England
The setting of this poem is the English countryside which, because England is an island, is surrounded by water. This means that the communities of Anglo-Saxons who are settled in that area are easy targets for sea-faring invasions. None of those sea-faring invasions is more archetypal and insidious than the Vikings. The Vikings are known not only for their ability to navigate waters with expertise and ease, but also for their brutality in war and their tendency to dominate petty tribal cultures. When they arrive, the imagery of England is the stakes of the battle; the losers will perceive England no more.
Morality as honor
Honor is different than modern moral goodness. One could reasonably conceive of morality which does not tolerate killing whatsoever, but that is not the Anglo-Saxon standard for goodness. This version of morality has as its abstract quality the absolute height of human glory and honor, honor for honor's own sake; and what serves as the concrete material for this imagery? It is the glroious acts of war depicted so brutally in the poetry. This transfiguration of human violence into poetic glory is a wonderful aspect of the human experience to essay about or consider.
Cowardice
There are two major demonstrations of cowardice through imagery, one subtle and one obvious. The subtle instances of cowardice are actually part of the Vikings' description. Notice that the way the Anglo-Saxon poet frames honor specifically excludes actions like the Viking campaign around Europe. That is considered cowardly because the Vikings are using nefarious methods in their invasion that are not honorable. For instance, they severely outnumber the English, making it the English whose choice to fight is glorious. Where is the courage in severely outnumbering one's opponent? The other obvious part of this imagery is Godric, that poor, too-human lad.
Money and power
An important use of imagery occurs when the Vikings send a peace messenger into the Anglo-Saxon camp who are camped along the seas ready to do battle. The Viking invaders send on person forward as a calm and deliberate assertion of power. If they pay tribute to the Vikings, the Vikings will on that demonstration alone spare their lives and leave them to their business—more or less. However, in that one tribute, the entire abstract quality of their freedom hinges. The battle is weighed against the value of giving one's money to a tyrannical government; the imagery is actually imagery of political power.
