Beowulf Theme

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Within the epic poem, Beowulf, written by an anonymous writer in the Middle Ages, there are three major interpretations of the poem’s meaning. In the poem an extraordinary man seeking fame, Beowulf, battles and defeats three monsters that any other man would surely lose to. In his third battle with a ruthless dragon, Beowulf is fatally wounded. While he approaches his death, he appoints one of his warriors, Wiglaf, as leader. The three themes that are commonly brought up in this poem are the importance of community, the factor of evil always overcoming good, and the belief that no good things last forever. The most logical interpretation is the importance of community. The poem emphasizes celebrations of victory rather than the actual fights, puts many words to how horrible the warriors that fled are, and shows how Grendel kills because he is excluded from community. As described by Grant Voth, This poem consists of 3200 lines, 500 of which include battles. This is a small amount relative to the total, especially when the poem is based on fighting. The majority of lines consist of the celebrations after victories. I believe the writer wanted this to be shown that happiness within a community, and an overall sense of community, is more important that any …show more content…

The handpicked, mighty warriors that Beowulf appointed to be in his army fled in fear, and once the dragon was defeated the cowardly warriors were humiliated and made worthless. Their humiliation was strongly emphasized in a prodigious 27 lines. I believe the writer included this hefty speech given by Wiglaf because the warriors and their leader are a community. The community is eradicated when they flee the battle. The two Anglo-Saxon values we spoke about are courage and loyalty. These two principles are both abandoned when the warriors flee, and the sense of community is broken when the principles are

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