We tend to read ancient texts such as The Song of Roland or The Battle of Maldon with a sense that our world has evolved since those days of constant and violent battling. In some ways I would agree with this, however, while searching Milblogs for an example of what a modern warrior looks like, I found some surprising similarities. According to both The Song of Roland and The Battle of Maldon, a warrior is someone who does not show fear, who has a strong sense of camaraderie, and who won’t give up, but rather fight until they die while taking out a many of the enemy as possible. A person who displays all of these characteristics correctly will often die with glory, or a sense that they succeeded in fulfilling the warrior ideal in their society.
To die simply for glory sounds absurd to a lot of people now, but I don’t think our modern reasons are too far off from the ancient goals. For instance, in one Milblog called “American Soldier” this soldier speaks of “uncommon valor” a trait, which shows bravery, camaraderie, and the willingness to die for a cause. He tells the story of a soldier who shot the driver of an attacking suicide truck-bomb. The soldier saved many lives by doing so, however, the bomb was detonated and the soldier was killed. The deceased soldier was said to have all the same traits that were found honorable in ancient literature. In the end, I think this shows that even though our modern world has changed the circumstances, we are all still searching for a meaning behind death, and glory is still a popular answer.
