British works, many of which include heroic characters. Some of those heroes are Beowulf and Sir Gawain. Both of these characters are known as imminent heroes in their tales. A hero is someone that has made the large impact in the lives of people and created positive outcome from their actions. Though many poems have been written and yet forgotten, Beowulf is a well known epic poem about a hero named Beowulf. Beowulf is considered an “epic hero” and an epic hero is someone who does “epic” things
The tale of Beowulf set in 5th or 6th century Scandinavia represents the Anglo-Saxon culture in which it originated and what they valued. The story follows the life and adventures of Beowulf from wise prince to great king. The poem illustrates three main themes important to those people told through the adventures of the heroic Beowulf: strength, courage and honor. To understand the Anglo-Saxon culture and what they would call a warrior, you must understand the code of comitatus. The code in essence
ways. From Beowulf to Achilles, to the modern superhero, people view heroes with multiple contrasting viewpoints. Still there are quite a few similarities in what makes a modern hero a “hero”. What makes the universal definition of a hero though would have to be that it is someone who has had to have done something meaningful, that is concerned with the well-being of others, and puts themselves at some sort of risk. By these traits, a modern audience should take into consideration if Beowulf and Achilles
both are heroes in their own manner. The poems Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Beowulf each relate its own version of an epic hero, in which both strengths and weaknesses can
throughout the course of the poem. Loyalty was evidently a key value in Anglo-Saxon England, being incorporated into many other old English texts, such as Beowulf. Throughout the text Beowulf himself continually helps King Hrothgar, stating his loyalty with "Deað bið sella eorla/ gehwylcum þonne edwitlif! ", meaning "a warrior will sooner/die than live a life of shame". However, heroic loyalty not only existed in England during this period, but is also recorded in other works of ancient literature