blog assignment 2

In Beowulf’s world, fame was often achieved through great deeds on the battlefield or through a leader’s noble wisdom. This would mean that, unless a person was a king or a well-known warrior, he would be relatively unknown. Therefore, people would often borrow the fame of family members, usually a son borrowing his father’s, by declaring themselves as son of [a warrior’s name]. By doing this, one could achieve some renown and make connections with other people. In fact, this borrowing had become so common place that everyone was introduced relative to their father no matter their social standings. However, people, namely Beowulf, eventually performed great deeds, and their fame skyrocketed mainly because kings would reward them and poems or songs would be sung. Interestingly, saints such as Martin and Anthony became famous in similar ways; they performed miracles, word spread, and people flocked to them. Despite this similarity, fame in Beowulf’s world came from a person’s own deeds and thus was something to be proud of, while the saints’ fame was not to be celebrated because it came from God’s borrowed power.