The Medieval Oral Epic

Throughout all our studies in this volume the notion of victory becomes subsumed under the concept that glory can only be attained through sacrifice. Heroism in this context is redefined in each epic to derive an adequate perspective for viewing a protagonist whose prowess is subservient to the common good. We should bear in mind that popular beliefs are to be seen as occurring within a warring society. The common people in an epic context are the heroes' fellow warriors, and their society consists of members in their armies. From direct confrontation with conflict and strife we may derive a sense of what seems fair and just, distilling an implied concept of essential morality. But there is a limit to how far we can go in identifying the heroic ethos with our own idea of that which appears good or evil. Our task is to explore the content illustrated in Beowulf, Roland and Mio Cid, and explain how the poems reflect values of their epoch and social milieu using our modern methods of literary analysis.