During the 6th Century, storytellers told stories of heroes and culture from their time. By the time stories began to be written down in the 8th century, the only surviving epic poem was Beowulf, which depicted the warrior culture of medieval England and Scandinavia. The poem follows the life, from childhood to death, of a warrior named Beowulf and simultaneously reflects the values of the society during this time period. Throughout the poem, many of the warrior culture's values are brought to attention, but the most significant to recur throughout this poem is generosity. Generosity is the single most important value embraced by the warrior culture, as it is absolutely necessary for the society's stability.
Throughout the poem, there is one specific scene that portrays how crucial generosity is to the warrior culture. This specific scene is when Hrothgar realizes that Beowulf would one day be king and in order to stress the importance of generosity, specifically gift giving, he warns him about the mistakes of King Heremod. Hrothgar lived through Heremod's reign and expects Beowulf to learn and understand the true values of the culture by listening to his lecture. He states:.
"Heremod was different, .
the way he behaved to Ecwala's sons.
His rise in the world brought little joy.
to the Danish people, only death and destruction. .
He vented his rage on men he caroused with,.
Killed his own comrades, a pariah king.
Who cut himself off from his own kind,.
even though Almighty God had made him.
eminent and powerful and marked him from the start.
for a happy life. But a change happened, .
he grew bloodthirsty, gave no more rings.
to honour the Danes. He suffered in the end.
for having plagued his people for so long:.
his life lost happiness.
So learn from this.
and understand true values. I who tell you.
have wintered into wisdom" (1709-1725).
In the warrior culture presented in Beowulf, a king gives gifts to his loyal subjects and in return, his loyal subjects are obligated to serve him and follow him into battle.
