Epic

The hart in Germanic society was a symbol of regality and purity.

Grendel, associated with Cain the “primordial kinslayer,” represents social disunity

Despite boasting in their cups the hollowness of heroic Scylding society based on a free beot [pledge] is soon apparent, and the comitatus dwindles…

And as Hrothgar’s men are either unwilling or unable to protect Heorot, so the Geats are unable to stand up to the dragon with Beowulf later on.

Beowulf’s death has epic implications: it marks the end of a way of life, the destruction of a civilization. The death of Hector resulted in the fall of Troy. Arthur’s death meant the end of the Round Table. Beowulf’s death will bring with it the demise of the kingdom of the Geats…

In classical tragedy the hero struggles against the fate which some personal tragic flaw has brought about. In this kind of epic literature, however, evil is usually confined to agents external to the hero: Arthur’s Mordred or Beowulf’s monsters. The epic hero goes willingly to his fate, even though the awful consequences of his choice must be as clear to himself as to anyone else. Beowulf dismisses his comitatus, but continues to act in light of the ethical requirements of that group. He believes for an instant–the instant of beot–that he may overcome the dragon, that he may preserve the way of life they all know. The hero defies his fate, but in a spirit of resignation: fate will go always as it must…His decision may seem to be brought about by pride but, unlike the classical hubris, it is external and clear, not what he but society expects.

Michael Swanton, 1978

 

Treachery & Disappointment

Magennis emphasizes that treachery exists within groups as well as between them.

Unferth killed his own brother, and the Danes not only tolerate this, but even give him a place of honor in the hall, sitting at Hrothgar’s feet.

Heremond, a bloodthirsty former king who turned on his companions, is alluded to.

Hrothulf eventually betrays Hrothgar.

The Geats fail Beowulf in the end.

Beowulf accepts the shortcomings of others and tries to do his best; it is a grim fact that people disappoint. He doesn’t expect too much of them.

notes from Hugh Magennis, Images of Community in Old English Poetry, 1996

 

Ring-giving in Beowulf

According to Fred C Robinson in “History, Religion, Culture,” 1984:

Ring giving, the redistribution of wealth, is associated with joy, security, social ties; stinginess suggests an “almost pathological unhappiness.”

Modern English “misery” shares the same root as “miser,” from the Latin miseria, which means “wretched.”

 

Timelines – England

400-600 – Age of Germanic Migration

410 – Rome sacked by Germanic invaders; Roman empire begins to dissolve and withdraws from Britain

449 – Vortigern invited the Angles to Britain to help fight off Picts and Scots.

516 – Battle of Mount Badon, south-central England(?); Britons (maybe led by Ambrosius Aurelianus) defeat Saxons

521 – King Hygelac died during a raid on the lower Rhine

597 – St. Augustine begins converting English to Christianity

615 – by now the Anglo-Saxons have taken over Britain

625 – Sutton Hoo ship burial dates to about this time

660-700 – Caedmon

700 – Lindisfarne Gospels written around this time

700-850 – Beowulf was probably composed btwn these dates

751 – Bede

781 – English scholar Alcuin meets Charlemagne

793-795 – first Viking raids at Lindisfarne and Iona

866-900 – First Viking Wars

869 – Vikings kill Edmund, king of East Anglia

871-899 – Alfred the great is King of Wessex; promotes literacy

878 – Alfred defeats Vikings at Battle of Edington; Vikings settle in East Anglia

991 – Battle of Maldon; Vikings defeat English led by Byrhtnoth

1000 – Beowulf written down

1013 – Vikings defeat English; King Swein of Denmark rules England

1042 – West Saxon King Edward the Confessor regains control of England

1066 – Battle of Hastings

1390 – Chaucer writes The Canterbury Tales