Textuality » 3A Interacting
When you read the first part of "Beowulf", you can understand some things about Anglo-Saxon society. The speaking voice,generally a scop (he has an important role in that society because he was considered the voice and the memory of his tribe), used words and verbs that help me to imagine how Anglo-Saxon society was like.
Men were warriors and sailors/seamen : they helped their king to defend their tribe. Hierarchy was important: at first there was the king,a chief, supported by royal vassals, thanes, who had some importance. The other part of the population was warriors, seamen/sailors. Old people advised heroes what to do because they were wise: they sometimes inspected omens. It makes me understand that the Anglo-Saxons believed the supernatural. On this side this is a pagan cultur.
Heroes were considered like dieties because they could do what other people couldn't do. Heroes, sailors and warriors had relevant values: courage, strength, audacity, loyalty, generosity (they faced difficult voyages and journeys). These are the values of Anglo-Saxon's society.
Anglo-Saxon's was based on the family unit which branched out to the clan, the tribe and the kingdom: in fact Hrothgar (the king of Danes) asker his nephew (Beowulf was in today's Sweden) for an help.
Beowulf got only 14 men: this fact hints at the difficulties of their lives. Fews peolpe lived: the other died because of sanitary,hunger and war's problems.