Jamie DaSilva
Professor Nicholas Helms
Rethinking Medieval and Renaissance Literature
20 October, 2023
After reading Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley and Lanval by Marie De France I became interested in the theme of heroism that is shown throughout both texts. Both Lanval and Beowulf are knights that do everything for a single special woman in their lives, and they seemingly try to be heroic for them specifically. I created this annotated bibliography to help show the research that went into showing how the theme of heroism is shown throughout both texts. After each citation I added in the hyperlink to the text that I have cited and summarized so it is easily accessible to those who want to read them.
Annotated Bibliography
Headley, Maria Dahvana. Beowulf: A New Translation. Scribe Publications, 2021.
Beowulf is a poem about an arrogant knight that continuously kills and takes the land of those around him. Beowulf is considered to be the strongest and most heroic knight there ever was, yet he shows those outside of his inner circle absolutely no respect. With this title he became arrogant and bloodthirsty. He continued to want more power and more land as time went on. He was never happy with what he had. When another character in the poem, Grendel, tried to defend his land and take back what was his, Beowulf ended up killing him and ripping his arm off after he was already dead simply to prove a point. The story of Beowulf itself helped prove the theme of heroism that is shared between the two texts because it is one of the main sources being compared. I used this text to pull direct quotes from and help with the comparison between the two knights. Without this source I would not have been able to make the argument of heroism being a shared theme within both texts. It is a key example of heroism based on the hero’s journey plot line that is presented throughout all of Beowulf’s endeavors. Heroism is also a key theme throughout this poem because he is constantly viewed as a hero throughout the poem even though he is not the nicest knight. He’s also very powerful and viewed as the ideal man.
Lanval – People, people.clas.ufl.edu/jshoaf/files/lanval.pdf. Accessed 12 Oct. 2023.
Throughout the Poem Lanval, Lanval himself shows that he is heroic by sticking to his lady’s word and keeping her secret. The only time he tells anyone the secret of his lady is when the Queen tries to seduce him and he uses his lady’s beauty to insult the queen and remains loyal to his lady. His lady is wealthy and considered to be the most beautiful lady there ever was, which is why he was able to use his lady’s beauty as an insult to the queen. He also used the wealth his lady gave to him to help those around him and get back on the king’s good side after he had disgraced him. He ends up having to go to trial because the queen flips the story around and states that Lanval was the one that tried to seduce her and then when she said no he had insulted her. While on trial the king asks to see his lady in order to see if what he had said was true or if he had actually just insulted the queen. While on trial Lanval sticks by his word and his lady does end up making an appearance to help clear his name and everyone in the courtroom agrees with what Lanval had said to the queen therefore he was off the hook and was not punished. The theme of heroism is shown throughout this poem because Lanval sticks by what he believes in even in the face of his king which is a sign of a good hero. He was also heroic because he listened to his lady against everything else and defended her honor by remaining loyal to her, even with the queen trying to seduce him.
Harris, Anne Leslie. “Hands, Helms, and Heroes: The Role of Proper Names in Beowulf.” Neuphilologische Mitteilungen: Bulletin de La Société Néophilologique/Bulletin of the Modern Language Society, vol. 83, no. 4, 1982, pp. 414–21. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mzh&AN=1982048191&site=ehost-live.(https://search-ebscohost-com.libproxy.plymouth.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mzh&AN=1982048191&site=ehost-live&authtype=sso&custid=plymouth )
Hands, Helms, and Heroes: The Role of Proper Names in Beowulf by Anne Leslie Harris discusses how the names of each character in Beowulf plays a role in displaying how each character in the poem is portrayed. For example Harris discusses how the name Eschere translates to spear-army which helps the character’s depiction because it helps describe him as a warrior. Harris also discusses the heroic theme that is embedded throughout the poem. She discusses how the heroic code that Beowulf as well as the other characters throughout the poem limits the development of the characters because the context for the characters themselves is very limited throughout the poem. Harris also discusses how the protection that Beowulf is able to provide to those around him emphasizes the thought of him being heroic even though his actions may not have been appropriate given each situation. Beowulf being able to protect those around him and defeat the monsters he faced throughout the poem causes him to be portrayed as more heroic than he may have actually been given the context of his victories. The theme of heroism is further defended in this article because Harris describes the way in which Beowulf is depicted throughout the poem using not only evidence from the text itself, but also the meaning behind each name of the characters.
“Analysis of Chivalry Code in Beowulf and Lanval Poems.” GradesFixer, 24 May 2022, gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/analysis-of-chivalry-code-in-beowulf-and-lanval-poems/ (https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/analysis-of-chivalry-code-in-beowulf-and-lanval-poems/ )
This essay helped further compare the poems to each other by comparing the different codes that each man had to live by in order to be considered heroic. Beowulf had to live by the warrior code. In this code each person who follows it has to be brave and willing to fight anything that threatens the safety of his people. This code also states that they must be present at any event or commitment in which he is a prominent member of. Beowulf did all of these things throughout the poem and this is shown when he fought Grendel and Grendel’s mother. It is also shown when, even though he was old and should not have been fighting, he fought the dragon to defend his people. Lanval also followed a similar code, the code of chivalry. In this code in order to be considered heroic those who followed it had to remain honest, loyal and generous. These are qualities that Lanval exhibits throughout the poem when he shares the wealth that his lady gave to him with those around him and chose not to cheat on his lady with the queen. The author of this essay also compares the reasons the men are following these codes. They make the claim that while they may be doing it for different people, they are still remaining selfless because they are doing it for people other than themselves. Beowulf defends his ruler and his family whereas Lanval does everything to defend and honor his lady. This helps compare the heroism throughout both poems because it shows how they’re both heroic, but show it in different ways.
“The Lais of Marie de France Lanval Summary: Course Hero.” The Lais of Marie de France Lanval Summary | Course Hero, http://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Lais-of-Marie-de-France/lanval-summary/#:~:text=But%20Lanval%20is%20still%20portrayed,others%20who%20are%20less%20fortunate. Accessed 15 Oct. 2023. (https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Lais-of-Marie-de-France/lanval-summary/#:~:text=But%20Lanval%20is%20still%20portrayed,others%20who%20are%20less%20fortunate. )
In this summary of Lanval there is an analysis towards the end that I found useful in strengthening my argument. In this analysis it discusses how Lanval may not have been loyal to his king because he remained more loyal to his lady than to his ruler, he is still a hero because he was very generous. This idea of generosity helping someone become viewed as heroic relates back to the code of chivalry that was mentioned in the previous comparison of Lanval and Beowulf. This analysis also discusses how Lanval is a hero because of the morals that he held throughout the poem. He remained loyal to his lady and during his trial he remained calm under pressure which are two key characteristics of a hero in the code of chivalry that Lanval follows. It is also discussed that the queen only became interested in Lanval due to him becoming wealthy which highlights how morals play a role throughout this poem because while Lanval used his wealth to give gifts to those around him, it also attracted people around him that did not hold the same morals because they were only interested in what Lanval could provide and not Lanval himself.
Sprockets and Springes 