Notes

Type of work:

Epic (heroic) poem

Date Written:

Exact date unknown. Manuscript dates from c. A.D. 1000, but could have been

written A.D. 680-800.

Author:Completely unknown. Referred to as “the

Beowulf poet.”

Probably composed orally and memorized, then passed on from scop to scop (traveling poetic

entertainers) before written down.

Theories on multiple authorship (two learned monks, for example) now less popular: most believe written by one person working with

traditional material.

The Beowulf Manuscript: a Timeline

Time What Happens

Between 700 and 900 A.D...Anonymous author composes Beowulf

Between 500 and 700 A.D...The Fictional Events in Beowulf occur

1000 A.D..........................Scribes write down the Anonymous Author's Story

1563.................................Englishman Laurence Nowell Acquires Scribes' Manuscript, Probably From a Catholic Monastery Demolished by Henry VIII

Between 1585 and 1631..Sir Robert Cotton Acquires the Manuscript for His Library

1700.................................Cotton's Grandson Donates Library to British Government

After 1700........................Library Moved to Essex House, Then Ashburnham House, in London area

1731................................Ashburnham House Burns. Manuscript Saved After Water Damages It and Fire Chars the Edges

1753................................British Museum Established; Manuscript Becomes Part of Its Collection

1753-Present..................Manuscript Preserved, Translated, Published

Setting

First two major episodes (Grendal and Grendal’s dam) take place in and

around Heorot (HAY-uh-rot), Hrothgar’s great mead hall (a big

banquet room where warriors would have their feasts, drink mead—sort of

like ale—and brag about their victories).

Setting, cont.

Surrounding countryside desolate and wild.

Grendal’s mother killed in cave at bottom of monster-infested lake.

Final episode (dragon) occurs on a seaside cliff in land of the Geats, in

southern Sweden.

Time of ActionKilling of Grendel and Grendel’s

mother by Beowulf covers three nights and the next day.

Time of Action, cont.

Episode w/ dragon occurs more than 50

years later. Poet doesn’t include any intervening

adventures.

Characters of NoteBeowulf:

Hero of poem. Strength of 30 men.

Kills Grendel and Grendel’s mother single-handedly; needs help from Wiglaf (WIG-laff) to

kill dragon. Faithful retainer (loyal follower) of Hrothgar,

subject and nephew of Hygelac (king of Geats); uses strength for good; gentle and just;

could be as young as 18 at beginning of poem and as old as 80 at end (it isn’t clear in poem).

Characters of Note, cont.

Hygelac (HIJ-uh-lack):Often referenced but less important

character than Hrothgar. Hygelac is king of Geats, uncle of Beowulf.

Killed by Swedes, whereupon Beowulf becomes king.

Characters of Note, cont.

Hrothgar: Danish king; strong ruler for 50 years,

but helpless against Grendal.

Generous to retainers.

Characters of Note, cont.Unferth (OON-ferth): Minor but important character. Boastful Danish retainer. Insults Beowulf and taunts him about a swimming match Beowulf had lost to Brecca in his youth. Later apologizes and gives his sword to Beowulf to use against Grendal’s mother.

Characters of Note, cont.

Grendel: Hellish fiend of a monster who ravages Heorot nightly, killing 30

men per night until the great hall stands vacant.

Embodiment of evil, descendant of Cain. Beowulf tears off his arm;

Grendel goes home to mother’s cave to die. Head takes four men to carry.

Characters of Note, cont.

Grendel’s Dam (mother): Attacks Heorot to avenge son’s

death. Tracked down by Beowulf and killed in her cave.

Characters of Note, cont.

Wiglaf (WIG-laff): Brave, faithful. Only one of 11 companions to help

Beowulf against dragon. Survives to oversee Beowulf’s funeral

and burial. Becomes ruler of Geats.

Characters of Note, cont.

Dragon: Guardian of ancient treasure hoard.

Takes fiery vengeance on countryside when treasure is disturbed.

Killed by Beowulf and Wiglaf. Most sympathetic of the three monsters in the poem, mostly because he reacts to the

man who disturbed his 300-year long peaceful life.

Main IdeasGood and Evil: Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon are all evil, but to varying degrees. Grendel is

monstrous, ugly, wild, and purely destructive in his brute strength, like a perverted force of nature. His

mother shares the same features, but has a glimmering of human feelings in her desire to avenge her son’s death. The dragon has rested quietly in its cave for 300 years and attacks the countryside only when its treasure hoard is violated. Beowulf is the

primary force for good in the poem. It is he who must single-handedly confront and destroy the forces of

evil in whatever form they take.

Main Ideas, cont.God and Fate (Wyrd): The terms God, fate, and

destiny are used extensively in the poem. As a force for good, Beowulf sees himself as being subject to a higher

power that determines if he succeeds or fails.

Wyrd comes from Anglo-Saxon verb weor, “to become”, and itself derives from an Indo-European root

verb meaning “to turn.” In its wider sense, it refers to how past actions continually affect and condition the

future. It also stresses the interconnected nature of all actions, and how they influence each other.

The concept has some relation to the idea of predestination.

Main Ideas, cont.Comitatus (kom-uh-TAH-toos): Refers to the

bonds of loyalty and friendship that unite warriors attached to a lord or ruler. There is a

double responsibility in comitatus: 1) the followers must be absolutely faithful to their

leader, even to the point of suffering death rather than survive without the leader; 2) in return for

his loyalty, the leader must protect his followers and reward them generously with gifts. Wiglaf

accuses the other companions of failing in their responsibility of comitatus to Beowulf, who fights

alone against the monsters so that his companions will not be endangered.

Main Ideas, cont.

Life and Death: The fight against evil involves the risk of death. In the fight against the dragon,

Beowulf dies. He also knows that no matter how people live their lives, they all die. So how does one live life in the face of inevitable death? That is the

basic question here. Wiglaf tells the cowardly companions who fail to defend Beowulf against the dragon that a fiery death is better than a shameful

death. They have betrayed their leader by not helping and will forever be outcasts from human

society. It is important to accept one’s death when it comes, but it is even more important to be willing to

die for the causes in which one believes.

Main Ideas, cont.

Reason and Bestiality: It is “reasonable” to fight against the forces that threaten

human society. Valuing concepts such as comitatus help humans survive in a hostile world. Human virtues of loyalty, bravery, and generosity are not only practical, but help to fight the potential bestiality (evil)

within us.

Main Ideas, cont.

Civilization and the Wasteland: In Beowulf’s time, civilization existed only to a small degree.

Just outside the great halls such as Heorot were marshy wastelands inhabited by monsters. There were human threats as well. Wiglaf

predicts attacks from old enemies such as the Swedes when Beowulf dies. A single tribe had to

have a strong leader and brave warriors to survive. Civilization’s survival depended on

strong tribes helping each other against common threats from the wasteland.

Main Ideas, cont.

Fame and Treasure: The last word of the poem describes Beowulf as lofgernost, “eager for glory.” Note his last request to Wiglaf: a fine burial mound

looking out to sea, to be known as “Beowulf’s barrow.” It would be a landmark to sailors and a

memorial to his fame. Continued fame in this world is a kind of immortality. Treasure, on the other hand, while great to have and receive as a reward, is seen

as somehow less tangible than recognition of his accomplishments. Remember, the remaining treasure from the dragon’s cave is buried with

Beowulf.

Main Ieas, cont.

Wergeld: (Wurr-geld) In Anglo-Saxon and Germanic law, a price set upon a person's life on the basis of rank and paid as compensation by the family of a slayer to the kindred or lord of a

slain person to free the culprit of further punishment or obligation and to prevent a blood

feud.

Main Symbols

:

Monsters?

No, not Cookie Monster!

Monsters: Specific symbols

of evil. Evil viewed as result

of human sin: Grendel

“descended from Cain.”

Main Symbols, cont.Wasteland:

Symbolic home of evil. Even hunted animals such as deer refuse to

enter the lake of Grendel and his

mother.

Main Symbols, cont.Heorot: Hrothgar’s great hall

symbolizes civilization. Ceremonial center of community life. Grendel’s attack is not, then, just against the

Danes, but an attack on civilization.

Main Symbols, cont.Light and Dark: Light=good; Darkness=evil. Sun is light of God. Nighttime torches

and fireplaces provide circle of light for people to gather. Grendel and mother attack

Heorot at night, coming from dark wasteland. Dragon is “aged dragon of darkness.”

Death is final darkness.

Main Symbols, cont.

Treasure: Usually, treasure is good, a binding force of comitatus because it is given generously and in recognition of

great deeds. Also, however, symbolizes vanity of human accomplishments. The

treasure in the dragon’s cave had rested there for 300 years, but the men who put it

there are forgotten.

Main Symbols, cont.

The Sea: Symbolizes danger and risk, as well as the unknown vastness of the world in which humans

exist. Beowulf swims out to sea as a youth and fought monsters to prove his manhood. Wants burial mound to overlook sea as landmark for

sailors. Scyld Scefing (Shield SHAFF-ing), founder of Danish Royal House – mentioned at beginning of poem – comes from the sea in a small boat with no origins established, and is set adrift in a boat after

his death, to be taken by currents out to sea, or infinity.

Main Symbols, cont.

Fire: The apparently living ELEMENT, which consumes, warms, and illuminates, but can also bring pain and death, has conflicting symbolic

association. It can represent wisdom, enlightenment, or energy (quest for fire). Fire can

be positive: it can purify and destroy evil or the physical forms of witches and other possessed beings; erasing the blemish of sin. It can also

destroy life as in the fires of hell, lightning bolts, volcanic fires (all seen as punishment of mankind from some heavenly forces). (D.S.129-30) Usually

good: the light and heat in Heorot, for example. Grendel’s lake, however, is lit by fire on the water, and the dragon destroys the countryside with its

fiery breath.

Style and Structure

Alliteration: May not be obvious, depending on the translation. Was used in this poem instead of rhyme. Powerful memory aid – poem was

originally oral rather than written.

Style and Structure

Kennings: Poetic phrases or compounds of two words, used for – or in addition to – the usual name of a person or thing. “Whale-road” (the

sea); “Ring-giver” (king or other royalty); “Spear-Danes” (Danish warriors).

Style and Structure

Kennings (cont)

Four types:

Open Kenning (adjective noun format) “wakeful sleeper” or “monstrous ogress”

Hyphenated Kenning (noun-noun format) “hell-fiend”

Possessive Kenning ('s or s' format) “hell's captive” or “whale's road”

Prepositional Kenning (add any preposition) “Giver of rings” or “hall of victory”

Style and Structure

Beot (BAY-ott): Long epic boast. Heroes said them so that the scops could remember them.

Style and Structure, cont.

Lays: Lyrical poetic interludes not related to the immediate action. Often

give historical background or seem hymn-like (one is about creation).

Style and Structure, cont.

Pattern: Three major battles are progressively more difficult and Beowulf needs more and more help: kills Grendel bare-handed; chain mail saves him from

Grendel’s mother, but he needs a sword to kill her; uses sword, armor, and specially-made shield against the dragon and still needs Wiglaf’s help to kill it. At the same time, he gets less and less help from his

“loyal” companions.