Beowulf: An Epic To qualify as an epic poem, Beowulf reflects the values ​​of the culture in which it was created. Anglo-Saxon culture and poetry share many of the same values. They shared a heroic ideal that included loyalty, strength, courage, courtesy, and generosity. Like all epic poems, Beowulf is a long narrative work that tells the adventures of a great hero and also reflects the values ​​of the society in which it was written. Both Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxons believed in those qualities as an individual. The strongest bonds of loyalty in their society were to relatives and lords. A kingdom was only as strong as its leader king. To have loyal men, the king needed to repay them. In other words, men were paid for their loyalty. Sometimes they were given land, gold, money, food, armor and other things as a reward after the battle. Both the Anglo-Saxons and the characters in Beowulf are willing to risk their lives at any moment: they are inattentive to danger. The Anglo-Saxons acquired wealth by plundering the treasures of their enemies. Each family formed a bond of loyalty and protection. A family was expected to avenge the death of a father or brother through a feud with the tribe or clan that killed him. This duty of bloody vengeance was the supreme religion of the Anglo-Saxons. The family passed down this hatred forever until it was avenged. Always remaining faithful to the family and the lord. (Allen, 12-14)"The Anglo-Saxons appear as a race of fierce, cruel, and barbarous heathens, who delight in the seas, in slaughter, and in drink" (Allen, 17). The character of the ancient Saxons displayed the qualities of fearless, active and successful. The Anglo-Saxons are mostly a barbarous race, not savage and rude but mostly military and...... middle of paper ....... W. Beowulf: An Introduction. Cambridge: Univ. Press, 1967. Collins, John J. "Apocalyptic Literature," Harper's Bible Dictionary, ed. Paul J. Achtmeier. San Francisco: Harper, 1985. Emmerson, Richard K., and Bernard McGinn. The Apocalypse in the Middle Ages. Ithaca: Cornell, 1992. Garmonsway, et. al. Beowulf and its analogues. New York: Dutton, 1971.Gang, T.M. “Getting Closer to Beowulf.” RES 3 (1952):.6-12.Gildas. De Excidio Britanniae in Wade-Evans, AW, trans. History of the Britons by Nennius. London: Methuen, 1938. Goldsmith, Margaret. "The Christian Theme of Beowulf." Middle Aevum 29 (1960): 81-101. Green, Martin. “Man, Time, and the Apocalypse in The Wanderer, The Seafarer, and Beowulf,” JEGP 74 (1975): 502-518. Hieatt, Constance B. "Envelope Patterns and the Structure of Beowulf", English Studies in Canada 1 (1975): 249-265.