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The Importance Of Kingship In Beowulf

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Medieval texts from various cultures, historical or literary, share the same thematic interest in kingship. This interest is exemplified by evidence found in historical documents and such literary works as the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf. In the times of the Anglo-Saxons, the quality of your king was the quality of your loyalty. A good king had knights that would be loyal to him. Beowulf 's job as a king was to "keep" the warriors and their treasure. Are Beowulf 's sacrifices and his bravery good enough to call him a great king? To reflect this model of kingship in this period, Beowulf tends to emphasize wisdom in national political crises, despite an obvious admiration for kings who pursue the glory of the old Germanic heroism.

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Beowulf had accumulated so much fame that throughout the world people knew of him and his accomplishments. Fame was so very important to the Anglo-Saxon 's that they would give up their lives and the lives of others if only to receive it for a minute. Kingship was the bases of your community, if you had a terrible king you will have terrible living conditions. Fate played a role in everything the Anglo-Saxons ever did, be it a battle or what they were going to have for dinner. Even when Beowulf passed away in his last battle, it was told that fate determined to be that way, it was his time to go. The narrator describes a good king by saying, "He ruled lands on all sides: wherever the sea would take them his soldiers sailed, returned with tribute and obedience. There was a brave king!" (8-12). What the narrator is saying is that a good king has thanes that would respect him and obey him, and Baewulf showed this characteistics of a good king.These qualities allow him to become an honored king, yet they also lead to his death. Beowulf 's courage and faith can be seen troughout the entire poem. The author shows what the other

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