Societal Values Reflected in Court Life

1653 Words7 Pages
Societal Values Reflected in Court Life Often times the literature of a period reflects the values and cultural aspects common during that time. Sometimes we can gain a sense of what was going on during the time a work was written, or what was important to people in that moment. In examining the court life in Beowulf and in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, we can gain great insight into the similarities and differences between Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman values. Beowulf is believed to have been composed in the first half of the eighth century. This is around the same time of the second Germanic invasions of modern day Britain. Up until this point in history there had not been stability in Britain. The people went from paganism to Christianity during the Roman Empire in Britain, then back to paganism during their independence for a short period. Then the Anglo-Saxons invaded and the majority of people went back to Christianity. All the while the languages were changing, people were moving around and wars were being waged. Although Beowulf was believed to have been composed in the eighth century, the period that the story itself takes place in dates back to middle of the fifth century, during the first Anglo-Saxon invasion. It is easy to see that during this period of hardship and instability, people were looking for a hero. Someone to vanquish the foe and bring the people together. Beowulf was an ideal candidate. The Anglo-Saxon culture was very much a warrior culture with strong heroic values. This is evident in just the content of the story. The hero comes to help the people slay some monsters and then they celebrate. Of course that’s a very simple summary, but it is very different from the content of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In Sir Gawain it is less about being the hero and slaying monsters, than it is about the testing oneself

More about Societal Values Reflected in Court Life

Open Document