The theme most evident throughout our selection from the Exeter Book, Beowulf , and The Man of Law 's Tale from The Canterbury Tales, is wyrd: or a concept from Anglo-Saxon culture and society and correlate to fate and one 's personal destiny. Wyrd plays a large role in all of these literary pieces, because they’re in part descended from Anglo-Saxon literature, and is an ancestor to modern British literature. Theses stories helped preserve and channel the beliefs of the Anglo-Saxon culture. Throughout the Anglo-Saxon Culture the theme of fate, or known as wyrd, is heavily prevalent, and can be expressed as one 's personal journey.
Beowulf is an epic poem, that takes place in modern day Denmark and Sweden, around the sixth century. Our
…show more content…
The Man of Law 's Tale, from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, is different from the rest of completed tales. Fate plays an important part in all of the poems but unlike the other tales, The Man of Law focuses heavily upon free will as well. The poem is about a young roman princess who is unknowingly thrown into a life of cruelty and violence, over religious quarrels, jealousies, and hate thought to be enacted by Satan. The theme of unrelenting calmness and obedience is also present in the piece, and this could be due to her being a true follower of Christ. No matter if she is treated to a life of pain, bitterness, and backstabbing but throughout she remains loyal to Jesus and God’s Plan. Unlike the other two poems, The Man of Law confronts the aspect of God’s plan and the choice of free will, it is almost as if this tale implies that God is ‘wyrd’, or fate, and he controls everything. Comparatively, the other two tales separate God and fate and then categorize them as two distinct forces who rule the universe justly and bring balance. Like some of the poems from the Exeter Book, The Man of Law is in a way a psalm which tells followers of Christ how to live their life, and follow him, for what on Earth is temporary, what in Heaven is Eternal.
Unlike Beowulf, The Wanderer labels wyrd as a force that is swayed by the person 's decisions and provides an outcome. In Beowulf wyrd is a seemingly independent force from God, who decides the fate of men and keeps universe in check.
Impending Doom The language and usage of various traditional Anglo-Saxon literary elements in “Beowulf,” translated by Charles W. Kennedy, help the reader to understand the purpose of the folk epic. When Beowulf arrives to kill Grendel’s mother in an underwater hall, he and his men see “on the rocky sea-cliff,/…slaughtered Æschere’s severed head./ The water boiled in a bloody swirling/ With seething gore as the spearmen gazed” (931-934).
The anglo-saxons have beliefs about fate and how people were destined to fulfill some of the legends. Many stories have fate as an underlying tone that impacts the flow of the article. “.... Heard how Grendel filled nights with horror and quickly commanded a boat fitted out….” (112-113) in the beginning you can infer someone will come along to defeat Grendel. The person destined to defeat Grendel is a young warrior named Beowulf. Beowulf is centered around fate and the inevitable results that are planned with any action.
In Beowulf, the most prominent theme is the duty. A duty to be fulfilled by the person that is assigned to. It gives characters in the poem unique identity because of their devotion to duty. This means the warrior must fulfill his obligations to protect the people of the land and risk his life for their king. It also applies to women, in Beowulf, a woman's duty is to entertain the men as well as to serve a symbol of peace.
· Highlight the places where Beowulf refers to fate. “The omens were good and they urged the adventure
It is evident that the Beowulf poem should not be viewed as a historical document, but it is hard to deny its connections to its context and its time. In this essay I will explore and compare the Norton critical edition of The Beowulf poem and the revised edition of the Poetic Edda. I will look into how the two correlate with each other, some of the common themes and ideals that are evident in the texts as well as how the
Taking risks is a necessary action to live a full life. Although many risks have unwanted consequences, they can also result in good consequences. The Deep, Beowulf, and the Challenger all address the idea taking risks can have positive outcomes. In the epic poem Beowulf, Beowulf takes one of the greatest risks, his life, to protect his people. Beowulf puts himself in danger simply by choosing to fight the Grendel, a huge man-eating monster that has been terrorizing Herot for twelve years.
A hero's journey is a pattern of narrative identities that appears in many dramas, storytellings, myths, and psychological development. The journey consist of twelve different steps and in the story Beowulf we read about the magnificent and rough journey that Beowulf and this men accomplish. Many people question if Beowulf is considered a hero and if what he did was good. The journey that he embarked on, leads me to believe that Beowulf is a hero and always will be. The first step in the hero's journey is called the “call to adventure” this is when something is disturbed from external pressure of from inner conflict.
Motivations The three cardinal motivations for Beowulf to fight the monsters. People often have very different reasons to do something than others. Sometimes, people wonder why others do the things they do.
If someone were to read Beowulf straight through and not think into any of the deeper meanings or symbolism in the story, the whole tale would come off as fairly superficial and typical. It would seem like just another story of a powerful hero slaying monsters and receiving lavish rewards in return. Going through the story in that fashion would be doing it a great disservice because there is so much more to Beowulf underneath all of the grandeur of the basic story. There are many recurring themes that hint at much deeper messages and even some darker, more nihilistic themes. As if ripping the arm off of a creature and then hunting down and killing its mother wasn’t already dark enough.
'Fate is not only present in Beowulf, but also in real life. Many aspects of our lives have already been pre-determined and we experience them every day. Although you can argue that we are the ones that ultimately decide our future; free will is correct instead of fate. Fate is still the main factor in our lives and is what drives most people including Beowulf. It is what fuels us in our journey that we call
Once upon a time, there was a marvelous warrior that was a hero to so many and king to some. In the story of Beowulf, the hero, Beowulf, must follow and go through the hero’s journey. The hero’s journey has twelve stages, or three acts. The stages go in the order: 1) The Call to Adventure, 2) Assistance, 3) Departure, 4) Trials, 5) Approach to the Inmost Cave, 6) Crisis, 7) Treasure, 8) Result, 9) Return, 10) New Life, 11) Resolution, and 12) Status Quo (Winkler). Since Beowulf is facing three different monsters, there is not only the story’s significant journey, but also multiple inside it.
In writing, authors use different types of tone. Tone is an expression of a writer's attitude toward a subject. An author may use specific words or phrases to convey their intended tone. The author of "Beowulf" uses a variety of tone to express their attitude towards certain characters and events. This author's tone adds more depth to the plot and provides entertainment for the reader.
The Anglo-Saxon society viewed fate as a must. “Fate always goes as it must.” as said in this quote from the poem. The role that fate played through out this poem is crucial. Considering how fate determines the climax in Beowulf.
Also, when fighting the dragon, he exclaims “I will stand, not run from his shooting flames, stand till fate decides which of us wins,” which demonstrates Beowulf’s courage, but like stated before, even with courage, if someone is doomed, then there’s nothing that can be done. These examples show that the Anglo-Saxon understanding of fate is not all too different from our modern understanding, but most importantly, it displays the
The objective of this chapter is to introduce The Canterbury Tales as an accessible and more so as an enjoyable read, while eliminating popular ideas of it being redundant. It introduces and contextualizes the text in the contemporary scenario of the fourteenth century and explains the themes as relevant in the twentieth century. It explains the female narrative voices as a voice of resistance to the traditional male narrative. 2.1. General Introduction: The Canterbury Tales and the Tradition of the English Language.