Beowulf, an epic hero from sixth century Scandinavia, is truly the embodiment of the ideals of his time. In his adventures he shows off the qualities at that time revered as heroic. Truly Beowulf is the quintessence of the Anglo-Saxon man of that era. He displays many qualities that show some of the conflicts of the era. Proud and humble, Christian and pagan, Beowulf’s character encompasses many seeming contradictions. One of the oldest stories still known to man, handed down orally from generation to generation, Beowulf still remains true to his time and to his culture.
In his journeys Beowulf’s conduct is flamboyant and self-assured to the point of being pompous. In the time when this epic was first told though being that self-assured was not a bad thing. Where as today anyone boasting that their “days of youth had been filled with glory” and that they could single-handedly do
Still for all the higher ideals of this epic hero the reason that he was so glorified was very simple. His strength was astounding and it was the root of all his triumphs. He is many times called the strongest of all men. Though the poem states Hrothgar as a noble, wise, and benevolent ruler only wanting good for his people he was no hero because he lacked the necessary physical pre-requisites. Perhaps in the minds of these early Englishmen his strength was a sign of his god-given power, but still he never would have been the hero he was with only his honor and fealty.
Perhaps the most important virtue in this world of newly blossoming Christianity was Beowulf’s devotion to god, in a very pagan setting nonetheless. Throughout the narratice, all of Beowulf’s victories are attributed either directly or indirectly to god, nowhere as clearly as in his fight with Grendel’s mother. “Holy God, who
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