BEOWOLF: THE AUTHOR AND HIS TIMES 

Who wrote Beowulf--the oldest known epic poem written in
English--is a question that has mystified readers for centuries.
It's generally thought that the poem was performed orally by the
poet before a "live" audience, and that in this way it
eventually passed down to readers and listeners.  Another theory
is that the poem was recited by memory by a "scop," a traveling
entertainer who went from court to court, singing songs and
telling stories, until it was finally written down at the
request of a king who wanted to hear it again. 

Because there are three major battle scenes in the poem, some
readers believe that Beowulf was composed by three different
authors.  Other readers claim that the sections that take place
in Denmark and the sections that occur after Beowulf returns to
Geatland were the work of different authors.  The majority of
critics agree that because of the unified structure of the poem,
with its interweaving of historical information into the flow of
the main narrative, the poem was most likely composed by one
person. 

As you read the poem try to imagine yourself in the banquet hall
of a large castle, eating and drinking with your friends.  The
court entertainer--much like a stand-up comedian in a
nightclub--begins telling his story.  Your presence in the hall
means that you're probably a member of the aristocratic class,
either a descendant of the founder of a particular tribe or one
of your king's followers.  (Anglo-Saxon society was divided into
two main classes:  the aristocracy and the proletariat.
Beowulf, as you'll see, gives us very little information about
the life of the average person in Anglo-Saxon society, but
concerns itself exclusively with life in the court and on the
battlefield.) 

Most of the stories were written and recited during this time to
entertain and instruct the members of the aristocratic class.
The scop assumed that his audience was familiar with the stories
of ancient times.  It was his job to make them as interesting
and as vivid as possible. 

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BEOWULF:  THE PLOT 

Beowulf begins with a history of the Danish kings, starting with
Shild (whose funeral is described in the Prologue) and leading
up to the reign of King Hrothgar, Shild's great-grandson.
Hrothgar is well loved by his people and successful in war.  He
builds a lavish hall, called Herot, to house his vast army, and
when the hall is finished the Danish soldiers gather under its
roof to celebrate. 

Grendel, a monster in human shape who lives at the bottom of a
nearby swamp, is provoked by the singing and carousing of
Hrothgar's followers.  He appears at the hall late one night and
kills thirty of the warriors in their sleep.  For the next
twelve years the fear of Grendel's potential fury casts a shadow
over the lives of the Danes.  Hrothgar and his advisers can
think of nothing to appease the monster's anger. 

Beowulf, prince of the Geats, hears about Hrothgar's troubles,
gathers fourteen of the bravest Geat warriors, and sets sail
from his home in southern Sweden.  The Geats are greeted by the
members of Hrothgar's court, and Beowulf boasts to the king of
his previous successes as a warrior, particularly his success in
fighting sea monsters.  Hrothgar welcomes the arrival of the
Geats, hoping that Beowulf will live up to his reputation.
During the banquet that follows Beowulf's arrival, Unferth, a
Danish soldier, voices doubt about Beowulf's past
accomplishments, and Beowulf, in turn, accuses Unferth of
killing brothers.  Before retiring for the night, Hrothgar
promises Beowulf great treasures if he meets with success
against the monster. 

Grendel appears on the night of the Geats' arrival at Herot.
Beowulf, true to his word, wrestles the monster barehanded.  He
tears off the monster's arm at the shoulder, but Grendel
escapes, only to die soon afterward at the bottom of his
snake-infested swamp.  The Danish warriors, who had fled the
hall in fear, return singing songs in praise of Beowulf's
triumph.  The heroic stories of Siegmund and Hermod, and of the
Frisian king Finn, are performed in Beowulf's honor.  Hrothgar
rewards Beowulf with a great store of treasures.  After another
banquet the warriors of both the Geats and the Danes retire for
the night. 

Unknown to the warriors, however, Grendel's mother is plotting
revenge.  She arrives at the hall when all the warriors are
sleeping and carries off Esher, Hrothgar's chief adviser.
Beowulf, rising to the occasion, offers to dive to the bottom of
the lake, find the monster's dwelling place, and destroy her.
He and his men follow the monster's tracks to the cliff
overlooking the lake where Grendel's mother lives.  They see
Esher's bloody head floating on the surface of the lake.  While
preparing for battle, Beowulf asks Hrothgar to protect his
warriors, and to send his treasures to his uncle, King Higlac,
if he doesn't return safely. 

During the ensuing battle Grendel's mother carries Beowulf to
her underwater home.  After a terrible fight Beowulf kills the
monster with a magical sword that he finds on the wall of her
home.  He also finds Grendel's dead body, cuts off the head, and
returns to land, where the Geat and Danish warriors are waiting
expectantly.  Beowulf has now purged Denmark of the race of evil
monsters. 

The warriors return to Hrothgar's court, where the Danish king
delivers a sermon to Beowulf on the dangers of pride and on the
fleeting nature of fame and power.  The Danes and Geats prepare
a feast in celebration of the death of the monsters.  In the
morning the Geats hurry to their boat, anxious to begin the trip
home.  Beowulf bids farewell to Hrothgar and tells the old king
that if the Danes ever again need help he will gladly come to
their assistance.  Hrothgar presents Beowulf with more treasures
and they embrace, emotionally, like father and son. 

The Geats sail home.  After recounting the story of his battles
with Grendel and Grendel's mother, Beowulf tells King Higlac
about the feud between Denmark and their enemies, the
Hathobards.  He describes the proposed peace settlement, in
which Hrothgar will give his daughter Freaw to Ingeld, king of
the Hathobards, but predicts that the peace will not last long.
Higlac rewards Beowulf for his bravery with parcels of land,
swords, and houses. 

The meeting between Higlac and Beowulf marks the end of the
first part of the poem.  In the next part Higlac is dead, and
Beowulf has been king of the Geats for fifty years.  A thief
steals a jeweled cup from a sleeping dragon who avenges his loss
by flying through the night burning down houses, including
Beowulf's own hall and throne.  Beowulf goes to the cave where
the dragon lives, vowing to destroy it single-handed.  He's an
old man now, however, and his strength is not as great as it was
when he fought against Grendel.  During the battle Beowulf
breaks his sword against the dragon's side; the dragon, enraged,
engulfs Beowulf in flames and wounds him in the neck.  All of
Beowulf's followers flee except Wiglaf, who rushes through the
flames to assist the aging warrior.  Wiglaf stabs the dragon
with his sword, and Beowulf, in a final act of courage, cuts the
dragon in half with his knife. 

Yet the damage is done.  Beowulf realizes that he's dying, that
he has fought his last battle.  He asks Wiglaf to bring him the
dragon's storehouse of treasures; seeing the jewels and gold
will make him feel that the effort has been worthwhile.  He
instructs Wiglaf to build a tomb to be known as "Beowulf's
tower" on the edge of the sea.  After Beowulf dies, Wiglaf
admonishes the troops who deserted their leader when he was
fighting against the dragon.  He tells them that they have been
untrue to the standards of bravery, courage, and loyalty that
Beowulf has taught. 

Wiglaf sends a messenger to a nearby encampment of Geat soldiers
with instructions to report the outcome of the battle.  The
messenger predicts that the enemies of the Geats will feel free
to attack them now that their king is dead.  Wiglaf supervises
the building of the funeral pyre.  In keeping with Beowulf's
instructions, the dragon's treasure is buried alongside
Beowulf's ashes in the tomb.  The poem ends as it began--with
the funeral of a great warrior. 

NOTE:  Beowulf is written in an early form of English called Old
English, or Anglo-Saxon.  The Beowulf you read today is a
translation from Anglo-Saxon into modern English.  If the
translation you have shows different spellings of characters'
names from what appears here, do not be alarmed.  It is the
translator's choice to interpret the Anglo-Saxon in a particular
way, and thus minor differences do occur.  To avoid any possible
confusion, read the glossary near the end of this study guide. 

Line references and spellings in this guide are based on the
popular Burton Raffel translation (New American Library). 

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BEOWULF:  BEOWULF 

A hero must be judged by the things he does and the way he
reacts and relates to other people.  His deeds must be marked by
a nobility of purpose, and he must be willing to risk his life
for his ideals.  Though Beowulf obviously meets these
requirements, he's also a mortal human being.  To understand
Beowulf it's important to understand how the poet attempts to
reconcile the "human" and the "heroic" sides of his
personality. 

The poet first describes Beowulf as "...greater/And stronger
than anyone anywhere in this world" (195), without informing us
about what he did to acquire this reputation.  We see him
initially through the awestruck eyes of the Danish soldier
patrolling the cliffs.  "Nor have I ever seen/," the soldier
says, addressing the Geats, "Out of all the men on earth, one
greater/Than has come with you" (247-49).  Beowulf's
appearance--his size, his armor--obviously commands immediate
respect and attention. 

We learn about his character from the speeches he makes to the
soldier and to Wulfgar, the Danish warrior who again asks the
Geats to identify themselves.  Beowulf--anxious to meet with
Hrothgar, from whom he hopes to receive permission to battle
Grendel--is courteous, patient, and diplomatic.  His manner
lacks the brusqueness and coldness of a person whose previous
accomplishments make him feel superior to other people.  His
fame as the world's bravest person hasn't gone to his head. 

Yet he's also a person with a definite purpose.  If he expects
to battle Grendel, he must convince Hrothgar of his bravery.
Some of you might find his boastfulness disturbing--as Unferth
does--but for Beowulf it's simply a means of getting what he
wants. 

The question remains, however:  What does Beowulf want?  Is he
motivated to perform heroic acts simply by a need to help other
people?  Are fame and glory uppermost in his mind?  Or is he
interested mainly in accumulating as much wealth as possible? 

It might be best to assume that Beowulf is motivated by a
combination of all these things.  A hero, the poet is telling
us, isn't immune from inner conflicts.  He may act selflessly,
governed by a code of ethics and an intuitive understanding of
other people.  But part of him--and this is perhaps the tragic
flaw in Beowulf's character--has no real idea of why he acts the
way he does. 

His capacity for forgiveness and generosity is most evident in
his relationship with Unferth.  When the Danish warrior
jealously attempts to slander Beowulf's reputation, Beowulf
accuses him of cowardice for not having killed Grendel himself.
Beowulf feels that it's important to defend himself, to set the
record straight, but he isn't interested in holding grudges.
When Unferth later offers him his special sword to fight
Grendel's mother, Beowulf accepts, forgivingly, as if the
initial encounter had never happened. 

Some of you will want to interpret Beowulf's heroic nature as a
kind of inner quest, a search for something beyond the ordinary
run of existence.  Part of this quest involves the search for a
true father.  In his desire to impress Hrothgar and Higlac, he
acts very much the way a son might act toward his father.  One
of the reasons he comes to help Hrothgar, we learn, is to pay
his father's debt.  He has no great desire to become king of the
Geats.  When first offered the throne, he refuses, preferring to
play the role of warrior-son.  (the father-son relationship runs
parallel to the relationship between king and warrior, where a
warrior has a duty to serve his king.) 

Beowulf's spiritual conflicts,--whether to act selflessly for
the good of others, or to accumulate rewards and personal
fame--are also a key to his personality.  In the same sense,
he's never certain whether his success as a warrior is due to
his own strength or to God's help.  The conflict between the
material and the spiritual is never more evident than in his
dying words:  "'For this, this gold, these jewels, I thank/Our
Father in Heaven, Ruler of the Earth'" (2794-95).  Whether
Beowulf's inability to resolve this conflict makes him any less
worthy of being called a hero is for you to decide. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  HROTHGAR 

Hrothgar is the most human character in the poem, and the person
with whom we can most easily identify.  He isn't afraid to hide
his emotions in a society where it is a sign of weakness for a
man to show his feelings, and this characteristic gives him a
heroic quality of his own. 

When we first meet him he's coming to the end of his reign over
the Danish kingdom.  To commemorate his various successes he
builds a huge hall, Herot, to house his warriors.  He's under
the illusion that this hall will be a permanent monument to his
achievements, something that will exist long after he's dead.
This modest show of vanity is Hrothgar's only flaw, and in a way
the entire poem revolves around the building of the great hall.
(It's as if any display of pride or vanity brings out the evil
in the world; if Herot hadn't been built, Grendel might never
have attacked the Danish people.) His world outlook is typical
of most of the people in Anglo-Saxon society, but less extreme;
the poet makes no mention of treachery or conspiracy in
Hrothgar's past.  Though the world exists in a constant state of
flux, everyone desires a feeling of permanence and security.
Hrothgar, by building Herot, wants to deny the transitoriness of
life.  The first part of the poem--dominated by Beowulf's
battles with Grendel and Grendel's mother--illustrates the
impossibility of his dream. 

The virtues of a good warrior are wisdom and courage.  A good
king, however, must possess not only these qualities, but he
also must be concerned for the welfare of his people.  Hrothgar
possesses wisdom, but his courage--when we meet him he is, after
all, an old man--is lacking.  When Grendel attacks the hall, all
Hrothgar can do is hold his head in despair.  Lacking the
strength of his youth, he can no longer make decisions in
situations involving violence. 

After Grendel's mother attacks the hall--and escapes with the
body of Esher, Hrothgar's closest friend--we see Hrothgar
trembling "in anger and grief" (1308).  When Beowulf comes to
find out what's wrong, Hrothgar practically begs him to kill the
monster.  His grief, at this point, verges on hysteria.  But
given the same circumstances, who wouldn't feel the same?  If
age robs you of the power to act decisively, it also puts you in
touch with your emotions.  Hrothgar is wise enough to realize
that he isn't strong enough to battle the monster alone.  (In
this sense, he's unlike Beowulf, who, as an aging king, attempts
to relive his youth by fighting the dragon.) 

Hrothgar's strongest moment occurs after the battle between
Beowulf and Grendel's mother.  He delivers a sermon to Beowulf
on the evils of pride, advising Beowulf to guard against
wickedness and to use his powers for the betterment of other
people.  He cites the example of Hermod, a king who might have
performed great acts of courage, but who instead abused his
potential and brought only destruction and slaughter to his
people.  He warns Beowulf against thinking that just because
he's defeated Grendel and Grendel's mother, he has rid the world
of evil forever.  Death will come to everyone, even those
blessed by God.  Before you know it, all your strength and power
are gone. 

Hrothgar's understanding of human nature is based on his long
experience as the king of the Danes.  He isn't jealous of
Beowulf's strength and fame; all he wants is to die knowing he
did his best to protect his people from the evils of the
world. 

Hrothgar's most emotional scene occurs just before Beowulf and
his men are ready to depart from Denmark (Verse 26).  Beowulf
offers to come to Hrothgar's assistance when and if he ever
needs it and Hrothgar predicts that one day Beowulf will be king
of the Geats.  Their relationship is more like father and son
than king and warrior.  Hrothgar realizes that he'll probably
never see the young warrior again.  He embraces and kisses him,
bursting into tears.  Some readers feel he's crying not so much
because Beowulf is departing but as a way of releasing all the
tension that built up during the years when the Danish people
were being tormented by the monsters. 

Hrothgar's generosity and dignity are the human counterparts to
the violence of the battles between Beowulf and the monsters.
He is the model against whom all the other kings and warriors in
the poem must be compared. 

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BEOWULF:  WIGLAF 

As a character, Wiglaf is of tremendous importance to the
overall structure of the poem.  He's the young warrior who helps
Beowulf, the aging king, in his battle against the dragon, in
much the same way the younger Beowulf helped King Hrothgar in
part one.  In this sense Wiglaf is the link between the two
parts of the poem.  He's also a perfect example of the idea of
comitatus, the loyalty of the warrior to his leader.  While all
his fellow warriors flee in fear, Wiglaf alone comes to the aid
of his king. 

Wiglaf is described by the poet as being of Swedish descent.
He's the son of Wextan, and it's with his father's sword that he
wounds the dragon.  He enters the battle fearlessly, ignoring
the dragon's flames when they engulf his armor.  But he's not
only brave; he has his head on his shoulders as well.  Instead
of attempting to strike the dragon's head, he pierces the dragon
"lower down," sapping its strength so much that Beowulf--with
one blow of his sword--is able to sever its head. 

Wiglaf plays the role of Beowulf's son, in much the same way
Hrothgar performed the role of Beowulf's father.  Even though
he's filled with grief at the death of his king, he's still able
to sound clear-headed and dignified when he addresses his
cowardly comrades.  Like the young Beowulf, he's a model of
self-control, determined to act in a way that he believes is
right. 

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BEOWULF:  UNFERTH 

The name Unferth means "strife" (un-peace), and when we first
meet this character he certainly seems to be living up to his
name.  A courtier in King Hrothgar's court, he's jealous of
Beowulf, and drunkenly accuses the young hero of foolishly
risking his life in a swimming match with Brecca years before.
He's anxious to dent Beowulf's self-confidence, and tells the
hero that his luck will change when he goes up against
Grendel. 

Beowulf responds by telling the correct version of his swimming
match with Brecca.  He taunts Unferth, accusing him of cowardice
for not defeating Grendel himself, and for having killed his own
brother. 

Later the poet mentions Unferth in connection with Hrothulf, the
king's nephew, implying that Unferth is connected with
Hrothulf's ambition to seize the throne after Hrothgar's death.
He appears in the poem a third time, as Beowulf is about to
descend into the lake to battle with Grendel's mother.  Unferth,
obviously impressed by Beowulf's strength against Grendel,
presents Beowulf with his sword, called Hrunting, as a sign of
reconciliation.  (Beowulf accepts the gift, but the sword proves
useless against the monster.) 

We last see Unferth as Beowulf is about to depart from Denmark.
Once again he offers the hero his sword as a gift, and Beowulf,
not wanting to leave Denmark with any ill feeling, accepts it,
making it clear to Unferth that he's forgiven him for his
jealous outburst. 

What is Unferth's relevance to the story?  As a typical warrior
of the time--yet one not frightened to speak his mind--he must
be seen purely in relation to Beowulf.  By presenting an
opponent to the young hero, the poet reveals Beowulf's strength
of character, his generosity, and his capacity for forgiveness.
If Unferth considered himself, and was considered by others, a
brave warrior, how much more courageous Beowulf must seem in
comparison. 

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BEOWULF:  GRENDEL 

Grendel, the first of the three monsters Beowulf kills, lives in
the bottom of a lake, or mere, not far from Herot, the great
hall that Hrothgar built to house his warriors.  According to
the poet, the monster is a descendant of Cain, one of many
monsters whom God punished for the crime of Abel's death. 

Grendel is hostile to humanity.  He's inspired to attack Herot
after hearing the joyous singing of the warriors.  He is
enormous, possessing superhuman strength, and appears only at
night.  For twelve years he has terrorized Denmark, bringing
suffering and misery to Hrothgar and his warriors. 

Like the Devil, to whom he's often compared, Grendel is an
extreme example of evil and corruption.  He possesses no human
feelings except hatred and bitterness toward mankind.  Unlike
human beings, however, who can contain elements of good and
evil, there's no way Grendel can ever be converted to goodness.
As much as he stands for a symbol of evil, he also represents
disorder and chaos--a projection of what was most frightening to
the Anglo-Saxon mind. 

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BEOWULF:  THEMES 

1.  GOOD AND EVIL 

The conflict between good and evil is the poem's most important
theme.  The poet makes it clear, however, that good and evil
don't exist as mutually exclusive opposites, but that both
qualities are present in everyone.  Beowulf represents the
potential to do good--to perform acts selflessly and in the
service of others--while Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the
dragon are consumed with the blind desire to act against people
and to destroy them. 

Yet pride, a human quality, is also a sign that evil exists.
It's important, as Hrothgar points out to Beowulf, to protect
oneself against feeling self-satisfied; you must not ignore the
powers to do good with which you've been blessed.  The
transitoriness and instability of human existence make it
essential that you never feel too self-important about what
you've done. 

The poet also makes clear our need for a code of ethics.  Such a
code allows members of society to relate to one another with
understanding and trust.  The most important bond in Anglo-Saxon
society was the relation between king and warrior.  When the
Geat warriors break the bond by refusing to assist Beowulf in
his battle with the dragon, the foundation of society collapses,
and chaos rules. 

2.  THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 

Beowulf is a link between two traditions, the pagan and the
Christian.  The virtues of courage in war and the acceptance of
feuds between men and countries as a fact of life stem from the
older pagan tradition.  Beowulf is buried in accordance with
pagan ritual.  (Note that the poet, obviously a Christian
himself, makes no adverse comment on Beowulf's cremation.) When
Hrothgar and his counselors turn to their stone gods in an
attempt to rid the country of Grendel, the poet makes it clear
that idol worshiping is a definite threat to Christianity. 

Beowulf, himself, is distinctly more generous in nature than the
normal warrior of the time, men like Efor and Wulf who care only
about the rewards they'll receive for killing their enemies.
Though he possesses spiritual strength, Beowulf isn't
particularly concerned with Christian virtues like meekness and
poverty.  He wants to help people, in a Christian way, but his
motivation for doing so is complicated.  The poet makes no
negative comments about Beowulf's eagerness for material rewards
and earthly fame, and gives the impression that these attributes
were still acceptable, even to an audience of Christians. 

Of all the characters in the poem, Hrothgar is perhaps the one
who least fits into the old pagan tradition.  His sermon to
Beowulf on pride, and his ability to express emotions and love,
are certainly in keeping with the new morality of Christianity.
Though he's still caught up in the feuds, conspiracies, and wars
that are going on around him, he ultimately seems more concerned
with his belief in God.  (Note that the pagans were more
inspired by the Old Testament than the New, and that some
readers see Hrothgar as modeled after a king in the old
Testament.) 

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BEOWULF:  STYLE 

The Anglo-Saxon term for poet was scop, or "maker." His role was
to travel around from court to court, entertaining the warriors
and kings with stories of heroes and their adventures.  Often he
composed these stories very rapidly, choosing from a reservoir
of formulas that had been developed by other poets over a long
period of time. 

The poet depended on a number of stylistic devices, most notably
alliteration, the repetition of the same sounds or syllables in
two or more words in a line.  Here's an example of alliterative
verse from the Prologue: 

Him oa Scyld gewat to gescaep-hwile 

fela-hror feran on Frean waere. 

When his time was come the old king died, 

Still strong but called to the Lord's hands. 

26-27 

Notice that the first line has two alliterative words, gewat and
gescaep.  What are the alliterative words in the second line? 

The poet also used a stylistic device called the kenning, a
method of naming a person or thing by using a phrase that
signified a quality of that person or thing.  A warrior might be
described as "the helmet-bearing one," or the ocean might be
called "the riding place of the whales." By means of the kenning
the poet was able to vary his language, and create new and
dazzling word combinations.  (Describing every king as a
"ring-giver" is an example of the overuse of a particular
kenning.) The poet was always aware that his audience knew the
outcome of the story he was telling.  In order to make the story
interesting he had to tell it in a new way. 

Another characteristic of the poet's style is his use of
litotes, a form of understatement, often with negative
overtones, which is intended to create a sense of irony.  An
example of a litote can be found in the poet's description of
Beowulf after he returns to Geatland and presents his treasures
to Higlac:  "Beowulf had brought his king/Horses and
treasure--as a man must,/Not weaving nets of malice for his
comrades,/ Preparing their death in the dark, with
secret,/Cunning tricks" (2165-69).  By telling us what Beowulf
hasn't done, the poet creates a stronger sense of his heroic
nature. 

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BEOWULF:  LANGUAGE 

Beowulf is written in a dialect known as Old English (also
referred to as Anglo-Saxon).  Though there are many similarities
between Old English and the English we speak today, a knowledge
of the earlier dialect is necessary in order to read the
original text.  This is why Beowulf requires a translation, much
as if it had been written in a foreign language. 

The language of a country often evolves when the country is
invaded by people who speak a different dialect.  Old English
became the language of its time in the early part of the sixth
century A.D., following the occupation of the Romans.  The
language was also affected by the influence of Christianity that
occurred when the Roman invasions took place. 

Old English is a heavily accented language and its poetry is
known for its emphasis on alliteration and rhythm.  Each line of
Beowulf is divided into two distinct half-lines separated by a
pause and related by the repetition of sounds.  Each half-line
contains at least four syllables.  Almost no lines in Old
English poetry end in rhymes in the conventional sense, but the
alliterative quality of the verse gives the poetry its music and
rhythm. 

The Norman Conquest in A.D.  1066 introduced many French words
into the English language.  This date marks the start of the
Period known as Middle English.  It lasted several hundred years
and produced very little great literature that was predominately
English until the appearance of Chaucer, the author of
Canterbury Tales, at the end of the thirteenth century.  Most of
the themes and the dominant verse forms during this period were
influenced by the French invasions.  When the Tudor king Henry
VII took the throne of England in 1485, the language once again
began to change, and the English language started to resemble
the language we speak today. 

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BEOWULF:  POINT OF VIEW 

Many of you will feel that the weakest aspect of the poem is the
poet's retelling of the same event again and again, especially
Beowulf's battle with Grendel.  When Beowulf reports the story
of his conquests in Denmark to Higlac, he adds no truly
significant detail.  Nor does Beowulf's view of the battle tell
us anything significant about the hero himself.  There's almost
no difference between Beowulf's version of the story and the
poet's. 

Notice that the characters in the poem don't talk to each other
as we do.  There are no real conversations.  Most often the
characters just deliver speeches to one another.  When Hrothgar,
for instance, delivers his sermon on pride, the poet gives us no
indication of what Beowulf is thinking.  When Beowulf tells
Higlac about the upcoming feud between the Danes and the
Hathobards, the Geat king says nothing in response. 

Also notice the way the poet keeps the story moving by leaping
quickly from one event to another.  His use of historical
digressions is similar to the use of flashbacks in movies and
novels.  In the middle of Beowulf's fight with Grendel, the poet
shifts the point of view to the Danes who are sleeping in
another part of the hall.  We see them in their beds (782),
terrified by the sound of Grendel's screams. 

Also, during Beowulf's battle with Grendel's mother, the poet
shifts from the struggle beneath the surface of the lake to show
us the reactions of the warriors waiting on land.  In every
battle there's an audience looking on.  By using this technique
the poet can describe the battle as it's actually happening, and
give us the reactions of the audience at the same time. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  STRUCTURE 

The poet's main structural device is to interweave the events of
the present and the past.  He frequently interrupts the main
narrative with historical digressions that relate, both directly
and indirectly, to what's taking place in the main story.  For
instance, the theme of revenge in the Finnsburg Episode (Verses
16-17) is linked to the revenge sought by the dragon, and to the
revenge of Grendel's mother for her son's death.  Some critics
use the word interlacing to describe this structure. 

Both the digressions and the main narrative contain many common
elements.  All the major events in the poem deal with feuds:
man against man, man against monster.  The image of the
hero--Beowulf himself--stands at the center of the poem like a
rock in a whirlpool, with all the various stones swirling around
him. 

The poem is also struck around the theme of youth and age.  In
part one we see Beowulf as the young, daring prince, in contrast
with Hrothgar, the wise but aging king.  In part two Beowulf, as
the aging but still heroic warrior, is contrasted with his young
follower, Wiglaf.  Part of the magic of reading Beowulf is to
see the way the two parts parallel one another so accurately,
and how an the major events in the poem reflect and echo one
another. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  THE EPIC POEM 

When reading Beowulf it's important to see it as part of the
tradition of epic poetry that began with the poems of Homer--The
Iliad and The Odyssey--and with Virgil's Aeneid.  (Whether the
Beowulf poet himself was familiar himself with these epics isn't
known.) All these poems deal with the affairs and deeds of brave
men, and focus on the exploits and deeds of one man in
particular.  Note that epic poetry usually concerns a few events
in the life of a single person; it makes no attempt to portray a
whole life chronologically from beginning to end. 

The epic poet treats all his subjects fairly and objectively.
He presents his characters as they are--in realistic
fashion--and as they ought to be.  Occasionally he breaks the
objective tone to offer a moral judgment on one of his
characters.  For the most part, however, he lets the actions of
the characters speak for themselves.  Scenes such as the voyages
of the Geats to Denmark (and then home again) and the giving of
rewards for acts of bravery are typical scenes--"set pieces"--of
almost all epic writing. 

The epic poet is concerned with human values and moral choices.
The characters are capable of performing acts of great courage;
they are also capable of suffering intensely for their deeds.
Some of you will feel that Beowulf is a mixture of both tragedy
and comedy, and that its hero is ultimately a tragic figure.
Others of you will find fault in Beowulf for its lack of humor.
As you read the poem, try to notice characters and events that
could be described as being either tragic or comic. 

The epic poet also functions as a historian, blending past,
present, and future in a unique, all-encompassing way.  His pace
is leisurely, and allows him to include as many different
stories as possible.  Remember that the scop's success as an
entertainer depended on his ability to re-create these stories
in a new way.  In Beowulf the poet is both telling a story and
connecting it to events that have taken place in the past.
Beowulf is not just a simple tale about a man who kills monsters
and dragons, but a large-scale vision of human history. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  SOURCES 

Although the poem originates in England, it doesn't deal
specifically with Anglo-Saxon society.  Instead it concerns the
lives of various Scandinavian tribes, especially the Danes and
the Geats.  The work is a blend of fact and fiction; there is no
evidence that a hero named Beowulf ever existed.  (The only
character mentioned in any of the chronicles of the period is
Higlac, Beowulf's uncle, whose defeat by the Franks in the year
521 is referred to by the French historian Gregory of Tours.) 

The Germanic invaders of Britain brought with them numerous
stories and folktales they had heard in their wanderings through
Europe between the third and sixth centuries.  The poet
incorporated many of these stories into his poem, most notably
the conflicts between Hengest and Finn, and Ingeld and King
Hrothgar. 

Monsters resembling Grendel and his mother also appear in a
number of Scandinavian folk legends of the time.  Grendel,
however, is described as a descendant of Cain, and this biblical
reference links both the Germanic and Christian influences that
pervade the poem.  Those of you who interpret the dragon as a
Christian symbol of evil will want to ask yourselves how much
the poet depended on Christian literature as the main source of
his poem. 

The importance of Beowulf lies in the way the poet was able to
infuse all these elements and to create out of these various
sources a unified and unique work of literature. 

Beowulf critics agree that the poem was composed, at the
earliest, between 673 and 735.  The latest possible date of
composition is usually set at 790.  By the middle of the eighth
century the Danes had invaded England; scholars assume it was
unlikely that an Anglo-Saxon would have written a poem
sympathetic to the Danes at that time. 

Some critics say that the poem originated in either the court of
King Aldfrith of Northumbria or the court of King Offa of
Mercia, both courts known for their high level of Anglo-Saxon
culture.  It's also possible, because of the atmosphere of
Christianity that pervades the poem, that Beowulf was composed
in a monastery.  Though the earliest manuscript of the poem
dates from the year 1000, none of the theories of authorship,
date, and place of composition can be definitely proved. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  PROLOGUE 

The Prologue begins with the words "Hear me!", a rousing cry
meant to capture the audience's attention.  Remember as you read
the poem that Beowulf was recited orally long before it was ever
written down, and that the first performance probably took place
in the middle of a great hall or court where people were eating
and drinking.  The job of the court poet was to educate and
entertain, and most of all to keep his audience interested. 

Almost immediately the poet introduces the main subject of the
poem:  the stories of ancient kings and heroes and how they won
glory by acts of courage and bravery.  We meet Shild, founder of
the Danish dynasty, and his son Beo, who inherits his father's
throne.  Before Shild appeared, the poet tells us, the Danish
people were "kingless and miserable." Under his rule they became
a great power. 

We're entering a world dominated by kings and their warriors.
Though Shild is depicted as a "brave king," his fame is based on
turning his enemies into slaves, of terrorizing them into
submission.  His job as king is to protect his people in
whatever way he can, and to accumulate as much wealth as
possible for his country.  He acquires this wealth by plundering
the treasuries of his enemies.  A successful king is also one
who is generous to his warriors, who rewards them with rings and
gold in exchange for their loyalty.  This bond between king and
warrior is known as comitatus.  "...wealth," we learn, "is
shaped with a sword" (25). 

The poet informs us that Shild overcame enormous obstacles
before he became a king:  he was abandoned as a child and
arrived in Denmark alone. 

NOTE:  We'll discover later in the poem that Beowulf himself was
considered "worthless" when he was young, and that he, too, had
to overcome personal difficulties before becoming a great hero.
The poet is saying here that it's possible to alter the course
of one's life by means of courage, perseverance, strength of
character, and will power, that you can become anything--a king,
or a president for that matter--if you possess and cultivate
these qualities. 

The Prologue ends with a description of Shild's funeral.  His
warriors place his body on the deck of a ship, surround it with
helmets, swords, and coats of mail, and set it adrift. 

NOTE:  The objects of war obviously play an important role in
the lives of these people.  The ritual of burying someone
alongside his most precious possessions is a way of linking the
person's life on earth to the afterlife, whether it be heaven or
hell.  As we read further, we'll see how religion and ritual
gave meaning to the lives of the people in Anglo-Saxon times. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSE 1 

The first verse tells us about the line of Danish kings.  Beo,
maintaining the same standard of success set by his father,
begets a son, Healfdane, who inherits the throne when Beo dies.
Healfdane, "a fierce fighter," fathers three sons--Hergar,
Hrothgar, and Halga the Good--and a daughter,--Yrs, who later
becomes wife of Onela, king of Sweden. 

NOTE:  Historical sources claim that Hergar and Halga the Good
died when they were young.  This explains why Hrothgar, the
second son, assumes the throne upon Healfdane's death. 

Hrothgar is described as possibly the most successful Danish
king so far.  As he grows older, after a happy and successful
life, he yearns to build a hall to house his vast army of
warriors.  Like most people, Hrothgar desires some outward show
of his greatness, a monument that will live on after he dies.
The building of this hall, called Herot, is one way of achieving
immortality. 

Notice the way the poet comments on the story, foreshadowing
events in the distant future.  Herot is completed, but to think
that it will last forever is an illusion: 

That towering place, gabled and huge, 

Stood waiting for time to pass, for war 

To begin, for flames to leap as high 

As the feud that would light them, and for Herot to burn. 

(82-85) 

Eventually another war will break out, the poet says, and Herot,
like everything else, will be destroyed. 

The great hall is built.  Hrothgar prepares a festive banquet
for his warriors.  The court poet entertains the warriors with
songs of the creation of the earth, recalling how the Almighty
shaped "These beautiful plains marked off by oceans,/Then
proudly setting the sun and moon/To glow across the land and
light it" (93-95).  All is well--or seems to be.  Then, as now,
we live in a time of contrasts, where the best of times, as
Charles Dickens wrote, is also the worst of times.  As the
festivities at Herot continue night after night, a powerful
monster named Grendel is awakened by the carousing of Hrothgar
and his men.  Grendel hates the idea that people on earth can be
happy, and the sound of the men celebrating--especially the poet
playing on his harp--stirs him into action. 

NOTE:  Notice the Christian motifs that run through the poem,
and how they contrast with the pagan system of values that
underlies the actions of the kings and the warriors.  The
influence of Christianity was just beginning to make its mark in
this world, and most of the characters are torn between their
newly discovered religious feelings and their old, heathen way
of perceiving things.  The idea that there's a higher being that
controls one's actions revolutionized people's concepts of
themselves, and infused their day-to-day lives with a sense of
wonder. 

We see Grendel lurking in the shadows, a creature in exile,
banished by God. 

NOTE:  The poet leaves it up to your imagination to supply your
own image of a monster.  You might compare him to other
"monsters"--like King Kong--who have become part of recent
American folklore.  Grendel walks, thinks, and has a hand and a
mouth.  He has human qualities but he's also larger than life,
capable, as we'll soon learn, of tearing men into pieces and
devouring them whole. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSE 2 

Grendel appears at Herot in the middle of the night.  The
warriors, sated by drink and food, are "sprawled in sleep,"
unaware of any imminent danger.  Notice that the motif of
feasting, followed by going to bed, is another pattern that the
poet weaves into the texture of his poem.  (In this instance,
bed means "death.") The monster steals silently into the hall,
kills thirty of the sleeping Danish warriors, and returns to his
home in the swamp, "delighted with his night's slaughter"
(125). 

NOTE:  At one moment everyone was happy and self-satisfied.  How
often we've felt that way ourselves, only to be rudely awakened
by the harshness of reality!  In this case Grendel acts as the
terrible reminder that evil lurks in the world, and that all
pleasures exist only in the moment and then pass away. 

In the morning, Hrothgar, stunned by the loss of his friends,
weeps inconsolably, uncertain whether Grendel's attack is just
an isolated incident or whether, as the poet says, "the
beginning might not be the end." You might think that Grendel
would be satisfied with his first night's work, but his hatred
of mankind is insatiable.  When he returns a second time, the
Danish warriors make no attempt to fight against him.  It's
every man for himself.--the only way to escape death is to
flee. 

NOTE:  Doesn't it seem that the Danish warriors, whose
reputations depend so much on their courage in the face of
danger, should attempt to defend their hall?  When we meet
Beowulf himself later in the poem, we'll realize the difference
between the Danish soldiers, who are ultimately just ordinary
mortals like ourselves, and a true hero, for whom no danger is
too great. 

Twelve years pass.  Herot, built as a symbol of Hrothgar's
success as a king, remains empty.  The story of Grendel, and of
Hrothgar's inability to restrain the monster's wrath, spreads
across the seas, and is sung "in all men's ears." Grendel
appears everywhere, stalking the Danish warriors, lurking in the
shadows.  At night he lives in Herot, where only Hrothgar's
throne, protected by God ("whose love Grendel could not know"),
remains unharmed. 

Hrothgar and his counselors make useless attempts to appease the
monster.  They can't offer him gold or land, as they might an
ordinary enemy.  Like most people in a time of crisis they slip
back into old ways of thinking.  Instead of praying to God for
support, they sacrifice to the stone idols of their pagan past.
Though enlightened by Christianity, the poet is saying, pagan
rituals were still very much a part of these people's lives. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSES 3-4 

News of the problems in Denmark have traveled far and wide.
Beowulf, a member of the Geat tribe, and described by the poet
as "greater/And stronger than anyone anywhere in this world"
(195-96), commandeers a boat, enlists fourteen of the strongest
and most courageous members of his tribe, and sets sail for the
Danish shore. 

NOTE:  Notice that Hrothgar doesn't ask for help from
Beowulf--or from anyone else, for that matter--but that the Geat
warrior takes it upon himself to come to the aid of the Danish
people.  Is Beowulf truly acting selflessly, or is he using the
situation to enhance his reputation as the world's bravest man?
Later in the poem we'll learn more about Beowulf's character,
and get a clearer sense of what makes him tick. 

The Geats arrive safely in Denmark, moor their ship, and thank
God for a calm voyage.  They're greeted by a Danish soldier
who's patrolling the cliff above the shore, and who demands to
know where they came from and who they are.  The soldier is
diplomatic, defensive, and most especially curious, because in
his own words no one has ever entered Danish territory "more
openly" than the Geats.  It quickly becomes apparent to him that
the Geats have come to help the Danes, not to rob or attack
them.  They are open because their intentions are honorable;
they have nothing to hide.  The more open you are, the poet
seems to be saying, the more people will trust you. 

Beowulf responds to the Danish soldier bluntly and with great
self-confidence.  He identifies himself as a Geat, a follower of
Higlac, and the son of Edgetho.  He assures the bewildered
soldier that there's nothing ill-intentioned about the purpose
of his visit.  Talking to the soldier, Beowulf manages to be
both dignified and boastful at the same time.  (The ability to
resolve contradictory elements in one's personality is a
trademark, we learn, of the heroic character.) He's obviously
someone who believes in himself and wants others to believe in
him as well. 

NOTE:  Outward appearances are important to both the Geats and
the Danes.  Throughout the poem we read detailed descriptions of
the armor and weapons of the soldiers.  When the Danish watchman
finally offers to lead the Geats to Herot, we see their "golden
helmets" on top of which "wild boar heads gleamed." The animal
embossed on the helmet gives the warrior an additional form of
protection; it's almost as if the animal is with him as he
marches into battle.  Weapons and armor not only have functional
purposes for these people, but possess magical properties as
well. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSES 5-6 

On their way to Hrothgar's palace, the Geats are stopped by a
Danish warrior, Wulfgar, who also asks them to identify
themselves.  At this point the action of the poem has slowed
down considerably.  Beowulf steps forth a second time,
identifies himself and his men, and requests an audience with
Hrothgar.  Wulfgar is satisfied that the visitors are well
intentioned--it's hard not to be impressed by the nobility of
their weapons and armor--and encourages Hrothgar to receive
them. 

NOTE:  The conversations between Beowulf and the watchman, and
between Beowulf and Wulfgar, are obviously repetitive.  There
are many such instances throughout the poem where the poet
repeats himself, often telling the same incident from different
points of view.  When this occurs, ask yourself whether this
technique adds or detracts from the drama of the story.  Is it
necessary for Beowulf to introduce himself twice, and yet a
third time, even more elaborately, when he finally meets
Hrothgar?  What do the speeches reveal about Beowulf's
character? 

His willingness to endure the questions of the king's
intermediaries reveals an ability to comply with the formalities
of any given situation.  Be patient, not arrogant, the poet is
telling us, and you'll get what you want. 

All the speeches in the poem resemble the lines spoken by an
actor or actress in a play.  It's important to remember that the
poem was first recited orally, and that the performer acted each
part to the best of his ability. 

Though suspicious of strangers, the Danes are an intuitive
people.  Wulfgar is described as being famous not only for his
strength and courage, but also for his wisdom.  Wisdom, in this
case, might be defined as an understanding of human nature. 

Hrothgar tells Wulfgar that he knew Beowulf when he was a boy.
He senses that Beowulf's arrival is a sign that the luck of the
Danes is changing, and that God is now acting in their favor.
Beowulf's prowess as a warrior is well known, and Hrothgar is
confident that he'll be able to defeat Grendel. 

Beowulf's speech to Hrothgar is a combination of youthful
boastfulness and an understanding that, as one critic has put
it, "the wages of heroism is death." It's his self-proclaimed
mission in life to enter into situations where death is a
possibility.  He's also aware that it's ultimately up to God
whether he achieves success against Grendel or whether he's
killed by the monster. 

NOTE:  Beowulf's character embodies the major conflict of his
times--the conflict between the old pagan rituals and the
influence of Christianity.  Recall the definition of epic
poetry, and ask yourself whether Beowulf's personality conforms
to the definition of the epic hero. 

There's nothing offensive about Beowulf's boastfulness, he's
merely stating what he believes to be true, almost as if he were
talking about another person.  Telling Hrothgar about his past
exploits as a warrior against the Geats' enemies and as a hunter
of sea monsters, he's presenting the king with his credentials.
Fighting Grendel is a job he feels he was born to do.  If he has
any doubts about himself, he's not going to reveal them at this
moment. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSE 7 

Hrothgar's response to Beowulf reveals something we didn't
previously know:  years before, Hrothgar befriended and helped
Edgetho, Beowulf's father.  We can assume that Beowulf knew
about his father's past relationship with the Danish king, and
that consequently his instinct to travel to Denmark didn't occur
in a vacuum.  Part of his incentive--besides the opportunity to
rise to new heights of fame and glory--is to repay an old
debt. 

Hrothgar's modesty, which he reveals when he recounts how he
helped Edgetho, acts as a perfect foil for Beowulf's
self-confidence.  The old, wise king is contrasted with the
brash, young warrior.  Hrothgar represents a mirror-image, or
model, of what Beowulf's own future might be. 

The brief story of Edgetho and Hrothgar is the first of many
historical digressions that interrupt the flow of the narrative.
According to Hrothgar, Edgetho became embroiled in a feud with a
tribe called the Wulfings, but Edgetho's countrymen were
frightened of going to war.  Edgetho turned to the Danes for
help, and Hrothgar, a young man "new to the throne," sent
treasures to the Wulfings to appease them and end the quarrel,
(Notice as you read the poem the many different ways that feuds
or disagreements can be resolved.) 

Hrothgar passes abruptly from the story of his friendship with
Edgetho to a description of the present troubles with Grendel.
Though he doesn't say so directly, he implies that Beowulf will
be given the chance to prove his courage against the monster.
Hrothgar tells Beowulf of all the Danish warriors who have
died--foolishly and drunkenly--in an attempt to rid the country
of the evil monster. 

NOTE:  Does Hrothgar's response to Beowulf's arrival seem too
restrained, considering what's at stake?  How do you think you'd
act under similar circumstances? 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSES 8-9 

Verse 8 introduces the character of Unferth, one of Hrothgar's
main courtiers, and the son of Eclaf. 

During the banquet that follows the arrival of the Geats,
Unferth, jealous of Beowulf's reputation and insecure about his
own, publicly accuses the visitor of acting foolishly during a
swimming match with Brecca, chief of a tribe known as the
Brondings.  According to Unferth, Beowulf not only lost the
match, he needlessly risked his life.  Unferth implies that
Beowulf's successes so far have been the result of good luck,
not strength or courage, and that the young, Geat warrior will
need more than luck if he expects to defeat Grendel. 

Beowulf isn't threatened by Unferth's assault on his character.
He accuses Unferth of having had too much to drink.  He refutes
the Danish courtier's version of the story, and uses the episode
to extol his own bravery.  He says that both he and Brecca knew
they were risking their lives, but were too young to know
better.  For five days, he says, the two young warriors swam
together side by side, each of them carrying a sword to protect
them from the whales and the needlefish.  Then a flood separated
the two rivals, and Beowulf was attacked by a monster who
dragged him toward the bottom of the sea where Beowulf pierced
its heart with his sword.  (Compare this scene with Beowulf's
underwater battle with Grendel's mother later in the poem.) 

Beowulf escapes one sea monster only to be surrounded by others.
The poet describes Beowulf offering the edge of his "razor-sharp
sword" to the monsters: 

But the feast, I think, did not please them, filled 

Their evil bellies with no banquet-rich food, 

Thrashing there at the bottom of the sea 

(562-64) 

Note how the images of "feasting" and "battle" are intertwined
throughout the poem. 

Beowulf's tone is lighthearted as he describes his escape from
the monsters.  His self-confidence sometimes seems overwhelming.
He sees himself fighting alone, a single individual against the
evil in the world.  It's not so much that he has faith in God,
but that because of his courage, God has faith in him. 

After his digression about the sea monsters, Beowulf addresses
Unferth directly, accusing him of murdering his brothers and
allowing Grendel to ravage his country.  He predicts that
Unferth's soul will "suffer hell's fires...  forever tormented."
What right, Beowulf asks, does Unferth have to question his
courage, when Unferth himself has done nothing to end Grendel's
reign of terror?  He calls the Danes a passive nation ("the
quiet Danes") compared to the Geats.  In each of his speeches
Beowulf appears to be working himself up to his eventual meeting
with Grendel. 

Hrothgar has been listening to the confrontation between Unferth
and Beowulf.  He has succumbed to Beowulf's boastfulness and
charm, certain, now, that the young warrior will fulfill his
promise.  The atmosphere in the hall, despite the impending
battle, is full of good feelings.  You have the impression that
Unferth has challenged other visitors in the same way, and that
the Danish warriors do not take him very seriously. 

Queen Welthow, Hrothgar's wife, "a noble woman who knew/What was
right" (614), makes her first appearance in the middle of this
scene.  Despite her aristocratic bearing, her job is to offer
mead--a mixture of alcohol, honey, and water--to her husband and
his warriors.  When the poet describes her as a woman "who knew
what was right," he means, in effect, that she knows her place
among men.  Indeed, the poet's description of Welthow as a
"gold-ringed queen" or a "bracelet-wearing queen" gives us the
impression of a mannequin rather than a living human being. 

After Welthow fills his cup, Beowulf takes the occasion to boast
once again of his determination to defeat Grendel.  The ritual
of accepting the cup from Welthow, however, gives him added
incentive.  The agreement between Beowulf and the Danish people
has been formalized at last, much in the same way two people
might sign a legal document or contract. 

There are two alternatives:  Beowulf will either defeat the
monster, or die in the process.  "Let me live in greatness/And
courage," he says, "or here in this hall welcome/My death!"
(636-38). 

As the banquet draws to a close, Hrothgar embraces the Geat
warrior, and promises him great treasures if he meets with
success. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSE 10 

Hrothgar and his warriors leave the hall, and Beowulf begins to
prepare himself for his battle against Grendel.  As the time
grows near, the outcome of the battle is placed clearly in God's
hands.  It's God who sent Beowulf to Herot to protect the Danes,
and it's God, as well, who will "...reward/Whom He chooses!"
(687). 

Beowulf removes his armor:  his mailshirt, his helmet, his
sword.  He feels that he can easily kill the monster without the
weapons--that Grendel, with his claws, teeth, and clumsy fists,
is no match against his sword.  Killing the monster isn't the
only issue at stake in Beowulf's mind.  The more risk involved,
the more fame and glory he will receive if he succeeds.
Possibly the monster, Beowulf exclaims, seeing a warrior with no
weapons, will be so shocked that his heart will fail him!
Beowulf's confidence in himself is so great that he's even
capable of feeling sympathy for the monster.  He wants the
battle to be as fair as possible. 

The other Geat warriors, assembled around him in their various
beds, do not share Beowulf's boundless self-confidence.  They
fall asleep thinking of all the Danish warriors whom Grendel has
already murdered, and wondering if they'll ever return home
safely.  The poet reassures his audience at this point by
revealing the outcome: 

But God's dread loom 

Was woven with defeat for the monster, good fortune 

For the Geats; help against Grendel was with them, 

And through the might of a single man 

They would win. 

(696-99) 

The juxtaposition of the lines, in this anticipatory verse, is
essential to the tension of the narrative.  Though God is on the
side of the Geats, Grendel is still lurking outside; the battle
is still to come.  The poet gives reassurance without lessening
the sense of danger.  While the Geat warriors lie in their beds,
tossing restlessly, thinking of the friends and homes they left
behind, and as Beowulf lies wakeful, "eager to meet his enemy,"
the monster begins his walk in the darkness.  Knowing the
outcome of the battle doesn't make the scene any less
terrifying. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSES 11-12 

We see Grendel coming from a distance, over the hills and bogs,
half hidden by the mist.  He knows his way to Herot, the poet
tells us; he's been here before.  He, too, is filled with
self-confidence, not realizing what awaits him, or that this
will be his last visit to the great hall. 

He tears the door from its hinges and strides across the
threshold.  He sees the sleeping warriors and snatches one of
them from his bed, ripping the warrior apart, and literally
eating him, bit by bit:  "death/And Grendel's great teeth came
together,/Snapping life shut" (743-45).  This scene is described
in great vividness, but it leaves us with the question of why
Beowulf, lying awake in his own bed nearby, would allow Grendel
to kill one of his men.  This inability to act more quickly
seems irresponsible on Beowulf's part.  Is one person's life
less important than any other? 

Perhaps there's a logic to Beowulf's thinking.  Watching Grendel
devour the Geat warrior gives him time to assess the strength of
his enemy.  Killing one warrior, the monster probably assumes
that he'll be able to devour them all, that no one will dare to
challenge him.  If you could read Grendel's mind he'd probably
be thinking that this night at Herot will be no different from
any other, and that he'll have free run of the hall, just like
the time before.  Beowulf obviously feels that the element of
surprise--catching Grendel off-guard--is worth the price of the
life of one of his comrades. 

Grendel approaches Beowulf's bed and clutches at him with his
claws.  This is the moment Beowulf has been waiting for.  He
instantly strikes back, bending the monster's claws and cracking
them in his fist.  Grendel realizes almost immediately that he's
met his match; his first impulse is to flee and return to his
home in the swamp.  Is it surprising that Grendel, after all
we've heard about him, succumbs so easily? 

Grendel tries to escape from Beowulf's grip.  His shrieks of
pain awaken the Danish warriors.  The other Geat warriors leap
from their beds, their swords raised, none of them knowing that
Grendel is immune to ordinary weapons.  In the middle of the
battle the poet comments on the possible future destruction of
Herot by fire.  Even though Beowulf will defeat the monster, at
some time in the future their great hall will be destroyed, and
all of Beowulf's heroics rendered ultimately meaningless. 

NOTE:  Notice how the poet varies the point of view in this
section--how we see the action from Grendel's point of view,
through Beowulf's eyes, and through the poet's own comments on
the reactions of the Danish warriors.  Shifting the point of
view is a technique used more frequently in novels than in
poems.  Do you feel that the technique is successful here? 

Beowulf wants to hold onto the monster until it dies, but
Grendel manages to twist free, though not before losing his arm.
The "bloodthirsty fiend" will escape to his home at the bottom
of the swamp, where he will die and descend to hell, into "the
waiting hands of still worse fiends" than even himself.  Much in
the same way a hunter hangs a trophy above his fireplace, so
Beowulf hangs Grendel's arm from the rafters of the hall.  It's
the unquestionable proof of what he has done. 

NOTE:  The drama of the battle is heightened, some readers feel,
by the presence of the audience of Geat and Danish warriors.
Though we know the outcome, they don't.  When the poet describes
how "the Danes started/In new terror, cowering in their beds as
the terrible/Screams of the Almighty's enemy sang/In the
darkness" (783-86) the reader feels the horror of the situation
along with them. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSE 13 

News of Grendel's death spreads quickly.  The Danish princes and
warriors flock to Herot to inspect the monster's footprints and
follow them from the great hall to the edge of the swamp.  They
stare into the water, "steaming and boiling in horrible pounding
waves," as if unable to believe Grendel is finally dead.  This
is a verse of great celebration, an exultant hymn of praise on
behalf of the Danes to Beowulf. 

Notice the way the poet describes the Danes as they return to
Herot from Grendel's swamp.  At first they jog along, slowly,
retelling the story of Beowulf's battle with the monster.  Then,
as their excitement builds, they let their horses run free, "red
and brown and pale yellow backs streaming down the road."
Finally, one of the king's minstrels bursts into a song of
praise, skillfully interweaving Beowulf's triumph over Grendel
with the adventures of two other Danish heroes, Siegmund and
Hermod. 

NOTE:  The choice of Siegmund and Hermod is no accident.
Siegmund's adventures include a battle with "a treasure-rich
dragon," a story that foreshadows Beowulf's own battle with a
dragon later in the poem.  Both Siegmund and Beowulf, as heroes,
are cut from the same mold--they are committed to purge the
world of evil and treachery.  Hermod, however, is a failed hero.
Considered at one time one of "the mightiest of men," he was
overcome by vanity and pride.  Instead of easing the pain of
other people, his exploits only added to their suffering.  (Keep
this scene in mind when you come to Hrothgar's speech to Beowulf
on the dangers of pride.) 

Contrasting these warriors, the poet is saying that courage
alone is not enough to make a person a hero.  The true hero
possesses a code of ethics that includes taking other people's
feelings into consideration.  A warrior like Hermod who acts out
of his own self-interest is doomed. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSES 14-15 

Hrothgar's speech to Beowulf is more than an expression of
gratitude.  "Let me take you to my heart," he says, "make you my
son too,/And love you" (947-48).  When a person performs a great
favor for you, as Beowulf has done for Hrothgar and the Danes,
the immediate, human response is to accept the person into your
family.  If someone were to save your life wouldn't you feel
that way toward her or him?  (Remember, too, that Beowulf and
Hrothgar are connected by Hrothgar's relationship to Beowulf's
father.) Accepting Beowulf as a son is more important than all
the material wealth Hrothgar can offer. 

NOTE:  Again, notice how the influence of Christianity pervades
Hrothgar's speech to Beowulf.  It was the Almighty who sent
Beowulf to Denmark and it was "with the Lord's help" that
Beowulf was able to defeat Grendel.  Beowulf's mother "knew the
grace of the God of our fathers" for giving birth to such a
great hero.  Do you think that Hrothgar is minimizing Beowulf's
achievement by attributing his defeat of Grendel to the will of
God? 

Beowulf's response is almost apologetic (especially in
comparison to his more boastful speeches in the previous
verses).  Though Grendel is obviously dead, and his severed arm
hangs from the rafters, Beowulf isn't completely satisfied with
his accomplishment.  His retelling of the story of his battle
with Grendel is an example of the poet's technique of describing
the same scenes from different points of view. 

NOTE:  The contrast between age and youth, father and son, is
one of the major themes of the poem, and the speeches by Beowulf
and Hrothgar provide one of the best examples.  Although Beowulf
is described as being youthful, his exact age is never stated.
When he first arrives in Herot he announces to Hrothgar that
"the days/Of my youth have been filled with glory" (408-09).  He
is already known throughout the world as the strongest man alive
and a proven hero.  It's this quality of agelessness, as if his
life were suspended in time, that sets him apart from other men,
and defines him as a truly heroic individual. 

Notice the poet's ability to describe things with precision.  At
the start of Verse 14 we see Grendel's claw "swinging high from
that gold-shining roof." At the end of the verse the poet
returns to the image of the claw: 

swinging high 

From Hrothgar's mead-hall roof, the fingers 

Of that loathsome hand ending in nails 

As hard as bright steel 

(983-86) 

Now that Grendel is dead it's time to prepare a great banquet.
The poet takes the opportunity to refer to the battle between
Beowulf and Grendel (996) and again we see the monster and the
hero wrestling together under Herot's roof.  The poet gives
momentum to his material by describing the same thing in
different ways.  In this way he's similar to a jazz musician,
improvising the same melody and chords, never repeating himself
exactly, but always on the lookout for new ways of stating his
themes. 

NOTE:  The image of the feast (1008) comes up again and again;
eating and death are interrelated.  Here human life itself is
described as a feast.  After every banquet the tired warriors go
to bed where in the darkness--as we'll see soon enough--they'll
meet their death. 

Hrothgar and his nephew Hrothulf enter the hall and begin the
celebration by toasting each other.  The poet points out that
for this moment, at least, all the Danes are genuinely happy
(1018-19).  No one is plotting any new conspiracy.  Such unity
of good spirits is rare; this moment, like all others, is
transitory.  Who knows what new horror the next night will
bring?  And isn't the poet hinting that some future act of
treachery will occur?  Why does he choose this moment to mention
Hrothulf? 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSES 16-17 

More gift-giving is in order.  Hrothgar presents armor and
swords to all the Geat warriors who accompanied Beowulf on his
voyage.  For the Geat warrior who was eaten in his sleep by
Grendel, Hrothgar gives the Geats gold, presumably to be paid
over to the slain warrior's family.  Hrothgar's actions are
generous and compassionate. 

The poet briefly interrupts the narrative to comment on God's
role in the battle between Beowulf and Grendel.  Both God and
Beowulf's own courage are given equal importance in the poet's
eyes.  People, the poet says, must open themselves to God's
power and be aware, whether they like it or not, that both good
and evil exist in the world. 

The court poet entertains the jubilant warriors with stories and
tales from Danish history.  He tells of how a band of Danes,
under the leadership of Hnaf, are killed--for unspecified
reasons--by the followers of the Frisian king, Finn, at his hall
in Finnsburg.  (Some readers refer to this digression as the
Finnsburg Episode.) Both Hnaf and his nephew die in the battle.
Hnaf's sister is Finn's wife; she feels her husband betrayed her
by attacking her brother, and for starting a battle in which
both her brother and her son lost their lives.  (Though her
identity is not mentioned in the poem, historical sources report
that her name is Hildeburh.) 

Hengest, Hnaf's follower, refuses to leave the hall.  As a
gesture of peace, Finn offers to divide the hall with the Danes.
Hengest agrees, even though he hates Finn.  As part of the
agreement Finn promises to punish any of his men who attempt to
rekindle the feud. 

A funeral pyre is built for the dead warriors.  Notice the
vividness with which the poet describes the cremation, the way
"the greedy fire-demons drank flesh and bones/From the dead of
both sides, until nothing was left" (1123-24).  Notice, also,
the way the poet uses the image of feasting to describe the
fire.  Compare this funeral with Shild's in the Prologue,
and--when you come to it--Beowulf's own funeral at the end of
the poem. 

All winter Hengest and a few of his men live in the hall at
Finnsburg; the sea is too rough for them to return to Denmark.
Hengest is torn between his desire for revenge against Finn, and
his moral obligation to comply with the peace offering.  Though
he hates Finn, he still possesses a sense of honor.  It's only
when spring finally comes that Hengest resolves his inner
conflict by killing Finn, ransacking his hall, and taking
Hildeburh back to Denmark. 

After the court poet finishes his story, Welthow steps forward
and advises Hrothgar not to be carried away by his feelings of
gratitude toward Beowulf.  She's worried that he'll treat
Beowulf more like a son than his own sons.  She asks Hrothgar to
have confidence in Hrothulf, his nephew.  She tries to convince
him that when he dies his sons "will be safe,/Sheltered in
Hrothulf's gracious protection" (1180-81). 

The Finnsburg Episode deals with treachery and revenge.  Because
all the historical digressions have relevance to the main
narrative, the poet didn't choose to tell this particular story
at this point without good reason.  The main characters in the
Finnsburg Episode are Hildeburh--whose fate is to be torn apart
by her bonds of kinship with the Finns and the Danes--and
Hengest, whose code of ethics is upset by the conflict between
honor and revenge. 

NOTE:  In the previous verse the poet let us know that for a
rare moment--during the celebration for Beowulf--there was an
absence of conspiratorial feelings.  Yet treachery, conspiracy,
and evil are part of life, and the poet is implying through the
Finnsburg Episode that this moment of calm isn't going to last.
You might read this section as you would a mystery story, where
the author is supplying hints and clues about what's going to
happen next. 

The most mysterious character in this section is Hrothulf.  He's
first mentioned in line 1014, at the start of the banquet for
Beowulf.  Then, as Welthow makes her appearance in the hall
after the Finnsburg Episode, he's described sitting "peacefully
together" with Hrothgar, "their friendship and Hrothulf's good
faith still unbroken" (1164-65).  The poet is once again hinting
that at some future date Hrothulf will be involved in a
conspiracy against the king--that his good faith will be broken
and he's not a person to be trusted. 

At this moment the poet chooses to mention Unferth, who's
sitting at Hrothgar's feet, and to remind us that although
"everyone trusted him" no one forgot that "he'd spilled his
relatives' blood." The poet is in the process of weaving a very
complicated drama involving loyalty and kinship. 

The poet intends us to compare Welthow and Hildeburh.  Welthow
advises Hrothgar to put his faith in Hrothulf--in much the same
way Hildeburh put her faith in Finn.  The poem at this point is
like a tapestry, where all events and stories are
interconnected. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSE 18 

Beowulf is rewarded with yet another gift, "the most beautiful
necklace known to men." At a certain point, all these material
objects--the swords, the armor, the helmets, the horses, the
jewels--seem to lose their value.  Do you think the Danes have
gone overboard in their expression of thanks toward Beowulf?  Is
the accumulation of wealth Beowulf's primary concern? 

NOTE:  By telling us the history of the necklace of the Brosings
the poet seems to be mimicking the endless gift-giving.  Is any
object, he's asking, worth fighting about?  The emphasis on
objects is connected to the pagan, nonreligious world that
existed before the advent of Christianity.  Objects are like
idols, symbolizing fame and wealth.  Beowulf can be seen as the
hero of the future.  Though he accepts the gifts (fame and
wealth are obviously important to him), he's more interested in
pleasing God, and he knows that the way to do this is by acting
ethically and with concern for others. 

Welthow presents Beowulf with these valuable jewels and asks him
to lend his strength and wisdom to her two sons.  In her speech,
the poet reveals her to be innocent of the forces of evil, an
uncynical person who believes that among the Danes "men speak
softly" and "trust their neighbors." She describes the Danes as
"loyal followers who would fight as joyfully as they drink." 

Welthow is under the illusion that now that Grendel is dead the
world will return to the way it was before.  Yet the poet has
hinted--in the Finnsburg Episode, especially--that disaster and
unexpected turns of fate are facts of life.  Nothing can be
taken for granted. 

The soldiers fall asleep as they did after the first banquet.
Again, the poet foreshadows the theme of "bed after feast." He
implies that something terrible is about to happen.  By now we
must realize that the world described by the poet is in a
constant state of change, passing from exultation to tragedy in
the course of a day. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSE 19 

It's the middle of the night and all the warriors, both Danes
and Geats, are asleep.  Beowulf and his men aren't sleeping in
the great hall, however, but "had been given better beds." By
now we can expect almost anything to happen.  All the drama of
the last few verses has been directed toward this moment. 

The main theme of the Finnsburg Episode was revenge.  Now
Grendel's mother appears--from out of the same swamp where her
son had lived--to avenge her loss on the inhabitants of Herot. 

Once again the poet tells the battle between Grendel and
Beowulf. 

NOTE:  Are all these repetitions of the same event necessary?
Let's assume that the poet in the oral telling of the story
backtracked every few verses to remind his audience of what had
happened.  Also, when you tell someone a story it's often
natural to repeat some things in a different way for emphasis.
Some critics feel the repetitions detract from the poem while
others think they add to the tension.  This is something you'll
have to decide for yourself. 

The visit from Grendel's mother, the poet tell us, ended the
good fortune of the Geats.  It seems only a few hours have
passed since Grendel's death, enough time for another banquet. 

NOTE:  Is the poet being overly moralistic here?  Every time you
truly enjoy yourself, he's saying, something horrible happens to
you.  It's a mistake to feel too self-confident, too sure of
yourself.  Evil--whether it takes the form of a monster or a
treacherous warrior--is always in the air. 

Grendel's mother enters the hall where the warriors are
sleeping.  (Why do you think the Danes neglected to post any
soldiers at the door of Herot?) They wake in time to ward off
the attack with their swords but the monster manages to escape
with one victim in her claws.  The poet, again, leaves it up to
your imagination to visualize Grendel's mother. 

After she escapes, the warriors realize that she managed to
steal back Grendel's claw from where it was hanging on the
rafters.  The victim turns out to be one of Hrothgar's closest
advisers, "the man he loved most of all men on earth." The king
summons Beowulf and his men.  There's a feeling of desperation
in the air, but as Beowulf walks through the halls of Herot on
his way to the king's throne, he "Rehearsed the words he would
want with Hrothgar;/He'd ask the Danes' great lord if all/Were
at peace, if the night had passed quietly" (1318-20).  We know
Beowulf realizes that something is dreadfully wrong--no doubt he
can hear the uproar from the main hall--but he also knows that
it's his job to convey confidence and self-control.  At this
moment the young warrior seems wiser and more mature than the
aging king. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSE 20 

Hrothgar is beside himself.  "Anguish," he tells Beowulf, "has
descended on the Danes." It's surprising, in a way, that the
king is so shocked.  In the course of his speech we learn that,
in fact, Grendel had been seen in the company of another
monster.  Why didn't the Danes expect this other creature to
appear one day? 

Hrothgar's speech to Beowulf contains a description of the
swamp, or "mere," where Grendel's mother lives.  The description
is realistic and dream-like at the same time.  The trees growing
over the lake "are covered with frozen spray." A deer pursued by
hunters would prefer to die on the shore of the lake rather than
seek shelter and safety in the water.  During storms, "waves
splash toward the sky,/As dark as the air, as black as the
rain/That the heavens weep" (1374-76).  It's the poet's ability
to evoke a landscape or scene, as much as his insight into human
nature, that has established Beowulf's place in the tradition of
great literature. 

The king begs Beowulf to help him once again.  He's visibly
shaken by the death of his friend Esher.  His speech displays
the capacity and depth of his feelings.  Of everyone in the
poem, Hrothgar is the person most capable of relating to the
events in the world in a way that is truly human. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSES 21-23 

Beowulf's heroic stature is never more in evidence than when he
consoles Hrothgar on the death of his friend, and offers to kill
Grendel's mother.  Both men follow the monster's tracks until
they reach the lake where the monsters live and where now,
floating on the water, they see "Esher's bloody head." 

NOTE:  Some readers interpret the poet's use of the image of
dismemberment--Grendel's claw, Esher's head--as a metaphor for
the disunity in the world.  A person's body, they say, is like a
world in itself.  Protecting the body with armor and helmets is
a way of protecting one's world. 

The surface of the lake is swarming with serpents and sea
monsters.  Beowulf, for no apparent reason, shoots an arrow at
one of the monsters.  What does he have to prove?  Remember the
earlier story of his swimming match with Brecca and how he
boasted of his ability to fight against sea monsters.  Possibly
in this instance he is merely testing himself, as a way of
preparing for his underwater battle with Grendel's mother. 

He has certainly proved his courage to Unferth.  No longer
doubting Beowulf's superhuman abilities, he gives the hero a
special sword to take into battle.  Is Unferth reconciled to the
fact that Beowulf is a braver warrior than he?  He does seem
genuinely embarrassed by the speech he made when Beowulf first
arrived in Denmark.  Beowulf, by killing Grendel, has revealed
to the Danish warriors the limits of their own bravery; all they
can do is stand back, awestruck, as he prepares to enter the
lake. 

Beowulf tells Hrothgar that if he dies in the lake to look after
his comrades and to send his treasures to Higlac, king of the
Geats.  Beowulf again reveals the aspects of his personality
that make him a true hero:  consideration of others, humility,
generosity, and awareness of his own mortality. 

Without waiting for a response from Hrothgar, Beowulf leaps into
the snake-infested waters.  "For hours he sank through the
waves," the poet says, indicating that Beowulf possesses the
amazing power to hold his breath underwater for an unlimited
period of time.  Some readers feel that this ability detracts
from the realistic nature of the story, and gives the impression
that Beowulf is more like a good monster than a man.  (It has
been suggested that in keeping with the Christian themes that
pervade the poem, Beowulf's descent into the lake represents a
true descent into the underworld or hell.) 

Grendel's mother captures Beowulf in her claws and drags him
down to her cave at the bottom of the lake.  As they wrestle
together, the other sea monsters look on--in much the same way
the Geat and Danish warriors watched as Beowulf battled Grendel.
Beowulf attempts to sever the monster's head with Unferth's
sword before realizing that Grendel's mother, like her son, is
immune to ordinary weapons, and that no sword could slice her
evil skin." 

Beowulf, the poet tells us, is motivated by his desire for fame,
as if he didn't have enough already.  "So fame/Comes to the men
who mean to win it/And care about nothing else!" (1534-36).  The
desire for revenge that motivates Grendel's mother makes her
seem even fiercer than her son.  Remember that Grendel didn't
put up much of a fight against Beowulf, while Grendel's mother,
"squatting with her weight on his stomach," almost manages to
stab Beowulf with her dagger. 

Until the very end of Verse 22 there's no mention of God's help.
Beowulf in this battle is relying on courage alone.  But when
all is hopeless, and Grendel's mother appears to have the upper
hand, God intervenes.  It's as if God has been looking on all
along, waiting for the right moment to show whose side He's
on. 

The battle ends swiftly.  Beowulf sees the magic sword hanging
on the wall of the cave, and in a moment of desperation and pure
strength, cuts off the monster's head.  A brilliant light shines
through the roof of the monsters' hall, a supernatural light "as
bright as heaven's own candle." Recall that in the simplest
sense evil is associated with darkness (Grendel and his mother
appear only at night) and goodness with light. 

The poet then retells the story of Grendel's attacks, creating a
bridge between the two battles.  Beowulf explores the monsters'
hall, finds Grendel's body, and cuts off his head. 

NOTE:  Revenge, which motivates the people in this society, is
not to be taken lightly.  Recall the Finnsburg Episode, and how
a feud between tribes could be resolved only by taking revenge
for what the other tribe had done.  Is revenge ("an eye for an
eye") the great equalizer?  Is the poet telling us that no true
resolution can take place without it? 

We return to the audience of warriors standing at the edge of
the lake.  As the blood (it's Grendel's mother's blood, but they
don't know that yet) rises to the surface, they begin to lose
all hope that the Geat hero will ever return.  "Almost all
agreed that Grendel's/Mighty mother, the she-wolf, had killed
him" (1598-99).  Hrothgar and his men give up and go home, while
Beowulf's comrades linger.  Does it surprise you, after all
Beowulf has accomplished, that they give up hope so easily? 

The poet takes us from the real world--the warriors awaiting the
news of Beowulf's fate--to the supernatural underwater world
where Beowulf is battling the monsters.  The sword, without
which Beowulf would certainly have died, begins melting away
like an icicle:  it dissolves "in Grendel's steaming blood." The
sword is the sign of God's presence.  Beowulf takes Grendel's
head and the hilt of the magical sword, and swims up to the
surface to rejoin his comrades. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSES 24-25 

In his triumphant speech to Hrothgar on his return to Herot,
Beowulf attributes his success against Grendel's mother to
"God's guidance." He realizes that without the magic sword he
might have lost his life.  Again the poet backtracks and, in
Beowulf's voice, retells the story of finding the sword and
killing the monster. 

NOTE:  The relationship between Grendel and his mother is one of
kinship and parallels the many blood relationships that the poet
describes throughout his story. 

In the ancient letters, "runes," written on the hilt of the
magic sword, the old king reads the battle between good and evil
and the history of the evil giants.  Then Hrothgar, realizing
that Beowulf's work in Denmark is over, warns the Geat hero
against letting his successes and fame go to his head.  He
advises Beowulf not to become like Hermod, the Danish leader
whose story the poet has already told us (900).  Hermod abused
his power, brought destruction to his people, and ended his life
alone and friendless. 

It's up to God, Hrothgar tells Beowulf, to grant men wisdom,
greatness, and wealth.  Yet once a person has power and fame he
must learn how to use it correctly.  A prosperous person forgets
that he's been blessed with God's favor.  He allows pride,
devilish pride, to grow in his heart and soul.  Before he knows
it his body fails him; it's too late to make amends for the evil
things he's done.  The greatest evil, we learn, is not taking
advantage of God's favor.  If he gives you wealth or power, use
it well.  If you don't you'll die alone, bitter, and filled with
regret. 

Death is inevitable, Hrothgar tells Beowulf, even for the
greatest of warriors. 

How closely is Beowulf listening to Hrothgar's sermon?  The
great hero doesn't respond and for the moment we have no way of
knowing what he's thinking.  Hrothgar's speech ends with the
promise of more treasures--possibly that's what Beowulf is
really interested in. 

The warriors sit down to yet another feast, a farewell dinner
because the next morning the Geat warriors plan to begin their
voyage home.  There's a feeling of peace and serenity in the
hall.  The warriors can finally all go to bed without the fear
that some new danger lurks in the shadows. 

Eating, sleeping, gift-giving--these scenes seem to follow a set
pattern.  First joy occurs, then sorrow.  Possibly a new feud
will begin the next day or an act of treachery will occur.
These people (with the possible exception of Hrothgar) live very
much in the present moment; they accept instability and sudden
change as a fact of life.  From day to day, from night to night,
no one knows what to expect. 

No monster comes to haunt the great hall in the middle of the
night.  Instead, "a black-feathered raven" is singing outside
the windows. 

Except for the raven, the night passes uneventfully.  The Geat
warriors, anxious to return home, rise early and begin preparing
for their voyage.  Unferth, still trying to make up with Beowulf
after his initial blunder, offers him his sword, Hrunting, as a
farewell gift.  Beowulf, with Hrothgar's sermon on pride still
fresh in his ears, accepts Unferth's gift forgivingly.  His
words of thanks, the poet tells us, "were spoken like the hero
he was!" 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSE 26 

Before leaving, Beowulf returns to Herot to visit the king one
last time.  His speech shows us clearly that he's taken
Hrothgar's sermon to heart.  His modesty and generosity are as
impressive as his self-confidence was earlier.  He offers to
return with "a thousand armed Geats" if Denmark is ever again
threatened by enemies or if the king ever needs his help. 

Hrothgar's farewell speech is the most emotional passage in the
poem.  His ability to express what he's really feeling gives the
poem as a whole an added dimension.  Through Hrothgar's
character the poet is informing us that the people in
Anglo-Saxon society are not merely barbarians--going to war,
feasting, plotting against one another--but also possess the
capacity to care about what their comrades are feeling. 

Hrothgar predicts that when Higlac dies Beowulf will surely
become the king of the Geats.  He kisses Beowulf good-bye and
bursts into tears, realizing (he's an old man, after all) that
it's possible he'll never see the young warrior again.  "His
love," the poet tells us, "was too warm to be hidden." 

NOTE:  Then, as now, people had a hard time expressing their
feelings, and some readers think that the poet himself believes
that Hrothgar's tears are a sign of weakness.  "Winter had
followed winter," the poet tells us, "and age had stolen his
strength." Do you think the ability to express feelings is a
sign of strength or of weakness? 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSE 27 

Loaded down with treasures, the Geats march proudly down to the
shore.  The same soldier who met them when they arrived in
Denmark (Verse 3) comments to them that their countrymen will be
glad to see them when they return. 

Notice the energy and spirit of the language the poet uses to
describe the voyage.  It's almost as if the words themselves
were propelling the boat over the waves.  "Driven/By the wind,"
he writes, "the ship rammed high on the shore" (1912-13).  The
Geats are characterized as an aggressive and forceful tribe, and
it's no accident that the poet uses words like driven and rammed
to describe their homecoming. 

As the Geats carry their treasures to Higlac's hall, the poet
interrupts the narrative with another digression.  This one
concerns Higd, Higlac's wife and the daughter of Hareth.  Higd
is "young but wise and knowing beyond her years," a generous
queen who happily distributed her husband's wealth among his
followers.  In contrast, her daughter Thrith is arrogant and
destructive, so vicious "that her father's followers/Averted
their eyes as she passed" (1932-33).  More than once a man was
executed for staring at her.  After Thrith marries Offa, a
member of the Hemming tribe, her personality changes radically.
Her husband's followers praise her for "her generous heart" and
for the "adoring love" she displays for her husband.  (Some
readers compare Thrith to Katherine in Shakespeare's The Taming
of the Shrew.  Others describe her as a female version of
Hermod.) The digression ends with words of praise for Offa. 

NOTE:  The poet makes us wonder about the relevance of all this
to the main narrative.  Of course, since Beowulf and his men are
about to meet with Higlac, it's only natural that the poet
should want to fill us in about the king's family.  Perhaps he
wants us to compare Offa and Higlac, whom we'll meet for the
first time in the next verse.  Remember this digression as you
read further, and try to see how it connects to the main
story. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSES 28-30 

Does Beowulf's retelling of his exploits in Denmark add anything
to our knowledge?  Or is it just the poet's way of bringing the
story up to date for his audience? 

For the first time we see Beowulf at home among friends.  We see
the hero and his men at the foot of Higlac's throne.  And once
again we see the queen pouring drinks for the king and his
warriors.  (Does it seem that pouring drinks for the men and
bestowing gifts on the brave warriors are the main functions of
women in this society?) 

Beowulf makes it clear right from the start that news of his
success against Grendel wasn't something that could ever be
questioned.  Possibly he's thinking of Unferth's remarks about
his swimming match with Brecca (Verse 8).  "Not even the oldest
of his evil kind," he reassures Higlac, "will ever boast, lying
in sin/And deceit, that the monster beat me" (2007-2009). 

He interrupts the chronological story of his adventures to tell
Higlac a historical digression of his own.  This one concerns
Freaw, Hrothgar's daughter, whom the king is planning to marry
to Ingeld, a prince of the Hathobard tribe, in the hope that
this arrangement will settle the quarrel between the Danes and
the Hathobards.  Beowulf, however, is skeptical about this
method of ending the feud.  He predicts that on the very day of
the wedding, when the Danes and the Hathobards get together, one
of Ingeld's soldiers will drunkenly provoke one of the Danes,
and the feud between the two tribes will erupt again. 

NOTE:  All the historical digressions involve feuds between men,
but the main narrative concerns feuds between men and monsters.
Some critics think that the digressions are the most important
sections of the poem and tell us more about the society of these
people than Beowulf's heroic battles.  It's fun to go back over
the poem and read the digressions separately from the main
narrative to see how they connect to one another. 

From Beowulf's story of his battle with Grendel we learn that
the monster had a pouch at his side, "a huge bag sewn/From a
dragon's skin" (2086-87).  Beowulf tells Higlac that "the
monster intended to take me, put me inside, save me for another
meal." The image of the pouch is the only detail the poet
omitted from his own version of the story.  This comment that
Beowulf could fit inside the monster's pouch gives us our only
concrete idea of the monster's actual size.  Or do you think
that Beowulf is exaggerating Grendel's physical stature to
impress Higlac? 

Hrothgar, in Beowulf's words, is a melancholy old man, filled
with the memories of the battles he won when he was younger.  We
see him stroking the strings of a harp, "reciting unhappy truths
about good/And evil" (2110-11).  We see him weeping at the death
of Esher, his closest friend.  We see him begging Beowulf to
kill Grendel's mother.  Do these images of Hrothgar coincide
with what we already know about him?  Or is Beowulf again
altering the picture slightly for Higlac's benefit? 

Notice that Beowulf's descriptions of his adventures contain
almost no mention of God's help.  His remarks at the end of his
description of the battle with Grendel's mother that "I had
barely escaped/With my life, my death was not written" (2140-41)
indicate the concerns with fate, and the power of God to alter
man's fate, that existed in Anglo-Saxon society. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSE 31 

Beowulf ends his speech to Higlac with an avowal of loyalty to
his king.  "I have almost no family,/Higlac," he says, "almost
no one, now, but you" (2150-51).  Describing his adventures in
Denmark, he was careful not to praise Hrothgar too highly for
fear, perhaps, of offending Higlac.  Now he's saying, as a way
of reassuring the Geat king, that despite his feelings for
Hrothgar he has remained faithful to the Geats.  Everything he
did in Denmark was to bring honor and glory to his homeland. 

Beowulf presents Higlac with his treasures.  The poet's brief
commentary on Beowulf's character gives us an indication of the
feelings of paranoia that pervaded the minds of people in the
Anglo-Saxon world: 

Beowulf had brought his king 

Horses and treasure--as a man must, 

Not weaving nets of malice for his comrades, 

Preparing their death in the dark, with secret, 

Cunning tricks. 

(2165-69) 

Treachery, malice, hatred--all these are the expected ways of
behaving.  To act selflessly, and to perform heroically for the
sake of one's country, was obviously rare.  No wonder Hrothgar
loved Beowulf so much. 

The poet gives us a brief summary of Beowulf's childhood:  how
he'd been scorned by his fellow Geats who "were sure he was
lazy, noble but slow." It's possible that Beowulf's motivation
to become a great warrior was to prove himself to the people
who'd scorned him when he was younger.  The need for respect
from our friends and peers is a universal feeling, and certainly
one we can all identify with. 

This verse marks the transition between Beowulf's youth and his
old age.  After Higlac dies and his son Herdred is killed in
battle with the Swedes, Beowulf takes the throne and rules over
the Geat kingdom for fifty years. 

NOTE:  The poet tells us little about what occurred during
Beowulf's reign except to say that he held the throne "long and
well." Why do you think the poet spends only a few lines
describing Beowulf's fifty-year reign, and almost three verses
recounting his exploits in Denmark?  Remember that an epic poem
usually concentrates on a few important events in a person's
life, rather than attempting to portray an entire life from
beginning to end. 

At the end of his life we learn that a new challenge has
presented itself to Beowulf.  Geatland is being terrorized by a
fire-breathing dragon who was awakened when a thief entered his
castle and stole a jeweled cup from his treasure-hoard.  The
dragon wreaks havoc on the Geats in much the same way Grendel
terrorized the Danes.  It's up to Beowulf as king to protect his
people, and the second part of the poem will be dominated by
this final conflict. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSE 32 

The thief is the first character in the poem who is neither a
member of the aristocracy nor a warrior.  "He was someone's
slave," the poet tells us, reminding us that a society of
ordinary people existed outside the great halls and
battlefields. 

The dragon is guarding a treasure-hoard left by "the last
survivor of a noble race," who, before he died, locked his gold
and jewels in a stone fortress.  "The Lay of the Last Survivor,"
as it's called (beginning 2247), is one of the most moving
speeches in the poem, and recalls Hrothgar's sermon to Beowulf
about pride and the transience of fame and wealth.  The speech
also foreshadows the end of the Geat dynasty, and of all
dynasties, and mocks the endless giving of gifts that occurs
throughout the first part of the poem. 

NOTE:  Notice as you read the second part whether the poet's
style is different from the first part.  Remember that some
readers think that the two parts were composed by two different
poets. 

After the last survivor of this "noble race" finally dies, his
treasure-hoard is discovered by a dragon.  In the last
survivor's speech, the futility of acquiring material objects is
emphasized, so it's no surprise that the treasure-hoard is now
guarded by a dragon for whom the treasures have absolutely no
use.  The stealing of a single cup from the hoard only
highlights the pettiness and greed of a society that places such
a high premium on material wealth. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSES 33-35 

As Grendel tormented the Danish people in part one, so the
dragon vents its anger on the Geats in part two.  Like Grendel,
the dragon strikes only at night, burning houses so that "the
signs of its anger flickered and glowed in the darkness."
Nothing is spared, not even Beowulf's hall and throne. 

When Beowulf learns that his own house has been destroyed, his
first thought is that he did something to anger God, and he
feels guilty.  (The poet never makes it clear whether an offense
against God actually did occur.) 

NOTE:  Does Beowulf's reaction seem in keeping with what we know
about his character?  As king his main function is to protect
his people.  This is different from the role of warrior that he
played in part one.  Consequently, he himself must accept the
blame for all acts of evil that are performed by or against his
country.  The stealing of the dragon's cup becomes Beowulf's
responsibility, whether he likes it or not. 

Beowulf prepares to fight the dragon.  At this point the poet
again foreshadows the outcome of the poem.  Beowulf will die
soon, the poet tells us, "but would take the dragon/With him,
tear it from the heaped-up treasure/It had guarded so long"
(2343-45).  Beowulf's youth is evoked by a brief retelling of
his battles against Grendel and Grendel's mother, and of his
exploits fighting side by side with Higlac during the war with
the Frisians. 

In part two the poet effortlessly blends past and present
events.  In retelling Beowulf's exploits against the Frisians
during which Higlac was killed, the poet describes Beowulf as
"the only survivor," relating him to "the last survivor" whose
treasures fell into the hands of the evil dragon.  The
connections between present events and the historical
digressions are much more evident in part two than in part
one. 

After the Frisian War Beowulf is offered the leadership of the
Geats.  He turns it down, however, preferring to support
Herdred, Higlac's son, and the rightful heir to the throne.  In
the course of his kingship, Herdred offers to harbor a group of
Swedish exiles--rebels, we are told, against Onela, the Swedish
king.  Onela invades Geatland in search of the rebels, and
Herdred is slain, forcing Beowulf to assume the position he
didn't originally want, king of the Geats.  Beowulf leads the
Geat army in a battle against Sweden, during which Onela is
killed. 

NOTE:  Again, notice the way the poet moves from the past to the
present.  You learn that two major events occurred during
Beowulf's reign as king--the Frisian War and the Geats' feud
with Sweden.  It's natural, now that Beowulf is an old man, for
his memories of the past to play such a large role in the story,
that the memories, in fact, are the story.  We know that Beowulf
will defeat the dragon and die in the process.  It's how Beowulf
views his entire life that's most important in part two. 

The thief who stole the dragon's cup leads Beowulf and his men
to the dragon's castle.  As Beowulf rests on the shore outside
the castle, he has a premonition of his own death.  He realizes
that he's not as strong as he was when he fought Grendel; the
risk of dying is more than a vague possibility.  The poet takes
this opportunity to allow Beowulf to review his life.  We learn
how Hrethel took him from his father when Beowulf was seven and
treated him like a son, reviving the theme of kinship, and the
search for the lost father that recurs throughout the poem. 

Hrethel, we are told, has three sons of his own--Herbald,
Hathcyn, and Higlac.  Beowulf recounts the story of how Hathcyn
killed Herbald in a hunting accident, and of Hrethel's sadness
at the loss of his son.  Old age, as depicted in the poem, seems
to be a time of great unhappiness, when all the success and
pleasures of a long life are undermined by the loss of strength
and power.  Hrethel is powerless to avenge his son's death:  a
problem within one's own family is different from a feud between
countries.  Consequently, he can do nothing to relieve his
grief. 

Beowulf's meditation on his life is one of the most moving
sections of the poem.  Though old age has robbed him of his
physical strength, his courage is truly heroic--he still thinks
like a hero.  His recitation is a study in contrasts between the
sad and the joyous, as well as being a chronological history of
what he considers his immediate family. 

After Herbald dies, Hathcyn inherits the throne, only to die in
yet another battle between the Geats and the Swedes.  The tone
of Beowulf's meditation changes once Higlac becomes king.  As
long as Beowulf was there to fight at his side, it was
unnecessary for the Geat king to enlist help from other tribes.
Beowulf's presence alone, so he tells us, was enough to ensure
the success of the Geat nation.  He sees himself as being
"alone, and so it shall be forever." It's the hero's fate, as
one whose courage is so much greater than anyone else's, to move
through the world alone, to fight alone against the monsters, to
stand alone at the front of every battle.  His memories of his
previous accomplishments give him the courage now, as an old
warrior, to proceed with his endeavor against the dragon. 

NOTE:  Compare this speech with Beowulf's speeches preceding his
battles against Grendel and Grendel's mother.  Now that he's an
old man has Beowulf's confidence in himself decreased? 

Beowulf turns from his meditation on the past to address his
fellow warriors.  His accomplishments fill him with pride--but
of a different sort than the negative pride Hrothgar warned him
against earlier in the poem.  He will fight against the dragon
in the same way he fought against Grendel.  As a hero it's his
job to accomplish the impossible; as an old man he still wants
one last moment of glory. 

It's Beowulf who initiates the battle, waking the dragon with "a
call so loud and clear that it reached through/The hoary rock,
hung in the dragon's ear" (2552-54).  During the first
confrontation the dragon's flames melt Beowulf's shield.  The
aged warrior realizes now that fate is against him, but it
doesn't prevent him from striking out against the dragon with
his sword. 

Beowulf manages to wound the dragon, but not fatally.  The
dragon responds by engulfing Beowulf with his fiery breath.  Now
that Beowulf appears to be losing the battle doesn't it seem to
you that his comrades would come to his assistance?  But the
bonds of loyalty and kinship have broken down, a foreshadowing
of the chaos that will befall the Geats after Beowulf dies.  His
fellow warriors flee, thinking only of saving their own lives.
Individual survival has become more important than the code of
honor and bravery--the bond of comitatus--that held society
together.  The response of the warriors to Beowulf's plight
indicates that the values of this world are changing rapidly.
Without the bond of comitatus, without a great leader to guide
them, the state will surely fall apart. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSES 36-37 

One of Beowulf's followers remains true to the bonds of kinship
and loyalty.  Wiglaf may not be cut from the same heroic mold as
Beowulf, but he possesses the same energy and vigor that
characterized Beowulf as a young warrior.  (Parallel relations
abound throughout the poem.  Notice, for example, how the aging
Beowulf resembles Hrothgar at the start of the poem.) 

Read Wiglaf's speech to his comrades in light of what you've
already learned about the warriors' code of ethics.  As early as
the Prologue, the poet informed us that it was a king's
generosity toward his warriors that established the bonds of
loyalty.  In return for their loyalty he provided them with
swords and armor, and shared with them the spoils of war. 

Wiglaf realizes that for Beowulf it's a point of honor to fight
the dragon alone.  But he also realizes that for Beowulf "those
days are over and gone/And now our lord must lean on
younger/Arms" (2646-48).  He tries to encourage his frightened
comrades to come to Beowulf's assistance; he berates them, and
mocks their manhood.  But to no avail.  The poet gives us a
brief history of Wiglaf's sword. 

NOTE:  How do you interpret this?  Some readers feel that the
image of the sword as it's used throughout the poem is a symbol
of the never-ending feuds between countries.  People die in
battle, but their swords survive and are used, in future
battles, by their next of kin.  Objects, the poet is telling us
here, often have a longer history than people.  Recall how after
Beowulf killed Grendel's mother he gave Hrothgar the handle of
the magic sword, and how Hrothgar read "the story of ancient
wars between good and evil" in the runes on its shiny handle.) 

Wiglaf rushes fearlessly into the thick of the battle, crying
words of encouragement to Beowulf.  The dragon hears him, and
engulfs both the warriors with his flames.  Beowulf attempts to
crush the dragon's head with his old sword, Nagling, but the
sword fails him and breaks into pieces.  The monster charges
again and thrusts its tusks into Beowulf's neck. 

NOTE:  Beowulf doesn't reject Wiglaf's assistance at this
moment.  It's more important to slay the dragon and protect his
people than to preserve his legend as a warrior who fights
alone.  It's only as an old man that he realizes the advantage
of working in collaboration with other people, and that the
pride of the solitary hero only adds to the chaos of the
world. 

Wiglaf cleverly manages to wound the dragon with his sword, and
Beowulf finishes the job by cutting the beast in half.  "What
they did," the poet tells us, "all men must do/When the time
comes!" (2708-2709).  Beowulf realizes that the wound in his
neck is serious, and he prepares to die.  In his speech to
Wiglaf he bemoans the fact that he has no son to whom he can
leave his armor.  (Remember that the poem is filled with
substitute sons and fathers.  Wiglaf, then, as he bathes
Beowulf's wounds, can be seen as the son Beowulf never had.) 

Beowulf reviews his life.  He sees his past in terms of all the
things he never did:  he swore no unholy oaths, began no wars
without good reason, didn't shed the blood of any members of his
family.  His sin, if any, was his desire for wealth and fame.
He wasn't content, the poet implies, with his God-given gifts,
but craved the rewards that he felt were due him for his
accomplishments. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSE 38 

So gold can easily  

Triumph, defeat the strongest of men, 

No matter how deep it is hidden! 

(2764-66) 

How insignificant the dragon's treasure-hoard seems in
comparison to the acts of bravery and honor that Beowulf
accomplished during his life!  Yet, as he dies, his main concern
is to see the treasure that the dragon was guarding.  The
conflict between spiritual and material values is never more
evident than in his last speech, where he thanks God for "this
gold, these jewels." It's as if as an old man he's reverted to
the pagan belief in objects, forgetting that it was with God's
strength that he was able to be successful against his many
adversaries. 

"I sold my life/For this treasure," Beowulf tells Wiglaf, "and I
sold it well" (2798-99).  The treasure-hoard, as described by
the poet, is in a state of chaos--"piles of gleaming gold,
precious gems, scattered on the floor"--much like the world
itself.  After all the feuds and all the endless battles, the
dragon's treasure seems like a small reward. 

Beowulf's last request is to have a tomb built in his honor.
Like Hrothgar, he wants to create some kind of permanent
monument to his successes--though permanence, as we've seen, is
only an illusion.  He gives his necklace, helmet, rings, and
mailshirt to Wiglaf.  It's the end of an era of prosperity and
stability and the beginning of an age of chaos and
disintegration.  What hope does the world have without the bond
between king and warrior? 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSE 39 

The cowardly Geat warriors emerge from the woods where they've
been hiding and discover Wiglaf trying to revive the body of his
king.  Wiglaf's anger when he addresses them is undercut by the
grief he feels over Beowulf's death.  His speech is an elegy for
the entire Geat tribe. 

Once again the poet emphasizes the bond between warrior and king
as essential to the stability of medieval society.  Beowulf gave
his followers the best weapons he could find, but when the time
came to use them they "ran like cowards." 

Wiglaf, with the true modesty of a devoted warrior, minimizes
his role in killing the dragon.  Do you think he does this to
make his comrades feel guilty?  Or is he trying to perpetuate
Beowulf's status as a great hero? 

He ends his speech by predicting that the Geats will forever be
known as cowards, and that death would be preferable to a life
"branded with disgrace." 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSES 40-41 

Wiglaf sends a messenger to the troop of Geat soldiers who are
awaiting word on the outcome of the battle.  In his address the
nameless messenger continues Wiglaf's prediction that the Geats
will now become targets of all their old enemies, most
especially the Franks and the Swedes. 

The messenger reviews the history of the feuds between the
tribes.  We hear, briefly, about the "bitter quarrel" that
Higlac began with the Franks, during which the Geat king was
killed.  And in the poem's final--and possibly most
violent--historical digression, the messenger recounts the long
history of the feud between the Geats and the Swedes. 

NOTE:  These stories, which concern the death of kings (Higlac
on one hand, and the Swedish king Ongentho on the other), should
be seen in contrast with the story of Beowulf's own death.  The
story of the battle between the Geats and the Swedes includes
many of the major themes that the poet has presented up to this
point. 

The old Swedish king Ongentho is depicted in combat with the
young Geat warriors, Efor and Wulf.  (Efor and Wulf collaborate
on killing the king, in much the same way Beowulf and Wiglaf
joined forces to destroy the dragon.) In keeping with the code
between king and warrior, Efor and Wulf are rewarded by Higlac
with great treasures.  Killing, the poet is saying, is an
acceptable act:  it is the only way for the warrior's to
accumulate wealth and fame.  Neither Efor nor Wulf is a
particularly impressive warrior and neither of them seems to
have any moral feelings about killing.  They are motivated
solely by the promise of rewards. 

The messenger predicts that all the old feuds will begin again
once the Geats' enemies learn that Beowulf is dead.  It's time
to bury the great hero--and with him, all the treasures that the
dragon guarded for so long.  Some readers feel that the
messenger is really speaking in the voice of the poet himself,
and that the poem's ultimate message is a condemnation of all
the material objects that were so important to the kings, the
warriors, and to medieval society in general.  The messenger
advises Beowulf's followers to melt the dragon's treasure-hoard
in the same fire that consumes the hero's ashes:  "Give it all
of this golden pile,/This terrible, uncounted heap of cups/And
rings, bought with his blood" (3012-14).  The age of laughter
and prosperity is over.  If the treasures aren't buried
alongside Beowulf's ashes, they will surely fall into the hands
of the Geats' enemies. 

The messenger ends his speech by evoking the beasts of war:  the
raven, the eagle, and the wolf.  You can almost feel the shadows
darkening and the air growing still, an ominous silence broken
only by the cries of these animals.  As men plunder the
treasures of their enemies, so these beasts, the poet reminds
us, feed on the bodies of the dead warriors. 

The Geats go to the scene of the battle and view the two dead
bodies:  Beowulf and the dragon.  Yet the poet's main interest
is the treasure-hoard, and once again he depicts the
meaninglessness of all these objects for which people died and
whole tribes were destroyed.  The dragon guarded the treasure,
killed men, and was killed in return.  Is it all worth it? 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSE 42 

Hiding the treasure, the poet tells us, was a sign of man's
greed.  It went against the law of God.  Eventually it led to
Beowulf's death.  The men who hid the treasure had cast a spell
on it that was meant to last until the day of judgment.  It was
Beowulf's ill-fortune--and his fate--to fight the dragon and
inherit his jewels. 

NOTE:  No one knows when one is going to die.  A thief steals a
cup from a dragon, and this seemingly trivial act leads to
Beowulf's downfall.  His death makes us wonder whether all his
acts of courage were motivated by greed, as much as by a desire
for fame and glory.  In his dying moments the dragon's treasure
seems to be his main concern.  To give Beowulf the benefit of
the doubt, we should view him as an essentially honorable
person--a man who wanted to perform good deeds--who was unable
to resolve the conflict between pagan and Christian values that
dominated his lifetime. 

In Wiglaf's final speech, the poet attempts to sum up the events
that led to Beowulf's death.  We learn that Beowulf's followers
tried to prevent him from fighting the dragon, but that "fate,
and his will, were too strong." Beowulf's life was worth more
than all the treasures he earned by his acts of courage.  Unlike
Efor and Wulf and most of the other warriors, Beowulf's life had
a moral value that set him apart from other men. 

Wiglaf orders the lumber for Beowulf's funeral pyre.  With seven
other Geat warriors he enters the dragon's cave and gathers the
treasure-hoard.  Then, after rolling the dragon's body into the
ocean, they load the treasures onto a wagon and bring them to
the pyre. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  VERSE 43 

The Geats carry out Beowulf's final wishes.  They build a huge
funeral pyre, surrounding it with helmets, shields, and
mailshirts.  It's a time of great sadness and mourning.  An old
woman leads the mourners in "a song of misery," predicting the
decline of the Geat nation.  The smoke from the funeral pyre
rises toward heaven with the words of her song--a final link,
some readers feel, between the spiritual and earthly forces that
dominate the world. 

The Geats are aware that with Beowulf's death their lives have
changed for the worse; there's no one to replace him.  They
build a tower on the sand, a monument containing the hero's
ashes and all the dragon's treasures.  Though Beowulf had hoped
that his people would profit from the dragon's hoard, all the
gold and jewels are useless, buried in the earth forever.  It's
the poem's great irony that all the material rewards that one
earns during one's life can never be enough to stem the tide of
fate.  Everything in life is uncertain, even for a hero. 

^^^^^^^^^^
BEOWULF:  GLOSSARY OF NAMES 

The spelling of names in this study guide are based on the
Burton Raffel translation.  Alternative spellings are given
below in parentheses. 

BEO A Danish king.  Son of Shild, father of Healfdane. 

BEOWULF Son of Edgetho, nephew of Higlac.  King of the Geats.
Born in A.D.  495, went to Denmark to battle Grendel in 515,
became king of the Geats in 533. 

BONSTAN (Beanstan) Father of Brecca. 

BRECCA Chief of the Brondings.  A young companion of Beowulf. 

BRONDINGS A Scandinavian tribe. 

BROSING A possible reference to the Brisings, who made a
necklace for the goddess Freyja. 

DAGREF (Daeghrefn) A Frank warrior, killed by Beowulf. 

ECLAF (Ecglaf) Unferth's father. 

EDGETHO (Ecgtheow) Father of Beowulf, married to Hrethel's
daughter. 

EFOR (Eofor) A Geat warrior.  Kills Ongentho, and is given
Higlac's daughter as a reward. 

EMER (Eomer) Son of Offa. 

ERMLAF (Yrmenlaf) A Danish nobleman, brother of Esher. 

ERMRIC (Eormenric) King of the East Goths. 

ESHER (Aeschere) A Danish nobleman, one of Hrothgar's trusted
friends.  Killed by Grendel's mother. 

FINN A Frisian king; husband of Hnaf's sister, Hildeburh. 

FITLA (Fitela) Son of Siegmund. 

FRANKS A West German tribe, located near the Rhine and Meuse
rivers. 

FREAW (Freawaru) Hrothgar's daughter.  She's given in marriage
to Ingeld, in the hope of settling the quarrel between the Danes
and the Hathobards. 

FRISIANS A West German people. 

FRODA King of the Hathobards, father of Ingeld. 

GARMUND Offa's father. 

GEATS A tribe from southern Sweden.  The exact identification
and origin of this people is unknown. 

GOTHS A tribe originating in Poland.  Settled near the Danube
River in the third century A.D.  Were wiped out by the Lombards
at the end of the sixth century. 

GRENDEL A monster (descended from Cain) who lives at the bottom
of a lake with his mother.  Terrorizes the Danes until he's
killed by Beowulf. 

HALGA Son of Healfdane, brother of Hrothgar, father of
Hrothulf. 

HAMA A character in the series of tales about Ermric. 

HARETH (Haereth) Father of Higd. 

HATHCYN (Haethcyn) Son of Hrethel.  He becomes king of the Geats
after accidentally killing his brother, Herbald.  Killed by
Ongentho. 

HATHLAF (Heatholaf) A member of the Wulfing tribe, killed by
Edgetho. 

HATHOBARDS A German tribe, who may have lived on the south
Baltic coast. 

HEALFDANE (Healfdene) A Danish king.  Son of Beo, father of
Hergar, Hrothgar, Halga, and Urs. 

HEMMING A friend of Offa. 

HENGEST A Danish warrior.  Avenges the death of his leader,
Hnaf, against the Finns. 

HERBALD (Herebald) A prince of the Geats, Hrethel's son.  Killed
accidentally by his brother, Hathcyn. 

HERDRED (Heardred) A king of the Geats, son of Higlac.  He is
killed by Onela, the Swedish king. 

HERGAR (Heorogar) A Danish king, son of Healfdane. 

HERMOD (Heremod) A Danish king whose bad character undermined
his great military prowess. 

HEROT (Heorot) Battle hall built by Hrothgar to celebrate his
successes. 

HERWARD (Heoroweard) Hergar's son. 

HIGD (Hygd) Wife of Higlac, daughter of Hareth. 

HIGLAC (Hygelac) A king of the Geats.  Uncle of Beowulf, son of
Hrethel, brother of Herbald and Hathcyn. 

HNAF (Hnaef) A Danish king, killed by Finn. 

HONDSHEW (Hondscio) A Geat warrior.  Accompanies Beowulf to
Denmark and is killed by Grendel. 

HRETHEL A king of the Geats.  Higlac's father. 

HRETHRIC Son of Hrothgar. 

HROTHGAR A Danish king.  Son of Healfdane.  While king his
country is afflicted by the attacks of Grendel and Grendel's
mother. 

HROTHMUND Son of Hrothgar. 

HROTHULF Son of Halga.  Though it's not mentioned in the poem,
Hrothulf was to seize the Danish throne after Hrothgar's death,
killing Hrethric, the legal heir. 

HRUNTING Unferth's sword. 

INGELD A prince of the Hathobards.  Married to Freaw. 

JUTES A Frisian tribe. 

NAGLING Beowulf's sword. 

OFFA King of the Angles, husband of Thrith. 

ONELA A Swedish king, son of Ongentho.  Killed the Geat king
Herdred and is later killed by his nephew. 

ONGENTHO (Ongentheow) A Swedish king.  Killer of Hathcyn.
Eventually killed by a group of Geats, led by Higlac. 

RENNSBURG Location of the battle between the Swedes and Geats. 

SHILD (Scyld) A Danish king. 

SIEGMUND (Sigemund) Legendary Germanic hero, whose story is
recounted in the poem.  Son of Vels, father of Fitia. 

SWERTING Grandfather of Higlac. 

THRITH (Thryth) Offa's wife.  A haughty and violent woman who is
later tamed by her husband. 

UNFERTH A Danish warrior.  Attempts to slander Beowulf's
reputation when the hero arrives in Denmark. 

VELS Siegmund's father. 

WAYLAND A master smith celebrated in many Germanic poems. 

WELTHOW (Wealtheow) Wife of Hrothgar. 

WEXSTAN (Weoxstan) Wiglaf's father.  Killed Onela's nephew, when
the Swedish king invaded Geatland. 

WIGLAF A Geat warrior, who joined Beowulf in the fight against
the dragon. 

WULF A Geat warrior, brother of Efor. 

WULFGAR A Danish warrior.  He informs Hrothgar of Beowulf's
arrival in Denmark. 

WULFINGS (Wylfings) A Germanic tribe who resided on the Baltic
Sea. 

YRS Daughter of Healfdane. 

Beowulf is essentially a balance, an opposition of ends and
beginnings.  In its simplest terms it is a contrasted
description of two moments in a great life, rising and setting;
an elaboration of the ancient and intensely moving contrast
between youth and age, first achievement and final death. 

J.  R.  R.  Tolkien, "Beowulf: 

The Monsters and the Critics," 1936 

We have in Beowulf a story of giant-killing and dragon-slaying.
Why should we construct a legend of the gods or a nature-myth to
account for these tales?  Why must Grendel or his mother
represent the tempest, or the malaria, or the drear long winter
nights?  We know that tales of giant-killers and dragon-slayers
have been current among the people of Europe for thousands of
years.  Is it not far more easy to regard the story of the fight
between Beowulf and Grendel merely as a fairy tale, glorified
into an epic? 

R.  W.  Chambers, Beowulf: 

An Introduction to the Study of the Poem, 1959 

The poet's consistency of tone reveals his mastery of texture
and structure, mostly in the handling of digressions of various
length.  A long one, such as the Finnsburg episode, can set the
grim past of the Danes into an atmosphere of treachery in
Hrothgar's court.  The over-whelming tension of that long
Frisian winter with its resolution by slaughter is emblematic
and prophetic of the impending horrors of Hrothulf's revolt and
the Hathobard feud. 

Donald K.  Fry, 

"The Artistry of Beowulf," 1968 

The Christian influence in the Beowulf is a matter of
transforming spirit rather than of reference to dogma or
doctrine.  And it is, in the main, an influence reflecting the
Old Testament rather than the New.  The poem contains specific
references to Cain's murder of Abel, and to the stories of the
Creation, the giants and the Flood.  But we find no such
allusions to New Testament themes....  Indeed, considering the
nature of the material with which the poet is working, we should
hardly expect such references. 

Charles W.  Kennedy, 

Beowulf, The Oldest English Epic, 1964 

n this work the poet was not much concerned with Christianity
and paganism.  Beowulf was a hero mainly because of his deeds.
All his adventures come from pagan stories, and the pagan
motives and actions persist.  Hrothgar is made eminent by his
speeches, which were not governed by pagan tradition.  The
Christian poet was free to mold them as he wished, and so to
make belief in God a leading figure of the character.  He was
likely to make the most of it, since Hrothgar is not just the
pathetic figure of a king incapable through old age of
protecting his people:  he is a famous hero, still great because
of his wisdom and goodness. 

Kenneth Sisam, 

The Structure of Beowulf, 1965 

The most unexpected quality in Beowulf is its abiding
communication of joy.  In contrast with the Mediterranean
glitter of the Odyssey...  Beowulf takes place in an atmosphere
of semi-darkness, the gloom of fire-lit halls, stormy
wastelands, and underwater caverns.  It is full of blood and
fierceness....  Men exult in their conflict with each other and
the elements.  Even Grendel and his mother are serious in the
way Greek demons never are.  They may be horrors survived from
the pagan Norse world of frost giants, wolf men, and dragons of
the waters, but nobody would ever dream of calling them
frivolous.  They share Beowulf's dogged earnestness; what they
lack is his joy.... 

Kenneth Rexroth, 

"Classics Revisited--IV:  Beowulf," 1965 

Certain peculiarities in the structure of Beowulf can hardly
fail to strike the reader.  (1) The poem is not a biography of
Beowulf, nor yet an episode in his life--it is 2 distinct
episodes:  The Grendel business and the dragon business, joined
by a narrow bridge.  (2) Both these stories are broken in upon
by digressions:  some of these concern Beowulf himself, so that
we get a fairly complete idea of the life of our hero...  (3)
Even apart from these digressions, the narrative is often
hampered:  the poet begins his story, diverges and returns.  (4)
The traces of Christian thought and knowledge which meet us from
time to time seem to belong to a different world from that of
the Germanic life in which our poem has its roots. 

R.  W.  Chambers:  Beowulf: 

An Introduction to the Study of the Poem, 1959 

                               THE END  
