Anglo Saxon Beliefs And Values

"'And if death does take me, send the hammered/ Mail of my armor to Higlac, return/ The inheritance I had from Hrethel, and he/ From Wayland. Fate will unwind as it must!'" Beowulf’s quote shows the characteristics he poses. These characteristics are adapted from the Anglo-Saxon and their values. During the 6th century many tribes that inhabited much of Europe, including the Anglo-Saxons, had many different beliefs and values. The Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain from Germany, taking advantage of the Roman World and eventually settled most of Britain bringing with them their values and beliefs. Anglo-Saxons were warriors. Children in Anglo-Saxon society learned how to become skilled warriors. They were also skilled storytellers. The belief in Anglo-Saxon society was that one of the only ways to have an afterlife was to have fame through one of the songs or poetry that was told throughout the land. There was no belief in a heaven or anything similar. The Anglo-Saxons worshiped Gods and believe in omens. Another belief was unavoidable fate. When they settled the Britain land, they brought with them these values and beliefs. As a result of living among Romans they adapted some of the Roman beliefs and values. A Roman belief was in an afterlife such as
heaven. The Anglo-Saxons slowly adapted this belief into the society. In the epic poem Beowulf, Beowulf slowly shows how the Anglo-Saxon society changed. He changes as an epic hero throughout the poem. In the beginning, Beowulf was a strong warrior with non-human like qualities; he stands out above the rest of the people. He was slightly cocky and boastful about his abilities, but he could back up anything he bragged about with his skill. Beowulf would defeat any monsters that embodied dark destructive powers and inflicted people anywhere and on any land. If Beowulf felt that he was extremely qualified to assist people from any land he would. This happened when he encountered Grendel. Beowulf felt that he was qualified to help and the omens were good for him to travel to the land and battle with Grendel. The belief in omens is an Anglo-Saxon belief. The Anglo-Saxons did what was asked of them without expectations of a rewards and riches. Beowulf was the same way, when he defeated Grendel the Geats offered him a reward but he turned it down because he had no expectations of that when he agreed to go defeat Grendel. Toward the end of the epic poem, Beowulf wasn’t as strong as he had once been, however, he was still as boastful and cocky making everyone think that he still was. He almost had to be because he was an epic hero and had to meet society's requirements. In today’s society we have different requirements for an epic hero.
In modern America, society wants the epic hero to be well educated, strong, dependable and have good wealth. In examples of epic heros today most have flaws; very few are perfect. To have a perfect epic hero in todays society is almost wrong. Society wants people to accept that being perfect is unheard of. This is why in today's society the epic heros have flaws. In America today most peoples beliefs are religion based. Being the melting pot of the world there are multiple religions in the nation. This factor makes the definition of a modern american epic hero have many different traits such as wealth, strength, education and
dependability. Many religions have different requirements of an epic hero. Beowulf was a strong warrior and stood above all other people with his non-human like qualities. These were the standards in society that were held to become an epic hero. Where as in today’s time epic heros had different requirements that have to be complied with to be characterized as an epic hero. Societies define epic heros and their character traits. Different societal value different traits which brings about many different types of epic heroes.