Judith- She was pretty awesome too!

After looking over what people were writing about, I noticed that there was a lot on Beowulf and Dream of the Rood. And quite deservedly- they are great works and worthy of study. I personally found myself fascinated by Judith. The fact that a woman was the main character of a very anglo-saxon poem and did the works that a man was more or less expected to do is quite intriguing. The story is based off of the book in the Apocrypha and clearly has a lot of Old Testament themes- the judgment of God, the glory of His chosen people, worthy violence and war, etc. The poet didn't have to do that much to make it more Anglo-Saxon. Add more drinking and treasure and you're good. The poet still kept Judith a female though; obviously he could not change it in this story, but he still chose to write it and most likely perform it in front of an audience. The audience would most likely be men...who would relate to those who waited for Judith to come back and THEN charge into battle. So Judith, the "noble one, and the licentious one, terrible and fierce" decapitates the evil king for the glory of God and her people. She is rewarded with the spoils of war. In our discussions of Beowulf, women have been talked about as the peace weavers through marriage, not warriors in battle. Treasures were shared among the men who fought courageously. As to the ultimate important or message of this I am uncertain. It could be an encouragement for men to think of creative possibilities to win a battle or a taunt for them to step it up a little. I personally would like to think that the poet was secretly a feminist, but I doubt it. This poem does support the Anglo-Saxon thought of the individual sacrifice for the masses, and considering that past of the Israelites in this poem, perhaps that is what the poet wanted to get across.