Loyalty, Reputation, And Revenge In Beowulf

In every story, there has to be a hero and a villain, but the author tends to include “coded message” in their work of literature known as a theme. A theme is a lesson or a message in a literature work. Beowulf is an epic poem written by an anonymous person. Takes part of the medieval literature movement and cited as one of the most important works of Old English Literature. Written in England between the 8th and early 11th century. Beowulf is about a hero, defeating two monsters to save the Danes kingdom and later on fighting a dragon threatening his kingdom. The setting of Beowulf is around 500 A. D. in Southern Sweden. In the epic poem Beowulf, translated by John McNamara, three major themes: loyalty, reputation, and revenge influence the poem by having ripple effects.

One of the character was Beowulf. When Beowulf was king of the Geats, he did not let power turn him evil with power. “In the time I was given,/ I lived in my own land, ruling my people well,/ never turning to treachery or swearing to oaths contrary to right” ( Beowulf 90 ). He did not let his ambition of fame get the best of him. He was loyal to his kingdom and his people by doing the “moral” right things. He ruled with honor and fidelity for 50 years. To conclude Beowulf was a loyal ruler because he did not let power fever take his “moral” right thinking. The theme of loyalty has impact Beowulf through him being a trustworthy