Throughout their history Anglo-Saxon societies had always some traditional value systems to

maintain their communities, establish the mutual understanding and social relationships between
their thanes and lords. These set of cultural values had a great role in their communities to deal
with their enemies in a better way. As part of that, they helped Anglo-Saxons to raise brave and
loyal warriors. Two of the most important and traditional set of values of them were the comitatus
and the heroic code. These two terms can be observed explicitly in Beowulf and The Dream of
The Rood .This Essay will first demonstrate the comitatus in Beowulf and The Dream of The
Rood, secondly it will show the heroic code in both texts by analyzing the examples.
In Anglo-Saxon culture, the relationship between a lord and his thanes was known as
comitatus and it was the unwritten law in which a warrior swore to defend his lord to death in
exchange for protection, shelter and wealth. The idea of being a warrior in Anglo-Saxon culture
was a man with invincible strength who lived up according to the comitatus. However, warriors
believed that the only way in which they could be destroyed was through Anglo-Saxon fate. That
is why they were so loyal to their lords because they knew that they will die one day and fought
for their lords to death whatever they faced with. Moreover, the lord and thane relationship was
probably one of the closest bonds in a protector/ protectee relationship and the comitatus not only
set standard actions of a lord and his thanes, but also turns this relationship into a bond of
friendship. That is why, they valued the comitatus code more than the other codes in Anglo-
Saxon culture because it helped them to work together as a family and protect each other from
outside dangers. So, the perfection of Anglo-Saxon warrior was portrayed through the idea of
living according to the comitatus.
In Beowulf, this idea of living with the comitatus was at the essence of the poem and this idea
was portrayed by the heroes, Beowulf and Wiglaf. For instance, in the first part of the story when
Beowulf came to the assistance of Danes, King Hrothgar trusted Beowulf, gave his words to
Beowulf, supplied him shelter and wanted Beowulf to protect them and kill the monster Grendel
in exchange of treasures and reputation. Beowulf did his task as he supposed to do according to
the comitatus law by fighting for his lord at all costs and defended the hall of Lord Hrothgar
which had been attacked for over ten years by Grendel. He showed his loyalty to the lord by
killing the monster and got the treasures and established his reputation. As we can see from this
example, the lord and thane relationship was very important in Anglo-Saxon culture in order to
be successful in any situation. Because they promised each other and they kept their promises
whatever they encountered with. This law kept Anglo-Saxons together for so many years and
helped them to conquer so many places and improved their life standards as well. That is why, the
comitatus was so important for them.

Another comitatus example within the text can be given from the last part that a thief disturbed
and woke the dragon. When the dragon was awakened it started to attack the Geats, burned the
villages and slaughtered people. Beowulf took the lead with his trusty warriors to stop the dragon.
When they saw the dragon, all of the thanes of Beowulf run into the woods only Wiglaf remained
to help and protect his king. Because Wiglaf knew and lived according to the comitatus, he had
the sense of loyalty. Why? Because Beowulf had given Wiglaf shelter and enriched his life and

1
this was the time to help and protect his lord because he made an oath to defend him when he was
in need. Beowulf and Wiglaf saved their people by fighting together. Beowulf died at the end of
the battle but the main point here is that Beowulf may not had been able to kill the dragon if
Wiglaf had not the sense of comitatus. That is why, Wiglaf represents the perfection of how a
thane was supposed to be in the Anglo-Saxon culture. This helped them to understand that they
must live by this code in order to defeat their enemies. This was the main point in Anglo-Saxon
culture why the comitatus was so important. The comitatus law was the key of being successful
for them in their era.
The Dream of The Rood can be counted as a good example of comitatus even if takes places
in a dream. When we have a look at the representation of Christ, he is depicted as a loyal, brave
and fearless warrior to his Lord and crucifixion is depicted as a battle. Christ devotes himself to
his Lord and tries to show the right path and goodness to his people as his Lord wants and he dies
for his Lord in that way. Afterwards, he is being awarded with a seat nearby his Lord for his
faithful service. The portrayal of Christ as a warrior fighting for his people in The Dream of The
Rood is a very explicit picture of a hero and savior who obeyed the law of comitatus even if it
means death and becomes a role model for all believers.
In Anglo-Saxon society, the second most important traditional value was the heroic code
which has showed how a warrior should be and act in the Anglo-Saxon culture. According to that
code, a warrior had to be strong, intelligent, courageous, humble and loyal. In addition, heroic
code declares that glory can be obtained during life through deeds and warriors must fight for
their people and reputations. That is why Anglo-Saxon society valued warriors who bravely
helped their community to become powerful through conquering new places. For instance, the
heroic code was reflected in a good way by the deeds of Beowulf. In the poem, he is powerful,
brave, humble and honorable. We can see all of these depictions in the poem while he is fighting
against sea monsters, Grendel, Grendels mother and the dragon. To give a more abstract example
from the poem, we can have a look at these lines;

I resolved, when I set out on the sea, sat down in the sea-boat, with my band of men, that I
should altogether fulfill the will of your people or else fall in slaughter, fast in the foes grasp. I
shall achieve a deed of manly courage or else have lived to see in this mead-hall my ending day
(Beowulf, 13)
When Beowulf starts to speak these words, he shows his great courage and the proper attitude of
Anglo-Saxon warrior. For him, death for a warrior is honorable if he fights for a purpose which is
for his people and courage must be shown through deeds, even if it means death.
Beowulf has also shown that a hero must be humble. When he was exalted by the Danes after
his victories against Grendel and his mother. He was praised and offered to be the king but he
refused the kingship humbly and returned to Hygelac and gave all of the treasures he earned to
his kingdom. Here Beowulf was so loyal to his lord and people. That validates his loyalty and
establishes his name fully as a hero. That is why Beowulf is the perfect example of an Anglo-

2
Saxon hero, he has all the characteristics of a warrior of the heroic code which make Anglo-
Saxon warriors think their people first.
The representation of heroic code of Anglo-Saxon culture in The Dream of The Rood was
reflected by Christ. He was depicted as a warrior who fought for his people and Lord. When he
nailed and tortured in his own blood, he stood strong. He was loyal and served his Lord faithfully
even if it cost his life. In The Dream of The Rood, we cannot observe many battle scenes in the
same way we saw in Beowulf because the concept of heroism in this poem turns into a more
religious form. The heroic code here was not being so powerful and loyal to kill a monster or
dragon, the heroic code here is to be consented for being crucified which has been represented as
a war. In that war, he lived and died for his people and Lord. He died for his duty as he supposed
to do and became a savior and hero figure for Anglo-Saxon culture. Because Anglo-Saxon
warriors were also ready to sacrifice their lives for their people.
In conclusion, the comitatus and the heroic code had surrounded Anglo-Saxon societies and
these traditional values were in the essence of their cultures. Thanks to the comitatus and heroic
code, warriors of Anglo-Saxon communities were so brave, loyal, strong and ready to sacrifice
their lives for their people and lords. They believed that glory can only be obtained during life
through deeds and warriors fought for their people at all costs. These two traditional values kept
Anglo-Saxons together for so many years and helped them to work together as a family and
protect each other from outside dangers so that they could defeat their enemies without thinking
their own lives. That is to say , these two terms were so important in their culture and Anglo-
Saxons valued these terms that much. When we take these traditional value systems into
consideration that we can easily see these ideas in both Beowulf and The Dream of The Rood
because they are one of the most important masterpieces of Anglo-Saxon period and reflecting
the ideologies of the era.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

3
Baker, Peter S. (2000) Beowulf Reader: Basic Readings. New York: Garland Publishing
Hill, John (2000) The Anglo-Saxon Warrior Ethic: Reconstructing Lordship in Early English
Literature Gainesville: U Press of Florida.
Howe, Nicholas. (2002). Beowulf: A Prose Translation. New York: Norton & Company: 11-22
Johnson, David and Elaine Treharne. (2005). Readings in Medieval Texts: Interpreting Old and
Middle English Literature. NY: Oxford University Press
Lapidge, Michael. (1999). The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford:
Blackwell
Marsden, Richard. (2004). The Dream of the Rood. The Cambridge Old English Reader ,
Cambridege: Cambridge UP
Old English Literature. Eds. Malcolm Godden and Michael Lapidge. Cambridge: Cambridge UP
Slade, Benjamin. (2012). Beowulf. Retrieved May 22, 2015 from http://www.heorot.dk/beowulf-
rede-text.html
Urgan, Mina. (2003). The History of English Literature Istanbul: Yapi Kredi Kultur Publishing