Old English Literature And Poetry Essays Examples For College & High School Students in PDF

1223 total results

An Analysis of The Hero in Beowulf and Sir Gawain Characters (769 words, 2 pages)

Whos The Hero? Beowulf and Sir Gawain are both very brave characters. There are many similarities between the two. More numerous than the similarities are the differences. The differences between the two characters are like night and day. According to the dictionary, a hero is a man or boy of ... Read More

A Comparison of the Canterbury Tales and Beowulf in Literature (574 words, 2 pages)

The Canterbury Tales CharacterKnightBeowulf Quest- fights religious wars - fights for god - fights for the good of others- kills evil things - fights in order to have bragging right - fights for the good of others Societys View- most admired person of all the tales - seen as a ... Read More

The Role of Faith in the Poem Beowulf and the Play Macbeth (2059 words, 4 pages)

Fate plays a significant role in the Old English epic poem Beowulf and William Shakespeare's play Macbeth.. The major events of the poem, such as the three killings by Beowulf and his own death, are said to have been predestined. In Macbeth, fate is so significant that it is personified ... Read More

An Analysis of Ideals and Values of Rome in the First Century and Britain in Eighth Century with a Focus on Beowulf and Augustus Personalities (1948 words, 3 pages)

Heroic qualities have always been debatable but historians tend to agree that the qualities of a hero are a reflection of the values of the society. Augustus and Beowulf are two individuals revered as heroes during their own time. Both sustained their share of criticism but still managed to come ... Read More

The Role and Purpose of the Queen in Beowulf and Grendel (1500 words, 5 pages)

Role of Queen in Beowulf Grendel In both texts, Beowulf and Grendel, the main purpose of the Queen's are to serve the courts as "weavers of peace". In Grendel however, Queen Wealththeow is described in much greater detail and serves a further purpose. The reader gains insight to a part ... Read More

An Analysis of the Epic Poem Beowulf (1515 words, 2 pages)

Analysis on BeowulfI have just completed the reading of Beowulf, which was translated by Burton Raffel. 1) Beowulf is an extremely exciting and fascinating story about a character who lived in medieval Europe. The shocking thing for me about this work was to find out that it is the earliest ... Read More

The Meaning and an Analysis of Kenning in Beowulf (1381 words, 5 pages)

Kenning A Kenning is a metaphorical phrase or compound word used to name a person, place, thing, or event indirectly. Examples Twelve winters of grief for Hrothgar, king Of the Danes, sorrow heaped at his door By hell-forged hands. ( Beowulf, 147-149) The word in bold red print is an ... Read More

An Analysis of the Anglo-Saxon Poems Beowulf, The Seafarer, and The Wanderer (1989 words, 3 pages)

"Do help your son if you can! Go to Olympus, pray to Zeus if you have ever pleased him and served him by word or deed!...See if he will help the Trojans and drive the Achaians back to their ships with m slaughter!" (The Iliad pg. 18) Homer composed the ... Read More

A Story of the Peoples Savior in Beowulf (1357 words, 2 pages)

Sir Gawain existed in late medieval England, where romance and folklore was prevalent, while Beowulf lived in the times when the Anglo-Saxons migrated, hence the narrators visions both differed from what they believed constituted a true hero. Beowulf written as an epic poem, dictates the idea of a hero as ... Read More

A Comparison of Heroism of Today and Heroism in Beowulf (515 words, 1 pages)

Ms. Quinn British Literature 11 October 1999 Heroism In this age the only way to be classified as a hero is to do something charitable, or standing up for your political beliefs. Our society no longer accepts the war aspect of being a hero. If someone were to single handedly ... Read More

An Analysis of the Three Criteria That Determine Whether a Sidekick Is Beneficial for Heroes Like Gilgamesh and Beowulf (817 words, 1 pages)

Can every hero do everything on his own? From comic superheroes like Batman and Robin to athletes like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippin, the second banana has always been there to support the lead character. Depending on the situation, the contributions from a sidekick can be very beneficial but the ... Read More

The Character of Grendel in John Gardner’s Novel and the Epic Poem Beowulf (658 words, 1 pages)

Grendel Vs. Grendel In the epic poem Beowulf, Grendel is seen as pure evil and nothing more. He brings bad things and he kills loved ones. The epic poem just shows him as a monster who needs to be killed. In John Gardners novel, Grendel, the monster is showed as ... Read More

A Comparison between two Cultural Heroes – Beowulf and Gilgamesh (1186 words, 2 pages)

Beowulf Vs. Gilgamesh The two cultures I chose to compare heroic values for are the ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Anglo-Saxon cultures. The texts I used in the comparison are Gilgamesh for Mesopotamia and Beowulf for Anglo-Saxon. Although they posses many similar heroic characteristics they also differ greatly. Beowulf is the ... Read More

The Christ-Like Figure in the Epic Poem Beowulf (617 words, 2 pages)

BEOWULF AS A CHRIST-LIKE FIGURE The epic poem, Beowulf, recounts the tale of a man named Beowulf who sacrifices his own safety to save the Danes from two evil dragons. Then, years later, Beowulf risks his life yet again to save his own people from a dragon. Throughout the story, ... Read More

A Comparison of Two Different Heroes – Beowulf and Superman (3738 words, 5 pages)

Beowulf and Superman A hero is defined in classical mythology as a man, especially the son of a god and a mortal, who is famous for possessing some extraordinary gift. Beowulf, the title character of an epic poem and Superman, a more modern day hero are both prime examples. Beowulf ... Read More

The Worldly View of the Original Epic Poems Beowulf and Grendel (2310 words, 4 pages)

Beowulf and Grendel The original Epic was obviously Paganistic due to the time period of its creation. But, as time wore on, the rewriting and touching up of the manuscripts by various sources including religious monks, caused the characters to have slight Christian characteristics. These Christian themes have become very ... Read More

A Comparison of Beowulf and Sir Gawain as Medieval Heroes (1195 words, 3 pages)

The ideals embodied in Beowulf and Sir Gawain are similar and they are different. They both portray the same image heroes whose goals are aimed at saving the society. As long as their characters match the views of the social convention, they are seen as heroes. Both Beowulf and Sir ... Read More

A Look at the Anglo-Saxon Era in the Recorded Epic Poem Beowulf (703 words, 1 pages)

The earliest recorded epic poem, Beowulf, was anonymously written during the Anglo-Saxon era (approximately 700AD). The Anglo-Saxons admired epic heroes who upheld the ethics of their society through exemplary leadership, loyalty, strength and bravery. These epic heroes prevailed over insurmountable odds, and were glorified by the people who progressed because ... Read More

The Difference between Beowulf and Modern-Day Heroes (643 words, 1 pages)

Imagine living in the year 700 A.D. The evenings entertainment is a poet, and he tells the story of Beowulf. Beowulf is an all-around hero, and he dazzles the audience with his determined nature and vows to right wrongs. Now fast-forward to the year 2002. The evenings entertainment is a ... Read More

An Analysis of the Anglo-Saxon Epic Beowulf (992 words, 4 pages)

Beowulf - Analysis of the Epic- The Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf is the most important work of Old English literature, and is well deserved of the distinction. The epic tells the story of a hero, a Scandinavian prince named Beowulf, who rids the Danes of the monster Grendel, a descendent of ... Read More

An Analysis of the Epic Story Beowulf (703 words, 3 pages)

Beowulf is the epic story of a young hero who battles the monster Grendel and his mother. Beowulf, a prince of the Geats, the son of Ecgtheow who voyages to Heorot, the hall of Hrothgar, king of the Geats and the great grandson of the hero . There at Heorot, ... Read More

A Summary of Events in the Epic Story Beowulf (3046 words, 8 pages)

Beowulf begins with the story of the first king in the Danish dynasty, Scyld Sceafing. The king was abandoned as a baby and later went on become a successful, powerful leader of the Danish people. Following the death of Scyld Sceafing, his son Beowulf (not the Beowulf of this story) ... Read More

Beowulf Portraying Christ as a Warrior (288 words, 1 pages)

Beowulf The epic poem Beowulf, one of the sources for a Western paradigm portrays Christ as a warrior. The Anglo-Saxon tradions emphasises Christainity as a herioc code, yet sometimes contradicting to traditional Christain values. Is Beowulf a Christain poem? Luke 114. Forgiveness, an important virtue in a Christains life. When ... Read More

A Comparison of Augustus and Beowulf as Leaders and Heroes (2643 words, 3 pages)

Augustus and Beowulf are two great champions, idols, gallant, bold, courageous creatures. To sum it up in one word any historian would argue that these two are famed heroes. The word hero means a figure in mythology and legend renowned for exceptional courage and fortitude. Many aspects of each ones ... Read More

The Epitome of Heroism in Beowulf (547 words, 1 pages)

Beowulf A hero is a person noted for their act of courage and nobility of a purpose. There is a hero in the story Beowulf. In Anglo-Saxon literature Beowulf is described to be a perfect hero who fights for his people and vanquishes evil with his extraordinary abilities to bring ... Read More

Good versus Evil in Beowulf (1518 words, 3 pages)

"Good vs. Evil" in Beowulf Beowulf is longest and greatest early Anglo-Saxon poem which was composed in England sometime in the eighth century AD by a literate scop. This poem was created in the oral poetic tradition. This poem is considered as an epic because it is a long narrative ... Read More

The Role of Wiglaf as Beowulf’s Warrior in The Poem “Beowulf” (505 words, 1 pages)

Wiglaf, along with Beowulfs other warriors, watches Beowulf initiation his battle against the dragon. WHen the fight seems to be turning against Beowulf, however, all of the warriors except Wiglaf -flee. Wiglafs purpose in the poem, however , is more than simply someone to help Beowulf. Wiglaf is the model ... Read More

The Victory of Beowulf over Grendel as an Example of a Heroic Deed (327 words, 1 pages)

What truly makes a person a hero? In todays society, a hero is portrayed as someone who stands up against what is wrong and triumphs over it. Although I do agree with the previous statement, I believe it takes an even bigger hero to stand up against what is unjust, ... Read More

An Analysis of Dynamics between the Characters of Beowulf and Grendel in Beowulf (1135 words, 2 pages)

Beowulf, without a doubt, accurately presents the symolism in the battle of good verses evil. Sense biblical times, stories have been written portraying a well respected, heroic figure defending his people, as well as himself against wickedness, and all that immortality entails. In most cases the good conquer the inferior. ... Read More

An Analysis of the Pagan World in the Epic Poem Beowulf (551 words, 2 pages)

The epic poem of Beowulf blends aspects of the pagan world - such as the belief in fate and the importance of being remembered - with aspect from the Christian world. The author writes about the values of the pagan world, while, at the same time, portraying Christian morality through ... Read More

Old English Literature and Poetry Essay Examples