Imagining living in the movie How to Train Your Dragon, a word where has dragons, monsters and brave warriors protects his people, the epic poem Beowulf happens in a world like that. Beowulf happens in England and the poem is composited around 750 A.D in Old English. People in Beowulf are nomadic people that conquered England after Rome Empire collapses. Beowulf is the only manuscript that survives. It is the first literature written in English becomes the foundation of Western literatures. As an epic poem from Anglo-Saxon period, Beowulf not only tells the story of Beowulf, but also the culture of Anglo-Saxon that people revenge for their loves ones, women are married to men as peace wavers and kings and queens need to show hospitality to
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The idea of revenge for loved ones is a part of Anglo-Saxon culture. In the peom, Hrothgar’s dear friend, Aeschere, is killed by Grendel’s mother. Hrothgar is in great grief he wants Beowulf to help him to take revenge. Beowulf says to Hrothgar, “Wise sir, do not grieve. It is always better/to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning” (Beowulf ln. 1384-1385). Anglo-Saxon society follows “an eye for an eye” rules, so when one person is killed, his or her family must seek revenge for him or her, which is either the death of another person or payment of a “man price”. The diction of Beowulf demonstrates this value in Anglo-Saxon culture. Beowulf says that revenge is “always” better than feeling sad for loved ones. In Anglo-Saxon culture revenge is more important than sorrow. He also uses the word “indulge”, which means that …show more content…
The idea of showing hospitality is represented throughout the book. After defeating Grendel’s mother, Beowulf is rewarded for, “The cup was carried to him, kind words/spoken in welcome and a wealth of wrought gold/graciously bestowed: two arm bangles,/a mail-shirt and rings, and the most resplendent/torque of gold I ever heard tell of/anywhere on earth or under heaven” (Beowulf ln. 1191-1196). This scene shows that gift-giving is also an important part of Anglo-Saxon culture. Hrothgar holds a feast for Beowulf. In order to show his hospitality he says good words about Beowulf and gives his rewards. The gifts are described as “Most resplendent torque of gold I ever heard tell of anywhere on the earth or under heaven”. The extreme words “most”, “ever”, “anywhere” and “earth or under heaven” show the value of the rewards. In Anglo-Saxon culture, gift-giving is a way of building kinship between warriors and kings. Gift-giving not only represent rewards, but also is an affirmative to warrior’s contribution and king’s will to form a relationship. Especially gifts made of gold, like gifts Hrothgar gives to Beowulf, are valuable on one side, and a loyal bond between Beowulf and Hrothgar. When Beowulf comes back to Geats, he gives all his rewards from Hrothgar to Hygelac. Anglo-Saxon culture heavily emphasizes on loyalty between lords and warriors. Thus, gift-giving can also represent
The idea of revenge for loved ones is a part of Anglo-Saxon culture. In the peom, Hrothgar’s dear friend, Aeschere, is killed by Grendel’s mother. Hrothgar is in great grief he wants Beowulf to help him to take revenge. Beowulf says to Hrothgar, “Wise sir, do not grieve. It is always better/to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning” (Beowulf ln. 1384-1385). Anglo-Saxon society follows “an eye for an eye” rules, so when one person is killed, his or her family must seek revenge for him or her, which is either the death of another person or payment of a “man price”. The diction of Beowulf demonstrates this value in Anglo-Saxon culture. Beowulf says that revenge is “always” better than feeling sad for loved ones. In Anglo-Saxon culture revenge is more important than sorrow. He also uses the word “indulge”, which means that …show more content…
The idea of showing hospitality is represented throughout the book. After defeating Grendel’s mother, Beowulf is rewarded for, “The cup was carried to him, kind words/spoken in welcome and a wealth of wrought gold/graciously bestowed: two arm bangles,/a mail-shirt and rings, and the most resplendent/torque of gold I ever heard tell of/anywhere on earth or under heaven” (Beowulf ln. 1191-1196). This scene shows that gift-giving is also an important part of Anglo-Saxon culture. Hrothgar holds a feast for Beowulf. In order to show his hospitality he says good words about Beowulf and gives his rewards. The gifts are described as “Most resplendent torque of gold I ever heard tell of anywhere on the earth or under heaven”. The extreme words “most”, “ever”, “anywhere” and “earth or under heaven” show the value of the rewards. In Anglo-Saxon culture, gift-giving is a way of building kinship between warriors and kings. Gift-giving not only represent rewards, but also is an affirmative to warrior’s contribution and king’s will to form a relationship. Especially gifts made of gold, like gifts Hrothgar gives to Beowulf, are valuable on one side, and a loyal bond between Beowulf and Hrothgar. When Beowulf comes back to Geats, he gives all his rewards from Hrothgar to Hygelac. Anglo-Saxon culture heavily emphasizes on loyalty between lords and warriors. Thus, gift-giving can also represent