Beowulf: The Foundational Ideology in Anglo Saxon’s Society—Glory
“My greatest happiness is to serve my gracious king and country and I am only envious of glory; for if it be a sin to covet glory, I am the most offending soul alive”. —Horatio Nelson
Back in the 5th century, the notion of countries had not emerged in the Anglo-Saxon society. There was no written law-codes to regulate the tribes. Instead, a powerful code of glory took the role to govern this ancient world. The code of glory served as the origin for three elemental ideals that prevailed in the Anglo-Saxon society: loyalty, bravery, and vengeance. Centuries ago, the great worriers were fundamentally motivated by glory to achieve heroic accomplishments and to cherish these key virtues emphasized by their cultures. Set in the Anglo-Saxon time periods, the epic poem Beowulf depicted the legendary stories of a wise and mighty warrior, who later became the great king of Geats. The epic deeds of Beowulf beautifully illustrated how glory was the intrinsic cause for these three values to exist in the Anglo-Saxon world.
One of the most significant virtues derived from the code of glory was loyalty. The ancient Germanic society was based on the concepts of fraternity, kinship, and comitatus. In the medieval ages, tribal members had intimate relationships with each other and kept close bonds with their ancestors. In the Anglo-Saxon social background, the sense of offices was less influential than that in modern society, for warriors would only follow leaders possessing noble qualities, not those who merely held entitlement from their positions. In the power structure of this world, the barbarian king was obliged to rule under the consultation of his thanes or knights, more commonly known as “Comitatus” (142-43) in their times. The king was also referred to as “The Ring Giver” (70) because his golden ring symbolized the strong bonds between the king and his “comitatus”. Upon receiving the rings, thanes swore allegiance to their king, who then bestowed them with jewelry, war gear, land and other precious items as rewards for their remarkable achievements. Rather than wealth, the treasures represented accumulation of glory and honor, which were the primary reasons why knights claimed loyalty to their kings.
Beowulf demonstrated substantial loyal deeds throughout the piece. After the monster, Grendel, destroyed Danish land, Beowulf was determined to sail across the sea to help the Danish King, Hrothgar. As Beowulf claimed, “it is with loyal and true intention that we come to seek your lord the son of Healfdene” (260). Beowulf felt a sense of loyalty towards Hrothgar, to whom his father, Ecgtheow, owed.
As Hrothgar recalled, “Ecgtheow acknowledge me with oaths of allegiance” (472), Beowulf’s father once pledged his allegiance to Hrothgar. In his younger years, Ecgtheow started a feud by killing Heatholaf, a member of the Wulfing tribe; Hrothgar had sent treasures to the Wulfings to end the feud for Ecgotheow, Beowulf’s father. Thus, Beowulf came to the land of Dane to extend the glory for his father by fulfilling the commitments and exhibiting his loyalty towards the Dane, even at the cost of his life: “This was my determination in taking to the ocean benched in the ship among my band of fellows…this vow I shall accomplish, a deed worthy of an earl. Decided otherwise here in this mead-hall to meet my ending-day!” (630) Many years later, after “the broad kingdom came by this turn into Beowulf’s hands. Half a century he ruled it, well” (2210), he fought his fatal battle with the grisly dragon who had devastated the land of Geats. However, “the band of picked companions did not come to stand about him, as battle-usage asks offspring of athelings; they escaped to the wood, saved their lives.” (2590).
All the warriors deserted Beowulf, yet “sorrow filled the breast of [only] one man. The bonds of kinship nothing many remove for a man who thinks rightly. This was Wiglaf…he remembered then the favors he had formerly bestowed on him…he could not then hold back”. (2600) The words “I shall stand by you” (2668) embodied devotion. Sadly, it was easy to make commitments, but difficult to remain loyal, especially under severe circumstances when fear, greed and other ugly sides of human nature prevailed. For this reason, fidelity became one of the most valuable qualities one could possess. Wiglaf was the only one who kept his promises, so he was the only one who deserved to be granted with the brilliant light of glory. In the end, Wiglaf won the faith among people and became the future king of Geats.
Bravery was also a fundamental characteristic that a qualified warrior was required to possess. The essence of bravery was to resist and master fear, for there was no way to cast off fear. The celebrated hero, Beowulf, understood that
there existed something truly important for him to fight, even at the cost of his life. Therefore, his courage overcame his dread even before developing into shape. In the epic poem, even though the ghastly monster, Grendel, was notorious for his cruelty and horror on the land of Dane, Beowulf still dared to come to Hrothgar’s aid to repel the demon and saved the Danish kingdom. As he confirmed with Hrothgar that “to you I now put one request, Royal Scylding, Shield of the South Danes, one sole favour that you’ll not deny me…that I alone may be allowed, with my loyal and determined crew of companies, to cleanse your hall Heorot.”
At the feast, before his battle with Grendel, Beowulf confidently offered to fight with Grendel unarmed, boasting that “I fancy my fighting-strength, my performance in combat, at least as greatly as Grendel does his; and therefore I shall not cut short his life with a slashing sword—too simple a business…we’ll at night play without any weapons.” As expected, Beowulf defeated Grendel. In addition, after Grendel’s mother came back to Heorot to seek revenge, Beowulf promised King Hrothgar to eliminate that source of evil. The gruesome lair of the monster was at the bottom of a rather dangerous mere. Although no one dared to get close to, except for the gallant warrior, Beowulf. At first, Beowulf was stuck in a deadly state, for he was not able to pierce her skin even a tiny bit while many sea monsters clawed and bashed at him. But, finally, composed and fearless, he managed to find a giant’s sword and “brought it down in fury to take her full and fairly across the neck, breaking the bones; the bald sheared through the death-doomed flesh. She fell to the ground.” (1560)
As he guaranteed, Beowulf eradicated all the evil forces and rescued the Danish people in the end. Bravery was the ultimate greatness in the day of Beowulf. One’s life would expand or shrink in proportion to his valor. By pursuing courageous endeavors, the life of a true warrior would not be ended by deaths but would shine with glory in the human history forever.
Revenge was a crucial component to the code of glory in the ancient times, as well. Instead of the modern concepts of jurisdiction or law, for barbarian tribes, foundation of justice or law codes were embodied in the form of vengeance in the Anglo-Saxon society. The barbarian tribes valued lives immensely. The ancient Germanic tribes strived to survive in the unstable edge of wars and turmoil. Starvation, disease and other natural disasters easily became fatal. To perish was more intolerable when lives were already so vulnerable and fragile. Thus, killing invoked wergild, a debt of blood between tribes.
The fraternity cultural background demanded revenge for the death of any tribe member. Vengeance was always taken through as a blood feud: two tribes had a strong hatred for each other, leading to an endless battle lasing for generations until the grudge escalated into ruin for all. The previous murder of the tribe member or the vindictive actions from the last generation that continued could all be causes for feuds. For instance, after Beowulf slaughtered Grendel, the bard sang a saga of a feud between the Frisians and the Danes at feast in Heorot. In the tale, the Danes lost a bloody battle to Finn. As a result, the Danish leader, Hnaef, was killed and the Danish princess, Hildeburh, was married to Finn as a peace pledge. Though defeated at first, the Danes rebelled against Finns, slaid their enemies, and finally returned to their homeland.
Obviously, vengeance could not be the final solution to the problem. No one won in feuds. These relentless practices made both families suffer from countless deaths and grievous loss. However, vengeances were highly common in ancient Germanic culture, because the faithful warriors desired to regain the lost honor for their tribes by engaging in the incessant feuds. In Anglo Saxon social background, every individual had strong ties with each other in their tribes, which was similar to that of a large family. The life of every tribal member was closely interconnected together and highly precious. Failing to protect any one of the family members was considered as had broken commitments to the clan and all its other members, which led to weakened combat power of the tribe. Such resembled a huge shame to all members of the community, for the death of a tribal member embodied the gone glory that generated profound anguish within the tribe. Therefore, warriors chose to restore the past glory by revenging against the repulsive force.
The great affliction permeating the tribe should be purged with the righteous vengeance. As mentioned before, after the destructive dragon “began to vomit flames and burn the bright dwellings; the blazing rose skyward…the flying scourge did not mean to leave one living thing” (2320), as the formidable king of Geats, Beowulf decided to punish the despicable worm for his wrongs. To protect his people and to defend his kingdom, his combat against the dragon brought death to Beowulf himself at last. As in his famous speech before the battle, “battles in plenty I ventured in
youth; and I shall venture this feud and again achieve glory, the guardian of my people, old though I am, if this evil destroyer dares to come out of his earthen hall!” (2510). The death of Beowulf was not the end of his honorable life, for his glorious undertakings and considerable prestige would last for eternity as heritage to his descendants.
With no functioning states, the ancient Germanic tribes relied on the system of honor to enforce the rules of their culture and maintain their lives in an orderly and stable way. Even though the barbarian tribes lived in seemingly primitive and coercive conditions, their code of glory created an attractive world that possessed qualities essential in their time: loyalty, valor and vengeance. Revered deeds were performed, ferocious battles were fought, and heroic warriors were sacrificed, all to acquire, to revitalize, or to retain glory. The code of glory had formulated a way of life relatively unique to the Anglo-Saxon Society. The virtues of the age would be passed on through tales by songs and poets, yet the true spirit of chivalry remains in the legends.