Beowulf And Anglo Saxon Society
The main concern of this essay is weather the epic poem "Beowulf" can supply us with an accurate, if somewhat idealized, picture of Anglo-Saxon society or is it perhaps the result of a later age's longing for a glorious past. I hope to show that although the events described in the poem are legendary, the setting, a pagan society governed by a heroic code of honour, discloses much about Anglo-Saxon society.
The poem "Beowulf" was composed most probably sometime between 700 and 750 A.D. by an unknown Englishman. The manuscript is not signed or dated so we have no way of determining precisely who the author was. Perhaps he was a Christian who loved the pagan heroic tradition of his ancestors and blended the values of the pagan hero with the Christian values of the time. It is also possible that the poem, having existed as part of the Anglo-Saxon oral tradition, was written down by a monk who tempered with it by adding Christian elements to the story. It may be hard to imagine this stirring, warlike and violent poem being set down by a man of peace in a monastery but we must remember that the Anglo-Saxon monks had the blood of warriors in them, they were the sons and grandsons of Vikings, and "Beowulf" is essentially a warrior's story. Although "Beowulf" was written by an Englishman in Anglo-Saxon (Old English) the plot is Germanic in origin and portrays the world of 6th century Scandinavians who, much like the Anglo-Saxons, were rigidly feudal, highly civilized, violent and newly Christian.
Germanic tribes, including the Angles, Saxons and Jutes invaded England in the time period from 450 to 600 A.D. Christianity was introduced in about 600 A.D. by which time the Anglo-Saxons were masters of all but the hilly fringes of Britain and the country was called England, the land of the Angles. By the time of the "Beowulf" poet Anglo-Saxon society was neither primitive nor uncultured rather it was well organized and included a large number of wealthy...
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