Category: Beowulf

Feasting in both epics of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are used as forms of celebration. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the feast is held in anticipation of the New Year and involves eating, dancing, gift exchange, games, and the shared excitement of the New Year. The descriptions of the…

Gender roles are based on what the social norms deem appropriate, which is based on the culture of each society. The gender roles of women in Beowulf and The Wife of Bath were very different because the culture in which these two poems were written valued different ideals. For the Anglo-Saxons, the gender role women…

Heroes; we as a whole know them when we see them. The main question is, what makes somebody a hero? To be considered an epic hero, a person must possess most or all of the seven traits of an epic hero. The first trait of an epic hero is a noble birth. This means that…

Throughout all of the readings this semester, weve read about many heroes and knights. We learned what it means to be a hero and what attributes made them heroes. I will be discussing three different works and Ill be discussing what it is that characterized these people as heroes/ knights. The first work Ill be…

Has anyone in your life ever made an impact on you? Have you ever looked up to someone? Possibly a hero? A hero could be many things, whether that be a fictional hero, a serviceman, or maybe even a teacher. Throughout history, the idea of a hero has transformed, relatively built upon the cultural values…

The epic poem Beowulf, written during the 8th century when England was beginning to convert to Christianity. This poem includes references to the bible, as well as pagan traditions in order to ease pagans into the transition to Christianity. The poem is centered around the main hero, Beowulf who fights against the monsters that try…

Anglo-Saxon poetry is centered on the heroic and elegiac traditions. In fact, one of the commonalities between the Anglos, Saxons, and Jutes (besides a shared language) was the belief that a true hero would possess specific traits. The epic Beowulf is a poem about a Geatish hero that travels to the land of the Danes…

The poem Beowulf is an epic poem. One of the characters in the poem is named Grendel. Some people might think that Grendel is a monster, a wicked man, or a symbol of immortality. However, in my opinion, I think that Grendel really is a monster. Grendel is a descendant of Cain and is described…

Feasting, as defined by Linwood Fredericksen from the Encyclopedia Britannica, is a day or period of time set aside to commemorate, ritually celebrate or reenact, or anticipate events or seasonsagricultural, religious, or socioculturalthat give meaning and cohesiveness to an individual and to the religious, political, or socioeconomic community. Holiday feasts were an essential part of…

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary expresses a legend is ‘an individual who is appreciated for incredible or fearless acts or fine characteristics.’ A saint is turned upward to for the bold and respectable things the person has done. Despite the fact that the characters and plots of ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’ and ‘Beowulf’ vary extraordinarily…