Heroism as Defined by Military Action Anonymous 12th Grade

In Old English Literature, the Anglo-Saxon society portrayed is built upon military achievement in battle and one’s respect for their Lord. Despite this focus, heroic action also occurs in other forms and in contexts outside the battlefield. ‘The Dream of the Rood’ from the Vercelli Book provides a different perspective portraying a heroic action that is at ‘the centre of redemption history’. Furthermore, the heroic action of Wulf in ‘Wulf and Eadwacer’ in the Exeter Book is done out of love for his partner, rather than a love for his Lord as would be the case with military action. Despite both of these points, symbolic military imagery is used throughout both poems. This is perhaps to portray a different kind of heroic action in a context that a tenth century audience, who would have received these pieces orally, would have been able to understand more comprehensibly.

In the majority of Old English Literature, the text includes a physical battle between two opposing sides, with heroic action very much defined by military action. However, there are exceptions to this, especially in religious literature. ‘The Dream of the Rood’ presents heroic action in the form of a sacrifice of one person rather than a battle involving two...