Beowulf is a heroic poem that was composed at the end of the tenth century. Its primary focus is to highlight the sense of being remembered for many years even after death by looking at the life of Beowulf. He was born in a heroic society where an individual was to do something to the community to remain in their memory. In the poem, the poet is celebrating heroic society. In building the poem’s theme, he emphasizes that people must consider brave deeds as part of their worth. Through this, a man would be deemed to have achieved glory in his life.

To strengthen his position, the poet uses his inherited native culture and his sympathy to utter the northern warriors’ first honor- code in line 1384-9 of the poem. According to this principle, the importance of avenging the death of dear ones is pointed out. Instead of mourning the death of such people, it is better to confront the killers and engage in wars with them.  The poet argues that everyone living in this world is just waiting for his/her death; hence it is important to achieve glory before death. Once a warrior is gone, this is the best way h. Before the death of Beowulf, he was determined to achieve fame and glory. His motivation to achieve this made him sacrifice himself to save his people from the dragon. In his society, fame was highly important and valued particularly in ones’ life after death.

In lines 3096-3100, the poet celebrates the heroic society by using Beowulf’s barrow. He stresses that the wheelbarrow should be glorious and magnificent like the man it is supposed to remember. Human memory and immortality about Beowulf are achieved through posthumous fame in this society. The poet’s doctrine does not hinder him from celebrating the heroes since the poem subscribes to the philosophy that the hero lives on as long as his glorious deeds remembered. The concept of fame and vengeance was alive for sometimes even with the coming of Christianity. The values of fame and noble deeds are presented positively by the poet. In lines 24-25, he argues that praiseworthy deeds are essential for men since they make them prosper in every race. The poet puts the memory of these deeds alive through retelling the tales of the past heroes. According to him, these heroes are worth remembering in any society. In Seamus Heaney’s translation of the poem, the souls of these heroes are bound to find ultimate homes when they are gone. Their souls are imagined within consciousness to find a home among the steadfast ones.

The poem states how vengeance for the dead becomes basic ethics for the living. In Finnsburg Episode, we are immersed in a society that has turned to be blood-stained and honor-bound. The community is presided over by blood-feud laws which family members of the slain are bound to make the killers of their loved ones go through the same pain. They do this by slaying the killers of their loved ones or by asking for or receiving a legally fixed compensation. This episode creates a doom-laden atmosphere to make one understand how a dead man is priced. It comes with intense intimidation on how their family members decide the fate of the ones living family members. Those participating in the action of Beowulf are required to be accorded with a high sense of bravery and loyalty to let the audience know how people seek fame and glory of the warrior world. In the same episode, life involves the small nations grouping around their lords with grater nations spoiling for wars to menace the small ones.  When their lords die, they quickly become defenseless; their enemies get the opportunity to strike them. As a result of this, they resort to vengeance hence more bloodshed.

To show these ethics, the poem uses the destinies of three people. First, the Danes are presented, here they are variously known as Shielding. They are considered as people in their full summer of power. The building of high hall by their King Hrothgar emphasizes this. Their threat comes from their borders, from those whom they defeated in war and they can, therefore, expect retaliatory war (lines 2020-69). The second group is the Great, who depend on their lord. Their lord Hygelac adventures in a fortified cliff that was meant to secure him from the threats of the Danes. He can protect his people but temporarily because the destiny of the Great is to be left lord less in the end. The Greats lord Hygelac is eventually involved in a deadly war with the Swedish King. In lines 2484-9, it highlighted that two thanes of Hygelacs delivered the fatal stroke that ultimately killed the Swedish King; hence Hygelac is considered his killer. After the death of Beowulf, the Swedes masses on their borders to attack without their lord or leader to rally their defense. The Swedes are the third nation whose destiny is highlighted by the narrative. Therefore, the poet can show us how others influence life and the human condition in society.

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