Critical essay “loyalty in “beowulf”

[pic]
Pedagogía en Ingles y traducción
Tania Ayala Córdova
Semestre V
Critical Essay
“LOYALTY IN “BEOWULF””
[pic]

The language and literature of Anglo-Saxon also known as “Old English” is the ancestor of what is now known as the English language. The usage of this language encompasses a period of approximately 700 years, between the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century, after thatthe Anglo-Saxon language spoken and written underwent a rough transition. During the 700-year Anglo-Saxon period of England, the language, literature and culture experienced heavy influence from various languages and dialects as Old Norse (a member of the related North Germanic group of languages spoke by Vikings who were occupying and controlling large tracts of land in northern and easternEngland, which came to be known as the Danelaw), Latin and Celtic languages.
The Anglo- Saxon was one of the first languages to be written and poetry is considered to be the essence of Old English literature that originally was transmitted orally from one generation to the next; the scops were the poets that achieve the assignment of tell epic stories probably accompanied by a harp. Most of theAnglo-Saxon authors are anonymous and one of the most important, remarkable and longest works is Beowulf. The poem take place in the late 5th century and was probably first composed in the 7th century. This heroic epic poem of 3,182 lines allows us to understand more deeply the Anglo-Saxon world. In my opinion, one of the major subjects of the epic poem Beowulf is the chief value of loyalty. Howeverthis theme is not descriptive, it is possible to find a lot of metaphors. So a deep and exhaustive reading would reveal us that this is the principle argument of the story.
The Beowulf’s poem is set in Scandinavia, Sweden and Denmark. And it narrates the story of a legendary Geatish hero named Beowulf that came to the aid of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes (Scyldings), whose great hall Heorot isharassed by a monster named Grendel descendant of Cain.
In my opinion, the first time that the narration shows the virtue of loyalty is when Hrothgar built Heorot in appreciation of his people and warrior's loyalty: “Fortune in battle was given then to Hrothgar and fame in war, so that, by the time the youth grew of age, his dear kinsfolk, a great following of young warriors, obeyed himgladly”.[1]
Every night, Hrodgar’s wife Wealhbeow, and the warriors of the kingdom spent their time singing and celebrating, but these parties and the noise annoyed the monster who lived in the marshes. Grendel, angered attacked the hall and carried off the sleeping Scylding warriors to eat them. As a result, Heorot was no longer used and its people became more and more preoccupied by Grendel’s harass whichlasted for twelve years. Beowulf heard about Hrothgar’s and Danes troubles and with his king's permission he gathered fifteen of his best men and leaved his homeland to help Hrodgar. Frome across the sea Beowulf and his men arrived to the Danes’ land, in that moment a coastguard stopped them demanding to know who they were and asking if they were friends or enemies. Beowulf answered: “We are ofthe kin of the Geat-folk and Hygelac’s heart –companion.[2]”, he also introduced himself as the son of Ecgtheow a man known for winning battles, and presented the reason of their arrival to this land: “We have come with kind intent to seek thy lord, the son of Healfdene…[3]”, “I, therefore, out of largeness of soul may counsel Hrothgar…[4]” , in this part of the story we can see two references tothe value of loyalty, first “heart –companion” shows Beowulf’s devotion and loyalty to his king Hygelac. Second “kind intent” and “largeness of soul may counsel” shows good intentions and outlined the loyalty of Beowulf to Hrothgar (the reason, there was a family debt. Years before Hrothgar came into aid Beowulf's father Ecgtheow, in time of need). After that Beowulf asked the coastguard to...