Although the Anglo - Saxon people, the original English people, fought a great deal, they had a common language, and a set of common values. They also had a set of ideals that they attributed to their hero's and warriors. Beowulf, the great heroic epic, displays theses values and the qualities they expected of a hero. '"'The Seafarer'"', another anonymous work, also tells us what these people valued. .
'"'THE SEAFARER'"', is a heroic epic in which a man goes out of his way for some adventure. The adventure in '"'The Seafarer'"' is that the man wants to go to sea because in the crummy little town that he lives in there's not much to do so at least if he's at sea he can see practically the world, and learn new things everyday. Being out in the sea is a lot more exciting and dangerous then just doing nothing at home. There's so much out there to experience at sea. The man is looking for some activities and adventure. He knows its dangerous but he goes anyway. Even when its cold he gets a sweater and goes out, that shows a sign of bravery (to go out into the sea when its cold and keep going and fulfilling your dream and has nothing stopping him from doing it). It can also be looked at as a sign of Fate because besides the bad sea he's confident that he'll survive. The Seafarer is one Man's struggle to be true to his conscience. He obeys his morals and fulfills his duty because he has lived on the sea his entire career. He knows the hardships of the sea and wishes them upon no one else. Though life takes many unexpected turns on the sea, he does not feel comfortable on land. The sea is where the Seafarer feels at home. Its charm him and gives him his life energy. Since the Seafarer obeys his conscience and does his duty and obeys his feelings to remain on the sea, he puts a test to the phrase "A man's character determines his fate". Seafarer knows that heaven awaits him after death. All that he does in life to please others as well as him self will be carried over into the afterlife and he believes that God will accept him into heaven.
