Notes on Beowulf
Language
At the beginning of the fifth century, two illiterate Germanic tribes,
the Angles and the Saxons, inhabited the delta of the Elbe
River. The dialects of these two tribes evolved over the next
fifteen centuries into the present language used in the British Isles,
the United States, and Canada.
The language you speak is Germanic, brought to Britain by pagan
Anglo-Saxon invaders.
Literature
Literature and history were preserved in this preliterate culture by
bards, or oral poets.
However, Beowulf itself is probably the work of a poet making use
of the older oral poetry.
Heroic Code
The invading Anglo-Saxon tribes were dominated by codes and
customs which included
a warrior class that was ruled by a tribal chieftain
a body of personal retainers, or warriors, bound to the chieftain by
kinship
the custom of gift-giving
a personal code of honor which included the concept of blood
vengeance. This code demanded that a warrior must either kill
another person who injured or killed a kinsman or get
compensation money for the injury or death
a warrior must defend his lord to the death
The Church
Christian themes are in general the most important themes in old
English literature.
Christianity supplied the underlying and overriding values in Old
English poetry, even in Beowulf which contains only a few overt
references to the Bible or to Christian beliefs.
Christianity did not go away with heroic poetry but rather
converted and transformed. The language, meter, and diction of
heroic verse were kept, but these were applied to Christian themes
and subjects. (Dream of the Rood)
For example, Beowulf is a story of pagan warriors, yet literary
researchers agree that as the story was passed from generation to
generation, Christian references were inserted into the poetry.
Beowulf
Many of the people and places in Beowulf are real. For example,
Hygelac's battle occurred about A. D. 521,
The Geats, Danes, and Swedes of the time are historically noted in
ancient chronicles.
Hrothgar and Hrothulf are mentioned in a twelfth century
chronicle.
Heorot was an actual place located in a village near Roskilde, on
the island with Copenhagen.
Key Terms
alliteration
irony
elegy
epic
personification
foreboding or foreshadowing
heroic code
symbolism
scop
kenning
Beowulf
The old tradition of English poetry called "heroic poetry" was
brought to England by Danish invaders in the mid-sixth
century. Bards, or scops, passed the literature and history of the
Danes, Jutes, Angles and Saxons (Anglo-Saxons) from one
generation to another by word of mouth, from one bard or scop to
another. Historians believe Beowulf was written in the early eighth
century by a single author after England became Christian but
while pagan habits and thought still exerted a strong influence on
the culture.
This poem is an Old English or Anglo-Saxon epic written in
alliterative verse.
Epic
First, two characteristics of the epic are
that it embodies the values of a civilization,
and it celebrates the exploits of a tribe while focusing on a central
heroic character.
However, Beowulf differs from the Greek and Roman epics in
important ways:
Even though the hero dies at the end, the poem cannot be
considered a tragedy in the same sense as Hamlet or Oedipus the
King.
The main character, Beowulf, does not have a tragic flaw that
finally dooms him to death or failure.
Alliterative Verse
Second, alliteration is "the use of several nearby words or stressed
syllables beginning with the same consonant". Alliteration was
widely used in the Germanic epic and in Middle English poetry
before end rhyme gradually took its place. Here’s an older
translation of the beginning:
Lo, praise of the prowess of people-kings
of spear-armed Danes,
in days long sped,
we have heard, and what honor the athelings
won!
Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes,
from many a
tribe, the mead-bench tore,
awing the earls. Since erst he
lay
friendless, a foundling, fate repaid him:
for he waxed under
welkin, in wealth he throve,
till before him the folk, both far and
near,
who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate,
gave him
gifts: a good king he!
Now here’s Heaney’s translation from the Norton:
Beowulf is an exciting adventure story with wonderful fights
against terrifying monsters—soon to be a major motion picture.
Ugh.
What kind of hero is he?
loyal to friends, family, the chieftain, tribe, or other Christians
kinship (therefore treachery against kinship is the worst kind)
generous and helpful
a good man who fights against evil
a hero who seeks revenge for harm done
What are his values (so far) or what values does he represent?
loyalty, etc.
kinship and the importance of lord/retainer relationship
generosity
fame and glory
importance of vengeance
faith in God? or faith in fate?
What is the poem’s relationship to those values?
Its hero represents the values of the heroic code even though the
poet represents these values as limited and, at the end of the story,
doomed as is the main character.
This old civilization cherished worldly goods, power, and courage,
but these values were later replaced by Christian values that taught
peace, humility, and the vanity of owning earthly goods.
Fate
The importance of fate is everywhere in the poem:
Foreboding or foreshadowing: if fate decides all, if God is already
weaving the tale on his war-loom, then there is no question of the
outcome; there is no surprise in the text. For example, see 1232ff
where the author gives clues to future events and outcomes in the
story in the feast scene.
399-455: Beowulf’s boast—God will determine; Fate goes even as
fate must (are these the same or different?)
662-702: Beowulf places trust in God—very Christian language
but very AS as well; trusts strength first, God second? fate?
1000-1007: Death takes us all; as opposed to fame (note this
language emerges just at the moment of Beowulf’s triumph)
1191-1214: Necklace—gift from Wealtheow to Beowulf to Hygd
to Hygelac—then the last battle and destruction of the Geats; from
triumphant gift to slaughter; irony? vanity
1530-1556: Beowulf’s recovery and defeat of Grendel’s mother—
begins with name and fame, concludes with God decided the
victory
Hrothgar’s advice to Beowulf (1722ff)
Story of Heremod (remember the invocation of Sigemund and
Heremod earlier)
Avoid pride
Don’t think of earthly things
Choose eternity
This episode calls attention to three characteristics of the poem:
1. The interruption of the narrative by other narratives
2. The problems with blood feud
3. The poet’s judgment of the heroic age—the transformation of
Anglo-Saxon tragic irony into Christian salvation
Other Narratives
The purpose of these short narratives:
To teach proper behavior (exemplary and cautionary):
o Sigemund the good king, Heremod the bad (883-914)
o Second story of Heremod (1709)
o Queen Modryth, the bad queen compared to Hygd (1931)
To suggest problems specifically with blood feud
To point out irony (i.e. how tragic irony turns into Christian
optimism?)
o Torque of gold and the future (1194)
The Problems with Blood Feud
Future destruction of Heorot (82-85)
Finnsburg Episode (1070-1158)
Grendel’s mother seeks revenge
Freawaru a peace pledge but feud wins out in end (2023ff)
Feud brings Beowulf to the throne (2354-2396)
The brothers’ feud (Haethcyn’s murder of Herebeald (brothers to
Hygelac))—"for who could avenge / the prince’s life or pay his
death-price?" (2443-2444)
After Beowulf’s death—immediately talk turns to all the
unresolved feuds
2999: "So this bad blood between us and the
Swedes …"
Tragic Irony and Christian Hope
The Danes backslide in their faith: when Grendel strikes they pray
to pagan gods (175ff)
Culture of Treasure and Earthly Things Rejected
o From the beginning: Shield’s death and funeral; he "leaves" rich
but of course he’s dead
o The great necklace (the owners die despite the "greatness")
o Hrothgar’s advice (choose eternity)
o Treasure-hoard story (2231-2270)
The End of Time, the End of a Culture
o Wiglaf the Last of us (2813)
o The imagined future without Beowulf (2884)
o Future Woe (3015
o Funeral (3137)—note how the poem opens with a funeral
o Geat woman prophecy (3150)
o Heaven swallows the smoke (3155)
Elegy