces mead hall residents, and turns them into exiles and wanderers. He is the worst thing that could happen, and often did happen, to Anglo-Saxons. There was no central government, police force, legal system, etc. in Anglo-Saxon England. Kings weren't kings in the way we think of them today. There were no knights as we think of them or as they appear in King Arthur myths (not until the Middle Ages), and chivalry was centuries away from being thought of. Knights and chivalry are medieval ideas, not Anglo-Saxon ideas. And feudalism came to England via the Normans in 1066. Anglo-Saxon society was