Custom «Hrothgar and Gunther» Essay Paper Sample

People are different and have different view to issues in life. A thing is different depending on an individual. There is no an answer to how humans should be. The way people grow determines their culture as well as the place they grew. Culture is also dependant on the way the parents to an individual grew and what those who live with them believe in and do. People believed in several gods due to the different cultures they came from and viewed things differently. Though the belief in more than one God existed in the past, today people believe in one God and traditions have changed greatly. The upbringing of people is different and they think different from one another. Most important to note is that when somebody learns something as a child, it sticks better compared to when adults. Beowulf and the Nibelungenklied records things about culture by displaying views of culture in different periods. Using these books, scholars tell how the past was like as far as culture is concerned. (Cultural Diversity in Nibelungenlied, Beowulf, and Gilgamesh, 2011)

Since the two books are from the same period, the two characters compared are from these periods. The characters in the books are very different in a number of ways. One of the characters is from England while the other is from Germany. However, they are both from Europe. Hrothgar and Gunther have war in their history though they were passionate about it. Hrother is the English while Gunther is German in origin. Hrothgar has no fear at all as far as battle was concerned and welcomed anybody to fight. He was thus very courageous in his way of living. He knew the consequences he would face just as any worrier is. This made him have tactics like no other. He knows where to take measures even if he has a great army and careful of the opponents since they were all in battle. For example, he says that they might have taken the best army but they needed to be cautious on the arrogance of the queen who would kill the army through her horrible ways. Hrothers knows the risk of emerging the best in war. He was sure to conquer for his country through sacrifices. He was very proud of his culture as seen when the he asked for horses to the floor. One of the horses had decorations and ornaments put on him. This is towards the closure.

The two characters have a mission of expanding their individual countries and they all took this very important. This is why they involve in the war for their countries. However, one of the kings wins and survives while the other loses and dies. The kings aimed at having vast lands. Hrothgar values peace while Gunther not. This is why they fight and cause a lot of suffering for others. The rules in both characters cannot afford them peace but worry all the time. (Kiernan, K. 2005, 27)

Hrother is thus very courageous and his leadership is a thing of pride as he leads through the battle of the supernatural monsters. He can challenge somebody to fight with him when he thinks it is right to do so. He sacrifices his gold to remove the enemy from his country. He has organized an army ready to kill Grendel who has caused them suffering for a long time. The king also has an advisor who advises him on what to do when situations become sour. He is very cautious for when things became bad, he escaped to protect the rest from the vengeance of Grendel mother. He is a careful observer, as he knows the father to Grendel is not a threat to them but the mother. All he wants is peace for his country. He knows that to obtain the peace he dreads for, they must find a way they can kill the left arrogant mother to do away with all demon kind. This leader lays a foundation for his people through courage and determination. He knows when to seek help and from who. He is thus a leader to admire in his leadership by his people.

He undergoes troubles as any leader does but eventually overcomes them through determination. He takes in the best fighter called Beowulf and makes sure that his land is free from the many demons that gave him trouble for many years. Through his journey as the king, he shows his people how to conduct themselves. He is surely a warrior as well as Anglo Saxon warrior and his people liked him for that. His people gave him respect, as he is also very generous. His people admire him very much. Respect for the king is seen where all his followers accept every thing he asked and commanded of them. This is why the people gave him very nice titles such as "Lord of the Mighty Danes,".

They also called him the protector of worriers, and scylding's warrior. His generosity is apparent when he thanks Beowulf for helping him in the battle to protect his people through the killing of demons. The king gave the warrior a very expensive material as he promised to give him all the earthly riches he ever wanted. The king is a God-fearing man and his people liked him because of that. This is when Grendel is dead and the king holds his hands and asks his people to thank God for what they achieved. For this reason of fearing God, his people had trust in him. He is a warrior and a king they would always want to have even for the coming generations for he laid a very good conduct for a real king. The king got favor from many including the best of all warriors there was and this is why he defeated the enemy. (Abrams, M. H. 2003, pg 19)

On the other hand, Gunther was the king of Burgundy who led to the downfall of burgundian kingdom. Gunther is the opposite of Hrother in a number of ways. Though they were all kings, he did not successfully lead his people. He is a coward. He unlike Hrother is not generous in any way. When Sir Siegfried came to seek a hand in marriage with his sister, the king used him in other ways to let him go on pursuing his sister. Though Sir Siegfried helped them in the battles, he could not marry his sister until he helped the king pursue Brunhilda. He obtained advice from his uncle. It is not because of his good did that Siegfried helped him in battles but because he befriended him.

Gunther is also very fearsome as he could not approach the queen himself but send a stranger t do his work this is not a good quality of a leader. As a warrior, the second half of the show puts him down since he could not even match queen Brunhilda. This is where he used Siegfried to help him defeat in the battle. Through his bad character as the king, he leads to the downfall of his kingdom. (Taylor, F. 2007, pp. 999-1000)