Ideals of Beowulf's Society

If the hero of a heroic epic generally embodies the ideals of a culture, than I think the culture that Beowulf resided in had its ideals centered around loyalty, bravery/heroism, and power. All throughout the poem these values are alluded to in various situations.

When Hrothgar asks Beowulf to kill Grendel and he succeeds in killing both Grendel and his mother, the poem mentions how Hrothgar and Beowulf honor and praise one another and how a pact of loyalty is made. Loyalty is later alluded to when Beowulf’s crew leaves him to fight the dragon singlehandedly. Only Wiglaf remains loyal to Beowulf, and he later rebukes the ones who fled when they later return to see what happened. Wiglaf even goes so far as to tell them that they “shall become wanderers without land-rights/ as soon as athelings over the world/ shall hear the report of how you fled,/ a deed of ill fame. Death is better/ for any earl than an existence of disgrace!” (2884-2888).

Bravery and heroism are obviously a huge part of the values of Beowulf’s society, otherwise we would have no story….The whole poem basically centers around the brave deeds of Beowulf and the endless praise he receives for his heroism.

Overall, I think the biggest value in Beowulf’s society is power. The whole poem constantly makes references to various power struggles. Grendel was only feared as long as he was the strongest. When Beowulf defeated him, however, he became the one that everyone honored. Even the king used his power in a way when he showered Beowulf with gifts and made a loyalty pact with him so Beowulf would remain a “guardian” to the people. It seems like the various power struggles illustrate how the society was organized at this time, that is, that military strength and bribery seemed to be what controlled people best.