Beowulf vs. Grendel in Anglo Saxon beliefs
The Anglo-Saxon time period that was very strong on the beliefs that life was determined by fate and also that the most important relationship was the one that involved the people’s king and his followers. This relationship was based on trust, loyalty, and many other attributes. The epic poem Beowulf and the novel Grendel both show these beliefs of fate, loyalty to their lord, and the free will of humans.
Beowulf explores the strong relationship between the people’s lord and his followers as well as the idea of fate; which is described was the development of events beyond a person's control. So that means that whatever happened in the Anglo-Saxon peoples’ lives they could not change it because it is their fate. It stated many times during the epic that it would be his last battle or say something to his followers for the last time. “Then he said farewell to his followers,/ Each in his turn, for the last time:” (Beowulf, 611-612). This shows foreshadowing that it as going to be his last battle and that this was his fate. A time that Beowulf showed loyalty towards his king, Higlac, was when they tried to make him a king and he declined because of the loyalty he had to Higlac. Not only do the followers have loyalty towards the lord, they also have loyalty towards each other. In Beowulf’s last battle versus the dragon, Wiglaf stayed and helped Beowulf fight in a time where he really needed it while the rest of the soldiers did nothing. Wiglar made a speech to those warriors while he held a dead Beowulf. He spoke saying
“I say what anyone who speaks the truth
Must say…
Too few of his warriors remembered
To come, when our lord faced, death, alone.
And now the giving of swords, of golden
Rings and rich estates, is over,
Ended for you and everyone who shares
Your blood: when the brave Getas hear
How you bolted and ran none of your race
Will have anything left but their lives. And...