Germanic hero
Encyclopedia
A Germanic hero is the protagonist of certain works of early medieval literature
mostly in Germanic languages
. This hero is always a warrior, concerned both with his reputation and fame, and with his political responsibilities. The way in which he "copes with the blows of fate" is extremely important. He may be distinguished from the classical hero in that his adventures are less individualistic, and from the tragic hero
because his death is heroic rather than tragic. His death usually brings destruction, not restoration, as in tragedy. His goal is frequently revenge, hamartia
in a tragic hero. The historical era with which the Germanic heroes of the literature are associated in legend is called the Germanic Heroic Age
.
Among the famous Germanic heroes are the eponymous protagonist of Beowulf
, an Old English epic, and the eponym of Waltharius
, a Middle Latin epic.
Early Medieval literature
See also: Ancient literature, 10th century in literature, list of years in literature.This is a list of literature dating to the 6th to 9th centuries...
mostly in Germanic languages
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
. This hero is always a warrior, concerned both with his reputation and fame, and with his political responsibilities. The way in which he "copes with the blows of fate" is extremely important. He may be distinguished from the classical hero in that his adventures are less individualistic, and from the tragic hero
Tragic hero
A tragic hero is the main character in a tragedy. Tragic heroes appear in the dramatic works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Seneca, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Webster, Marston, Corneille, Racine, Goethe, Schiller, Kleist, Strindberg, and many other writers.-Aristotle's tragic hero:Aristotle...
because his death is heroic rather than tragic. His death usually brings destruction, not restoration, as in tragedy. His goal is frequently revenge, hamartia
Hamartia
Hamartia is a term developed by Aristotle in his work Poetics. The word hamartia is rooted in the notion of missing the mark and covers a broad spectrum that includes ignorant, mistaken, or accidental wrongdoing, as well as deliberate iniquity, error, or sin...
in a tragic hero. The historical era with which the Germanic heroes of the literature are associated in legend is called the Germanic Heroic Age
Germanic Heroic Age
The Germanic Heroic Age, so called in analogy to the Heroic Age of Greek mythology, is the period of early historic or quasi-historic events reflected in Germanic heroic poetry.- Periodisation :...
.
Among the famous Germanic heroes are the eponymous protagonist of Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
, an Old English epic, and the eponym of Waltharius
Waltharius
Waltharius, a Latin poem founded on German popular tradition, relates the exploits of the west Gothic hero Walter of Aquitaine.-History:Our knowledge of the author, Ekkehard, a monk of St. Gall, is due to a later Ekkehard, known as Ekkehard IV , who gives some account of him in the Casus Sancti Galli...
, a Middle Latin epic.