Virtue and Community in Beowulf Paper - Essay Example

? Virtue and Community in Beowulf Paper Virtue and Community in Beowulf Paper In order to cultivate an appreciation and understanding of the English classics, one requires studying mother tongue in reference to the original mode of speaking it. A number of writers tried to bring English language to life by reciting examples of Early Modern, Middle, and Old English in their respective dialects. In the Early Languages Aloud and Alive: The language of Beowulf, Chaucer, and Shakespeare (1936), the author revises and discusses the evolution of morphology and syntax. There is also included a dramatization of Beowulf and his portion along with a number of visits to literary sites that are vital to the study of English (Tolkien, 1936). This paper will seek to describe virtue and community in Beowulf. Additionally, it will also contain specific responses to the meaning of good in the world described by Beowulf, the relationship between individual prowess and ethical virtue, and the role played by language. Meaning of good in the world described by Beowulf One of the most important works of old English literature is the Anglo Saxon epic of Beowulf that deserves a well distinction due to its epic story telling of heroism. Another factor that makes this epic distinctive is the presence of themes describing the need to do good and its importance. Beowulf, who is a Scandinavian prince, seeks to do good by getting rid of the Danes belonging to monster Grendel who is a descendant of Cain. He also wills to do good by fighting the mother of Grendel and a Dragon. Given the fact that the author of the epic accords honorary a distinguished status, it is agreeable to say being honorable is good. Despite the idea that what defines most characters found in Beowulf is their status, this epic is unanimous as in addition to a character’s status, there is honor. In Beowulf, the importance of a character was not only a measure of rank in the community, but also a definition of good (Tolkien, 1936). Surprisingly, besides having mounds of wealth, ability to be at the forefront is also a definition of good in the community described by Beowulf. For instance, in Canto 1, the narrator of the story tells his story describing his wealth and importance as useless without the ability to do good by leading the Danes to such particular glory. Apart from that, he also describes his ability to portray a certain tendency while in the middle of the battle and the good to claim glory without taking lives. Due to the power to posses such lumps of wealth and compassion for the commoner, the community described by Beowulf defines good in terms of compassion and ability. The power to defend a community such as Beowulf defending the Danes is also a definition of good. This is because, upon fighting and defending the Danes, Beowulf accumulates wealth from companions du to his fame which, in turn, raises him to an archetypical hero. According to the epic, the community described by Beowulf defines goodness in terms of power to defend and ability to rise into leadership as a hero. The relationship between individual prowess or ability and ethical virtue in Beowulf The renowned writer of The Lord of the Rings identified the central theme of Beowulf as courage well before he received much acclamation of his own epic named hereof. Although other scholars went ahead to define courage with hundreds of different meanings, J.R.R Tolkien, the renowned writer defined courage as the virtue to do the right thing even within the face of complete defeat or loss (Tolkien, 1936). Unlike him, other scholars went further to describe courage with a range of definitions that include simple bravery and physical strength. With that respect, the community described by Beowulf the relationship between personal prowess and ethical virtue as resulting to do the right thing even if it means to overlook the will to win. The story by Beowulf ends with tragedy whereby all of his friends abandon him and he dies in the battle against the dragon. This tells us that his defeat is a sign of relationship between individual ability and ethical virtue since his defeat deems him a bleak making him a true hero. The community described by Beowulf asserts that every man has a link to his fate even though he is not aware of it. What he resolves to do indicates his outcome or consequence. This link to recklessness implies the belief that every single man in the community of Beowulf has a certain fate that is constant and present. It is certain but unknowable. During Dark Ages, life was harsh. The men of that time accustomed themselves to failure and loss. At some instant, it came to their attention that, no matter how they put more efforts, there was no certainty of success. Their means resolved to continued fate as their outcome (Tolkien, 1936). Apart from that, the only remaining thing that a man could resolve to do is to retaliate which according to the community described by Beowulf was an implication of dishonor. With respect to this vein, the relationship between personal prowess and ethical virtue in Beowulf lay upon the meaning of an outcome. The meaning of a community member and its communication In the poem, a person would be a member of a community when he shares ancestral lineage to the described community. For instance, the protagonist Beowulf was a Geats because he identified himself with them. The poem describes community structures led by Kings. Each King protected his territory from intruders. King Hroogar built a great wall, which his people could use for assemble. Prior to the intrusion of the Grendel, a monster, the people of King Hroogar were in celebration. The celebration is an indication that the community had social gatherings as well as ceremonies (Tolkien, 1936). Thus, each community in poem could identify with its people through social practices that promoted common interest. Another factor that describes how an individual belonged to a given community is the battles in the poem. Communities waged battles against fellow communities or against aliens. For instance, Grendel, the monster, waged war against the Dane community. The warriors of the dean community fought against the monster because it did not belong to their community. Second, it did not belong to the human race. The above identities could amount to conflict in the poem (Tolkien, 1936). The intervention of Beowulf and his men was critical to the Dane community because it saved them from the monster. The poem describes cultural activities that had different features. For instance, when Beowulf died, he was buried under the sea an attribute that other communities in the poem did not do. The funeral arrangement and the subsequent burial of the King Beowulf give a picture of cultural trends, which defined identity of the characters. For instance, the Danes buried their kings by providing them with earthly possession. This cultural trend did apply to other communities in the novel. The culture is an important aspect that the poet used in defining the communities. What is the role of the monster in defining the virtue of the community? The poet used the monster to project the difference between humankind and other creatures. When monster invaded the human territories, it threatened the existence of humankind as well as portraying human love. The communities in the poem united in fighting the monster. These communities perceived the monsters as evil beings that sought to devour humankind. For instance, Beowulf demonstrated bravery by risking fighting the monster that invaded the Grandel community. Further, he fought the dragon with the help of a female servant (Tolkien, 1936). This attributes demonstrate the union of man against evil activities. Since the monster was against God, it is probable that its fight against humanity was a demonstration of the devils attack against the human race. The description of the monster enables the reader to create a picture between difference in virtues between human beings and other creatures. Beowulf fought monsters because they interfered with the normal activities of human kind. The battle between human beings and the monster cement the role of God in the poem. The poem portrays the character of God during the invasion of the monster. The characters in the poem fear the monster and they believe that the intervention that they can receive must come from God. When Beowulf intervened when the monster invaded the Grendel kingdom, the community was not willing to fight, the monster because of they believed that the monster had supernatural powers. Moreover, When Beowulf went out to fight the dragon his community was not willing to give him support because of their fear they had. These two instances, helps the reader to realize the values of the communities described in poem (Tolkien, 1936). For instance, the love as a characteristic of humanity is evident through the sacrifice that King Beowulf did to King Hroogar when the monster attacked the kingdom. The role of language in Beowulf In the traditional sense, poetry contains no meter. As the writer concludes the epic, he begins with a summarized yet interesting elegiac passage honoring the dragon, consigning it, as well as Beowulf alongside those who could no longer exercise their might or greatness. The poet uses lovely language to emphasize on the beauty of the dragon together with its graceful movement. As the poet describes the beauty of the dragon, he illustrates the beast with magnificence worthy the march of a great hero in its own right. The poet uses these admiring words to strike a balance between and among himself, Grendel, and Grendel’s mother (Tolkien, 1936). In this case, language plays the role of portraying meanings and implications using figurative words, descriptive repute, and analytical device as well as imagery. In conclusion, the poet uses complex language while communicating these complicated concepts with the view of using Anglo Saxon rhythm to portray alliterate accented syllables pause to elaborate traditional sense of classical Latin and Greek Mythology. Beowulf makes use of a liberal technique, an Old English metaphor called Kennings to indicate instances where the poet refers to simple things using complicated names. For instance, the poet prefers to call a thing like sea as “whale road”. Beowulf is full of kennings with repeated alliterative meter that describe characters and objects as remarkably similar. Therefore, we can say language plays the role of describing both objects and characters as similar kennings. References Tolkien, J. (1936). The Norton Anthology of English Literature (pp. 1–23 and 26–97); the article by Tolkien (1936); and the video “Early English Aloud and Alive: The Language of Beowulf, Chaucer, and Shakespeare”. Read More