Boasting In Beowulf Essay

In the era when Beowulf was told, the only way to preserve the history of heroes were oral stories. Oral stories were the only source of information in Beowulf’s time period as shown in the poem Beowulf. Societies were built around heroes and their famous deeds, and the only way to preserve a warrior’s heroic nature was to tell stories with elaborated and exaggerated details. Therefore, these stories had become a way to boast about a warrior’s accolades.
In the poem, it is evident that boasting is a way of asserting power and dominance on others in Beowulf’s society. In a way, boasting becomes essential to warriors in combat. This is exemplified when Beowulf boasts about his father’s prestige. He announces to the Danes that he is the son of Ecgtheow, a noble warrior-lord (Page 21). Although the Scyldings may not know who Ecgtheow is, they are still influenced by the fact that Beowulf is a son of some powerful and famous man. Adding onto his already boastful statement, Beowulf says that he can show Hrothgar a way to deafeat his enemy (Page 21). This helps assure the Scyldings of Beowulf’s power and allows him to enter the Danes’ territory. In Beowulf, boasting is a way to make a promise to another. Listeners are persuaded to believe that the boaster is reliable due to his confidence

For this reason, their words are more powerful than anyone else in society. However, contemporary public figures have their differences too. They don’t have to influence a person to believe in their ideals by boasting. Instead, they use the public media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to shape the way the public thinks. In Beowulf, it is common decorum to boast about an individual’s accomplishments. Conversely, contemporary figures try not to boast to avoid negative criticism from the public because aggrandizing oneself can be seen as