The legendary story of "Beowulf" is a classic example of a heroic warrior class figure in an Old English/Anglo Saxon society. He is tough and brutal, noble and heroic. Reading "Beowulf," we get a sense of a less human society where fighting for ones honor is what matters the most. On the flip side of that, we see a sort of revolution, a progression towards the "is" world, in literature. One example of this is "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer. The culture presented in the "Canterbury Tales" differs from that presented in "Beowulf" because society has become more humanistic. These people don't want to start a war, the want to stay alive, start families and raise children. In Chaucer's time men took pilgrimages, in the time of Beowulf, they fought war.
Anglo Saxon culture was a culture of honor, brutality and war. For example, Beowulf was a man who fought because he had to weather it is for his own survival, the survival of his tribe or the strength of his country. Although he knew he was mortal, he fought and fought as if he were sub human. Men with that type of mentality did not speak of their feelings of love or even the feeling of emotional pain unless it was pain caused in a battle, and only that pain was worth mention. This type of behavior was typical of Anglo Saxon times in that men fought till the bitter end and lived in a shame filled culture unlike the guilt culture that became of the Medieval Ages.
Medieval culture was quite different compared to Anglo Saxon culture. People in Medieval times seemed more human, and more willing to share their feelings. From reading literature from that time we gain insight into the lives of characters, which in turn allow us to gain insight into the culture of the middle ages. For example, the characters in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" call to our attention the fact that something has changed. Fighting was not their top priority and we don't see the brutality we witnessed before.