Fame, Kingship, Fate and God in Beowulf
The Anglo-Saxons were a people who lived in and ruled England from the fifth century AD until the Norman Conquest. They were a people who valued courage and leadership. They lived under kings who were "keepers of gold" and were guarded by their loyal thanes (knights). They were a Pagan culture until the Normandy conquistadors came. They believed in fate and believed the only way to live forever was if you had fame. In the Anglo-Saxon book, Beowulf, there was a combination of many different people. The characters in Beowulf are defined by their status. Their status was in form of their fame and accomplishments. Beowulf was a very famous warrior, who sails to the Danes to kill a monster who is murdering their people. Beowulf kills Grendal, Grendal's mother and a dragon throughout the entirety of the story. Every time he receives more fame and more glory. Beowulf became a king. He was a great king who received honor and loyalty from his men. Although, during the fight with the dragon Beowulf's men run away and as a result Beowulf dies. The book claims that Beowulf had fate against him in his last battle against the dragon, but also says that Beowulf had Christian morals. By having two conflicting religions (paganism and Christianity) it makes the story more interesting. This book is composed of four main characteristics: fame, kingship, fate, and God, which play very important roles throughout the book.
In Beowulf the Anglo-Saxons longed for fame. To them fame meant immortality. For example, the narrator says, "But Beowulf longing only for fame, leaped into battle" (Raffel 1529). To Beowulf the only reason to risk his life is a battle, is so he can have his moments of fame, hence immortality. Even if a character gains fame, they will always be fighting to receive more. After Beowulf becomes king one of his servants says, "Beloved Beowulf, remember how you boasted, once, that nothing in the world would ever destroy your fame: you fight to keep in now, be strong and brave, my noble king, protecting life and fame together" (2586). So even though Beowulf had fame, he had to keep fighting and being successful in order to protect and keep his fame.
to land he managed to kill nine sea monsters with his bare hands and still
Beowulf was a great king in many ways based on the Anglo-Saxon values. One example is when Beowulf showed when he was courages. When Beowulf decided to get invoked with Grendel, a monstrous man, in a battle, it was a big deal because it was thought to be that Grendel had more courage; things turned out to be
"p" sound is line 160, "From my prince, no permission from my people for your
Was the story of Beowulf’s battle between good and evil a reflection of Christ battling Satan? There are 3 major battles within Seamus Heaney's edition of the epic poem Beowulf all of which earn Beowulf some heroic status for saving the town from the evil antagonists that lurk, but is there a deeper meaning behind these battles than just an old tale? Is there some metaphor we are supposed to perceive? Throughout Beowulf there are a lot of different themes to pick and choose from, some interesting and more prevailing ones are that of pride vs. humility and sacrifice vs. selfishness. Beowulf for example is very proud but at the same time humbles himself and offers his credit to the Lord. The bible states in Jeremiah 29:11 ‘“I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”’ Seamus Heaney portrays Beowulf as a Christ-like figure to spread the ideals and values of Christianity and God’s Love to the audience.
Much like the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide involved the use of concentration camps and violations against natural and human rights. Through the methods of destroying the Armenians, many of them were burnt, drowned in the Black Sea, or poisoned. Despite these horrific events, the Armenian Genocide remained as an undiscussed topic worldwide because once a genocide became evident, other nations were expected to step up and help. In a matter of a few years, the Armenian population had decreased by nearly half of their population due to the uncivil acts of displacement, murders, famine, and more. The Armenian Genocide took place because the Turks felt the Armenians were jeopardising their power because their religion conflicted with the nations bordering them, the Armenians were demanding an abundance o...
An epic is a long narrative poem on a serious subject. It usually is about
According to Fisher and Ochsenwald, “600,000 or more Armenians (about 40 percent of the Ottoman-Armenian population) perished,” 1 during the 1915 deportations and massacres of the Armenians. This is not the first time the Armenians found
The Ottoman Empire expanded to take control of the Caucasus region of Eurasia. The leaders of the Ottoman Empire were Muslim while the Armenians, who were apart of the Caucasus region, were Christian. This created many tensions between the two races and started a long chain of human rights violations. Since the Armenians were under control of the Ottomans, the Ottomans made many laws that were unequal and unjust for the Armenians, such as increased taxes. “The Ottoman Empire at the time had an unstable border with Russia, who were Christians, so they were always suspicious of the Armenians betraying them.” (History.com par 4) Eventually, the Ottoman Empire was having a downfall which made them resent the Armenians more which led to the 1894-1896 massacre of Armenians. “Villages and cities were sacked, hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed.”
The Armenian Genocide was the Muslim Ottoman Empire’s attempt to exterminate all of the Christian Armenians who were living in the Ottoman Empire in the early 1900s. Nationalism was rising and many nations wanted to become their own state: one of these nations included the Christian Armenians. The Ottoman’s then accused the nation of supporting Russia’s plans against the powerful empire. The Ottoman’s then slaughtered up to 1.2 million innocent Armenians. There is a current debate about whether the international countries had done enough to respond to the genocide occurring under the Ottoman Empire’s rule. Even though other nations, such as The United States, Germany, and Britain, had convincing excuses to not try to stop the Armenian Genocide.
To qualify as an epic poem, Beowulf reflects the values of the culture in which it was created. The Anglo-Saxon culture and the poem share many of the same values. They shared a heroic ideal that included loyalty, strength, courage, courtesy, and generosity. Like all epic poems Beowulf is a long narrative work that tells the adventures of a great hero and also reflects the values of the society in which it was written. Both Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxons believed in those qualities as an individual.
The Ottoman Empire once was an enormous however it began to decline throughout the years. Throughout the chaos of World War One, a Turkish nationalist group known as the young Turks wanted to bring back the vast empire by purifying their people of the Armenians which were a Christian minority group. This slowly gained momentum and more people began to agree that they had to cleanse their people. When they started treating the Armenians so badly was when Armin t. Wegner started taking pictures of what was going on. His pictures showed the truth of what was going on, however, the Turkish government tried covering them up. This didn't stop Wegner because he wanted to show everyone what was going on with the Armenians.
Many Armenians were killed due to the Turkish government greed. The Turkish government wanted to unify all the Turkish people by creating a new empire with one language
Beowulf, written between the 8th and 10th centuries, is an epic poem set in southern Sweden. The poem illustrates the Anglo-Saxon’s strong belief in the heroic code. The loyalty between the warrior and his king bound the culture together. The warrior was the ultimate hero who represented strength and courage. Beowulf, the hero in the poem, illustrates the Germanic principles of the heroic code. Through the battles and character interactions, Beowulf converges loyalty, strength, courage and forgiveness into the hero archetype.
Throughout history and all over the world, there have been many crimes against humanity. Race and religion are two of the most common reasons for targeting a group of people. One example of racism leading to these crimes is the Armenian Genocide, also known as the Armenian massacres. From 1894- 1896, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Abdul Hamid II, ordered a series of violent military operatio...
“Teen pregnancy went way down in the ‘90s, and 75 percent of it was because of an increased use of contraception.”(Al Franken). If teenagers learn about methods of birth control they can use it to their advantage if these actions are what they choose to apply themselves to. Many parents think if students learn about birth control they will start engaging in intercourse, birth control should become part of the school curriculum because once students understand how to prevent pregnancy and STD’s than the rates in teens will decrease and students should know all the options of prevention.