Beowulf & Anglo-Saxon Response

Beowulf & Anglo Saxon Response
Part 1
There are some things I didn’t like about reading the story Beowulf. Beowulf is a long story and is hard to comprehend. The story starts off slow and does not catch your attention as an interesting book. As I read more into the story I began to make more sense of it. I can not say I was always eager to read the next episode, but I managed to get through the slow parts and finish the story. Much of Beowulf was about a warrior named Beowulf and the battles he fought, but every now and then the story would give you some background information on other characters.
There were a couple of scenes that stuck out at me. I like the part where Beowulf killed Grendal. The story tells how Beowulf fought Grendal with his bare hands, and how he ripped off Grendal’s arm. To me, this is amazing! Even though we all know this is not possible the story wants people to visualize Beowulf as big and strong, and this does the trick!
Another scene that I found interesting was when Beowulf killed Grendal’s mother. Beowulf bravely went to the bottom of the lake and underwater killed the monster. I found it interesting how the story says that Beowulf’s sword could not harm the demon, so he had to use the sword made by Giants. In Beowulf I noticed that the people in the story referred to ancient relics like the sword made by the Giants.
The most interesting thing that stuck out to me was how loyal the warriors were to the kings. When Beowulf went to Danes to kill Grendal he basically promised his life to King Hrothgar that he would kill Grendal. After Beowulf kills Grendal he is awarded gold and other riches, but soon finds out that he must kill Grendals mom. This is when Beowulf proves his loyalty not only to King Hrothgar, but also to King Hygelacs, which is the king where Beowulf came from. Beowulf tells King Hrothgar that if he dies to send his gold to King Hygelacs. How loyal he was is what caught my attention.
Part 2
The Anglo-Saxons were in a way like the warriors in Beowulf. What I read about the Anglo-Saxons was very interesting. Like in Beowulf, they were also very loyal and had a strong warrior tradition. Personally, I think that the Anglo-Saxon culture is very intriguing.
The society in Beowulf is somewhat similar to the Anglo-Saxon culture. The Anglo-Saxons believed in many different things, and some of those beliefs are found in Beowulf as well. The Anglo-Saxon culture strongly believed in a warrior tradition, loyalty, and poetry. The dragon was also an important figure for their culture. Throughout the whole story of Beowulf you can find these beliefs and traditions.
In the opening sentences to Beowulf the fist thing mentioned is about warriors. The first sentences say " you have heard of the Danish Kings in the old days and how they were great warriors". This sentence lets you know that the story is probably going to be about warriors. Later in the story it says, "but a warrior of Hygelac’s heard of Grendals doing’s; he was the strongest o f men alive in that day mighty and noble." This sentence is talking about Beowulf and how he was a great warrior. So throughout the whole story you will find that it talks a lot about warriors which led me to believe that society in this story was also very big on a warrior tradition.
The warriors in this story exhibited a great amount of loyalty to there kings and country. In this story Beowulf kills Grendal but before he says this to the King of Danes " if battle takes me, send this best of war garments, this shirt of mail, to Hygelac". Hygelac was Beowulf’s king and Beowulf was showing loyalty by at least sending his war garments back to his king if he was killed. After Beowulf kills Grendal he gets awarded gold, but then finds out he must face battle again and kill Grendal’s mom. Beowulf again shows his loyalty to his king by asking King Hrothgar, " if war takes me send the treasure you gave me to Hygelac, king of the Geats, that he may perceive from the gold". Late in the story a warrior helping out Beowulf says, "God knows, to me, my lord means more than my skin. In this way and many other ways, the warriors showed loyalty to their king. Another similarity with the Anglo-Saxons was the use of the dragon.
To the Anglo-Saxons the dragon was the protector of treasures or warrior graves. In Beowulf the dragon was mentioned a couple of times. In the story some guy named Sigemund kills a dragon and the story says " sigemunds hardy fighting and killing of a dragon". The dragon in this story also guards gold as it says here in this sentence " earth dwellers fear him much. He must seek a hoard in the earth, where, old winters, he will guard heathen gold, though he gains nothing from it." The last sentence speaks about the dragon in Beowulf’s time and how it guarded gold in a cave, but one-day someone disturbs that gold and awakes the dragon. So there you have it Beowulf clearly illustrates some of the culture beliefs of the Anglo-Saxons.
Part 3
Beowulf to me seems kind of like Martin Luther King Jr. MLK fought for civil rights so there would be peace within the community. During Martin Luther kings time racism was real big and blacks could night dine in the same dinners that whites dined in. The black community was being oppressed daily and if they tried to dine with the white people the would be hung or abused. The racism was not allowing the black community to function and go about there daily routine without the fear of being abused or facing reticule. So for the citizens during this time racism can be compared to the demon Grendal in Beowulf. So MLK like Beowulf was a person that helped out society by putting his life on the line for people’s right to live without fear. So to society in this era MLK was a hero and still is a hero and is remembered by the people for bringing them peace. Beowulf in a way did the same thing MLK did. The citizens of Danes were being killed and oppressed by Grendel. The story say’s " Hrothgar’s people lived in joy, happy until that wanderer of the wasteland, Grendel the demon, possessor of the moors, began his crimes." Hrothgar was the king of Dane’s and had built a hall for his people to dine in, but they were soon attacked and fear was instilled in them and they would not use the hall anymore. In this sentence from the story it tells how Beowulf hears about Grendel, "But a warrior of Hygelac's heard of Grendel's doings;" then Beowulf sets out to sea, "So the good Geat chose the bravest warriors, fourteen of them, and that crafty sailor led them to the land's brim". When Beowulf arrives to Danes he speaks to the king and later kills Grendel. After defeating Grendel the people of Danes began to decorate the party hall and here is how the story tells it "Then it was ordered that Herot be decorated. Many there were, men and women, who prepared that guest-hall. Gold ornaments shone, wondrous sights on the walls". So as you see Beowulf liberated the people from the fear of dining in the guest hall by getting rid of Grendel. Martin Luther King didn’t exactly get rid of racism but his movement led to the change in society and now anybody can dine anywhere they want without fear. So as you see Beowulf and MLK were in a way similar.
A way that Beowulf is different is that he became a hero real quick. Martin Luther King Jr. was not really thought of as a hero until year after the civil rights movement had ended. Beowulf also used force and violence to defeat his problem and was strong and powerful even before he had to face his problem. MLK was just another citizen another black person, but he started a non-violent movement. Although MLK’s movement was nonviolent it still led to victory. A hero can be anyone you want it to be it all depends on a persons views and opinions.
Part 4
The ending of the story was pretty cool. I liked the fact that Beowulf died for his country. In just about every other story the hero always wins every fight and never dies. This ending was more realistic to real life. It shows that hero’s don’t always live forever. To be a warrior and die fighting seems like a good way of dying, because you get to die doing what you do best.
I would have never imaged that Beowulf would die killing a dragon. For the Anglo-Saxons the dragon was believed to be protector of warrior graves. Well when Beowulf died killing the dragon I thought about how weird this was. It is crazy to think that a dragon would try to kill you but then protect your grave. Well Beowulf always kept his loyalty to his country and tried to protect it till his last day and that was pretty cool.