sentences:  Nevertheless it did provide an image of heroic virtue which could exist, and could be admired, outside the Christian framework.In some respects (as you can see in his 1936 "Beowulf" lecture, see "Essays", 24–25) the Old Norse 'theory of courage' might even be regarded as ethically superior to the Classical if not to the Christian world-view, in that it demanded commitment to virtue without any offer of lasting reward....