What is the heroic code in Beowulf?
The characters in Beowulf abide by a heroic code that involves honor, hospitality, generosity, leadership, courage, strength, and loyalty. Let's look at this in more detail.
Beowulf, Hrothgar, and their men live in the Germanic warrior culture. They are focused on their honor, maintaining their good standing in the eyes of all through their brave deeds and wise words. Beowulf, as a young warrior, must demonstrate his strength and courage, as he does when he fights Grendel and Grendel's mother and wins. This brings him great honor, and Hrothgar recognizes that honor with appropriate praise and rich gifts.
Later in his life, Beowulf still holds to his code of honor when he wants to go out and fight the dragon single-handedly. He wants to win glory for himself as he did in days of old, but he does not take into consideration that he is now the king and has...
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greater responsibilities to his people than he did as a free, young warrior. His people are relying on him for protection and care, and he fails them.
Indeed, the role of a king forms a major part of the Germanic heroic code. Kings are to provide steady leadership for their men, giving an example of courage and practicality and proving their position by handing out plenty of gifts to their loyal warriors. Kings generously give their warriors food and drink, shares in the treasures captured in war, and sometimes even land. The men, in turn, give their loyalty and service to their king. The king also shows hospitality to guests, as Hrothgar does to Beowulf and his men, but he is also cautious, making sure that visitors are not hostile or deceptive.
Analyze the heroic ideal and paradox in Beowulf.
Several heroic ideals are mentioned immediately in Beowulf, particularly in the opening lines:
So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by
and the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness.
We have heard of those princes' heroic campaigns. (Heaney translation)
Among the heroic ideals suggested here and in the ensuing lines are the following:
- courage (2)
- heroism (3)
- skill in fighting (3)
- victory in battle (9-11)
- generosity (20-21)
- concern for his people (20-21)
- loyalty to God (72)
- loyalty to those who are loyal to him (72)
- restraint in the exercise of his power (73)
- providing for his loyal followers (80-81)
- loyalty to family (84-85)
Perhaps the most obvious paradox concerning heroism is that no matter how good a hero is, his death is inevitable. Not even the brave, generous, and loyal can escape mutability and death. This fact is implied in line 21 and is openly emphasized in lines 26-52. It is implied again in lines 54-64. The entire poem, of course, will emphasize this paradox: Beowulf, the great hero, will die just as surely as anyone else, and the poem that begins by describing one magnificent funeral will end by describing another one as well.
What is the nature of the Germanic heroic ideal in Beowulf?
The eponymous protagonist of the Old English poem Beowulf is a typical Germanic hero. First, he is from a noble family and is a great warrior. He is distinguished by enormous physical strength, skill in battle, and courage. These attributes are exemplified in his great battles against Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon, as well as an earlier story about his feats as a swimmer. The descriptions of the battles emphasize his courage and persistence in the face of great pain and his superhuman strength and endurance.
The epic also has a political or civic focus. Beowulf embarks on his quest as part of a matter of family debt to Hrothgar, and his initial discussions show him to be a skilled diplomat. His role in slaying the dragon also has to do with his responsibilities as king and civic duty rather than simply being an individualistic act. Much of the narration and dialogue emphasizes his close bonds with his men and his sense of duty.
Finally, he is quite concerned with reputation. Although there is a Christian overlay to the poem, fame is also presented as a sort of afterlife central to the nature of the hero. This fame both glorifies the hero himself and his family and associates.