In the Anglo-Saxon era, depictions of mighty warriors going to battle against evil were important to readers to create morals and values to live by. Warriors of this era were expected to be strong, courageous, fearless, and humble. The poems Beowulf and Dream of the Rood offer a look into the warrior ethic depicted in Anglo-Saxon works, with the warrior characters sharing many similarities, but more importantly, sharing significant differences. Beowulf offers a type of warrior that exudes a brutal and unrelenting strength; whereas the depiction of Christ in the Dream of the Rood is a gentler kind of warrior, not directly taking part in any form of physical violence. The depictions of warrior ethic and heroism in Dream of the Rood are comparable to the heroism in Beowulf, where warriors partake in battles between good and evil, in the pursuit of gaining honor and sacrificing themselves for the salvation of others.
The significance in their differences is that being a hero alone does not require one to be like violent Beowulf; for example, in Dream of the Rood is a nonviolent hero. This challenges the notion during the Anglo-Saxon era that warriors needed to be violent in order to prevail over evil. When looking through the lens of Jack Harrell’s “What Violence in Literature Must Teach Us,” which argues that in literature, there must be sufficient tension in the story: the violence itself must be challenged by an equal, or nearly equal opposing force,” we can see that the noble depiction of Christ, though nonviolent, still fulfills the expectations of an Anglo-Saxon warrior (242). In the time period that Beowulf was told, Anglo-Saxon society was mostly Pagan, and placed emphasis on warrior culture and ethics. Anglo-Saxon society especially valued military prowess, heroism, strength, and power. Stories from this period were meant to cultivate and spread values and morals. Beowulf, a great warrior, went to the village Hrothgar to establish his might as a warrior. Beowulf knowingly faced death to be the savior of the people of Hrothgar from a blood-thirsty monster, named Grendel’s, terror. The story of Beowulf offers a different kind of violence than Dream of the Rood, one of intense physical violence and revenge. For every action in Beowulf, like Harrell describes, there is an equal and opposing force. For every battle or life lost, there must be a meaningful consequence; which in Beowulf’s case, means there is an almost endless vicious cycle of battle and vengeance.
The main setting in Beowulf is Hrothgar, a warrior society, and the heroic code is important to their society. When thinking of the respected traits of warriors, strength, courage, fearlessness, and humility, it can be seen that Beowulf fulfills all of these warrior qualities. For example, when Beowulf first arrived at Hrothgar, he was described as “a thane, they declared, with the strength of thirty / in the grip of each hand…Now Holy God / has, in his goodness, guided him here to the West-Danes, to defend us from Grendel” (380-383). This illustrates the strength required of Anglo-Saxon warriors. The people of Hrothgar see him as one of the strongest men they have encountered, and that God himself had sent Beowulf to save them. Beowulf’s strength makes him appear to be almost God-like, reinforcing his warrior status. Beowulf is depicted as being stronger than Grendel, who is described as being immeasurably strong and savage, but Beowulf still offers to battle him with no armor or sword: When it comes to fighting, I count myself /as dangerous any day as Grendel. So it won’t be a cutting edge I’ll wield /to mow him down, easily as I might. He has no idea of the arts of war /although he does possess /a wild strength. No weapons, therefore / for either this night: unarmed he shall face me / if face me he dares / And may the Divine Lord / in His wisdom grant the glory of victory/ to whichever side He sees fit (677-685). This is another display of Beowulf’s warrior ethic, strength and courage. Time and time again, Beowulf tries to prove his prowess.
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Beowulf will not do anything to diminish his warrior qualities and he refuses to buckle or show any fear towards Grendel. Grendel is a depiction of all that is evil, and through Harrell’s lens, it can be said that Grendel offers an opposing force to all that is good, which in this case Beowulf embodies that goodness. In fact, Beowulf is even referred to as being “that prince of goodness” (676). In this context, the fact that Beowulf wants to battle with no armor or sword, further casts the character of Beowulf into being similar to God himself. Beowulf’s bodily strength and might can supposedly surpass and overpower the strength evil and surely save the people of Hrothgar. Dream of the Rood, also an Anglo-Saxon text, features a similar type of warrior. Like Beowulf, Christ in the Dream of The Rood is depicted as a mighty warrior, not just as a meek man. In this era, writers typically focused on Christ’s more submissive qualities.
In Dream of the Rood, Christ is depicted as a strong warrior, and just like Beowulf faces death in order to provide salvation. Christ went against evil in order to offer the deliverance for all of humankind. Christ’s heroism offers an equal and opposing force that Harrell calls for; despite Christ and the Rood not taking any physical action or committing a violent act. Christ nobly accepted his fate, the Rood stating, “saw I mankind’s Lord come with great courage when he would mount on me” (32-34). Christ and the Rood are depicted as powerful and warrior-like, similar to Beowulf. The violence presented in Dream of the Rood is only inflicted upon the main characters, Christ and the Rood, both of whom are completely able to fight back and incite violence but choosing not to. The premise of the poem is that Christ, even as warrior, does not wish to seek vengeance, but only the chance to offer salvation. Going back to Harrell’s text, the violence presented in the works Beowulf and Dream of the Rood are not seemingly meaningless forms of violence told just for the sake of story-telling; the story of Beowulf serves a greater purpose of inspiring and cultivating cultural values. Dream of the Rood followed suit by showing that the violence inflicted on Christ, and in turn his suffering, were for the greater good of humanity.
