Germanic peoples

The Battle of Verdun which lasted from 21 February 1916, considered as the greatest battle of attrition in history. Never before or since has been there been such a drawn out battle, involving so many men, situated on such a small piece of land. In New York times article " Verdun not Menaced yet : Battle involves only advanced posts, 2 miles from outer Defer" published just three days after the war broke out talks about how both German and France was starting to heat up for the war. The article…

Richard Wilbur’s poem “Beowulf” is his translation of the Old English poem also called “Beowulf”. The time frame the original “Beowulf” was written is between the mid seventh century and the late tenth century. The poem tells a story of Beowulf, a Scandinavian hero who saves a kingdom from a monster named Grendal, who attacks the castle each night. In Richard Wilbur’s translation he describes Beowulf of the old English poem from a mid-twentieth century point of view. Although both authors…

How Hero’s Influence a Culture How hero’s act and are perceived by their people, can expose morals of those people, their time period, and the culture as a whole. In Beowulf’s time, the way everyone looked at him was clear; he is the picturesque hero. He had the looks, he had the muscle, he had the courage and drive to keep the people safe. The people of the time saw a hero as someone who would give anything to have the chance to defeat a monster to have a good reputation. It was thought that a…

Reputation is a key theme of the English poem Beowulf and is really important to the main character. Through the entire poem we see how important it is, even at an old age his reputation is everything to him and it’s all connected to him wanting to be the leader and warrior his dad was. Gail Ashton (writer of the Medieval English Romance in Context) said, “These stories only focus on family, kinship, marriage, lineage, and property, all social and political structures.” And it’s true in medieval…

The four of the main characters from these two stories share some characteristics. The theme of “Beowulf primarily deals with the sense of adventure, and deals with an epic story. The theme of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” deals with medieval romance and with the code of chivalry. Two characters in the two stories are arrogant, and the other two characters experience change over time in their roles. One of the characteristics that Beowulf and the Green Knight share is arrogance. Like, when…

servant to command I am and shall be still.” The lady tries to have him but Gawain refuses to sleep with her. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are based on Christianity but it was known that the story had Pagan rituals to be able to coexist with the people and the transition of religions wouldn’t be so big. They developed having a Christmas tree in the story and having Christ on a cross, also celebrate Christmas with a feast. “That Christ got on the cross, as the creed tells; and wherever this…

soon became that of the society's depiction of a good king. One could definitely see the comparative and contrasting traits of the historical times, and social expectations. Osbert and Beowulf have many similarities- these concordances are what the peoples of the time often looked up to; a virtuous king. For example, Osbert fought Malcolm of the Dunbayne clan out of vengeance for his father's unjust death, hoping to fight the man who murdered the deceased Earl. Likewise, Beowulf fought the…

in the darkness”. Then, Beowulf’s men camp overnight in the Herot Hall with hopes of slaying this terrible beast. Late that night, as Beowulf and his men are awaiting the monster, he finally arrives. Beowulf, the mighty ruler that came to free the people of Herot, then prepares to engage in battle bearing nothing but his God-given hands. During…

Calypso rather than trying to get home to his family. Also he was so stubborn and selfish when he chose to not to apologize to Poseidon for hurting his son. By him refusing to apologize he was putting many lives at risk by keeping Poseidon upset. People in ancient Greek culture were typically very selfish and stubborn so it is not surprising to see him be so proud of himself along with being…

let Grendel attack Hrothgar’s Kingdom (lines 590-594). At this point, he expresses his devotion to Hrothgar by declaring that he will not allow Grendel to create havoc in Hrothgar’s kingdom. He claims: “I meant to perform to the uttermost what your people wanted or perish in the attempt, in the fiend’s clutches. And I shall fulfill that purpose, prove myself with a proud deed or meet my death here in the mead-hall” (lines…