Germanic languages

It is obvious that there is a great deal of difference between being international and being cosmopolitan. All good men are international. Nearly all bad men are cosmopolitan. If we are to be international we must be national. And it is largely because those who call themselves the friends of peace have not dwelt sufficiently on this distinction that they do not impress the bulk of any of the nations to which they belong. International peace means a peace between nations, not a peace after the…

Thanks to the ingenious use of the longbow in the Battle of Crecy, the English king, Edward III, and his army were able to win the battle with under 100 casualties while the French having over 10,000(Kops). Because of the outcome of the war, the longbow earned the name “The Medieval Machine Gun” (Kagay). Many of the tactics used during the Battle of Crecy by the English army were considered to be great breakthroughs in warfare and were the basis of some of the tactics used in modern warfare.…

The Germanic heroic code is based upon four fundamental values: valor, worthiness, vengeance, and honor. While there are many elements to the heroic code, these four concepts are are the most frequently used overall. In Beowulf, Seamus Heaney, the translator, uses the Germanic heroic code as the foundation for the protagonist, Beowulf. The heroic code is one of the most prevalent themes throughout the entire epic. Beowulf is the story of a hero whose name is the title of the poem. In his world,…

Religion is a very prevalent role in literature from the early and Middle English era. Over and over we see religion in stories and poems from this time. Whether the Authors are directly stating religious views, or just alluding to them, the views are still there. In the two poems we have read, Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, religion plays a big role, but in very different ways. Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are both epic poems that were written in the Early to…

The Relationship Between Queens as Peaceweavers and Treasure in Beowulf The period in which the Beowulf poem was written was, without a doubt, a pervasively masculine one: the concepts of masculinity, kingship, and the ideal heroic figure were heavily focused upon. Given much less attention but holding just as much importance were the women, particularly the queens, when it came to threading the fabric of society together. It is interesting to note that the queens, as well as treasure, were the…

such as the Goths, Visigoths, Franks, Lombards, Angles, and Saxons also emerged as the dominant people in terms of literacy instead of the Romans. This is a big change because the Romans viewed those groups of Germanic people as barbarians. Romans also had kings and emperors while the Germanic people had elite warriors who ruled above their…

Medieval History in the Modern Mind: Norse Mythology Popular culture is filled with representations of “Medieval culture,” from Robin Hood to Joan of Arc, from King Arthur to Norse mythology. There seems to be a prevalent negative connotation associated with this time, a conceptualization which is epitomized in a label often pinned to the Medieval period, “Dark Ages,” and which manifests itself through the idea of the “Modern Foundation Myth.” While “successful” time periods of the modern age…

For many individuals there is a period when we must reconcile our past actions with our present reality. Though this can be accomplished through therapy, the challenge increases exponentially when an entire country is forced to confront its history. A notable example of this challenge is Germany after the events of World War II and the Holocaust. For German society, the current prevailing attitude is that a nation can only truly reckon with the past if they understand it. Das Boot is the perfect…

Beowulf, an Old English Poem, is a story of a Swedish hero who kills monsters. Beowulf, the main character, was a young, fearless leader in the beginning. Beowulf was seen as a hero of the Geats who had tremendous strength and courage. His courage led him to fight off evil monsters. Hercules, son of Zeus and Alcmene, was a Greek God of Thebes. Hercules had tremendous strength and endurance. His stepmother, Hera, made Hercules childhood difficult. She was jealous of his tremendous strength and…

In the epic poem Beowulf, the poet demonstrates the various loyalties needed to maintain trust within the Geats. The poet, specifically in lines 2712-32, shows many virtues that outline the reasons why Beowulf makes a great honorable, king. With Beowulf’s knowledge, he is able to demonstrate many values that help shape Wiglaf’s character. The themes of honor and loyalty often arise to show how Beowulf stays truthful to his thanes, as well as himself, during difficult times. Throughout the…