The Beowulf Discussion: Section I

[Michael]

This discussion was originally posted to the Endor mailing list. It used the Project Gutenberg eText based on Frances Barton Gummere's translation of the poem. The source can be found here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext97/bwulf11.txt

It is necessary to use a public domain translation, so while more modern translations may be better or preferable, we cannot legally cite their texts here.

Eventually, I switched over to using this source text:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16328/16328-8.txt

The section numbers differ by 1. I had to post a "null" section for Section XVI to make the transition between translations. Some of my comments address the translator's choices, and they are not relevant to other translations.


I

Now Beowulf bode in the burg of the Scyldings,
leader beloved, and long he ruled
in fame with all folk, since his father had gone
away from the world, till awoke an heir,
haughty Healfdene, who held through life,
sage and sturdy, the Scyldings glad.
Then, one after one, there woke to him,
to the chieftain of clansmen, children four:
Heorogar, then Hrothgar, then Halga brave;
and I heard that -- was -- 's queen,
the Heathoscylfing's helpmate dear.
To Hrothgar was given such glory of war,
such honor of combat, that all his kin
obeyed him gladly till great grew his band
of youthful comrades. It came in his mind
to bid his henchmen a hall uprear,
a master mead-house, mightier far
than ever was seen by the sons of earth,
and within it, then, to old and young
he would all allot that the Lord had sent him,
save only the land and the lives of his men.
Wide, I heard, was the work commanded,
for many a tribe this mid-earth round,
to fashion the folkstead. It fell, as he ordered,
in rapid achievement that ready it stood there,
of halls the noblest: Heorot {1a} he named it
whose message had might in many a land.
Not reckless of promise, the rings he dealt,
treasure at banquet: there towered the hall,
high, gabled wide, the hot surge waiting
of furious flame. {1b} Nor far was that day
when father and son-in-law stood in feud
for warfare and hatred that woke again. {1c}
With envy and anger an evil spirit
endured the dole in his dark abode,
that he heard each day the din of revel
high in the hall: there harps rang out,
clear song of the singer. He sang who knew {1d}
tales of the early time of man,
how the Almighty made the earth,
fairest fields enfolded by water,
set, triumphant, sun and moon
for a light to lighten the land-dwellers,
and braided bright the breast of earth
with limbs and leaves, made life for all
of mortal beings that breathe and move.
So lived the clansmen in cheer and revel
a winsome life, till one began
to fashion evils, that field of hell.
Grendel this monster grim was called,
march-riever {1e} mighty, in moorland living,
in fen and fastness; fief of the giants
the hapless wight a while had kept
since the Creator his exile doomed.
On kin of Cain was the killing avenged
by sovran God for slaughtered Abel.
Ill fared his feud, {1f} and far was he driven,
for the slaughter's sake, from sight of men.
Of Cain awoke all that woful breed,
Etins {1g} and elves and evil-spirits,
as well as the giants that warred with God
weary while: but their wage was paid them!



INITIAL COMMENTARY:
The secondary Christian influence is again apparent in the description of Grendel's nature and origin. The (second) poet regards all classical Scandinavian/Germanic creatures of myth (Giants, Elves, and evil-spirits) to be among the children of Cain.

I think it's also important to note the Hrothgar was able to command many Danish tribes to contribute to the building of Heorot. The implication is that the early Danes were very closely organized, somewhat like the federations of
tribes which invaded and colonized the Roman empire in the 4th and 5th centuries (approximately the same period in which "Beowulf" is supposedly set).

The Franks and the Alemanni are two of the best-known federations of Germanic tribes from that period. The Franks had several colinear dynasties until they were united by Clovis toward the end of the 5th century. The Alemanni (ancestors of the Swiss) had several dynasties, too.

The oldest named confederation of Germanic tribes was that of the Suebi.
Tacitus wrote, in the first century, that more than 100 tribes were members of the confederation, and that they comprised more than half the entire German nation or peoples. At that time, the Goths had not yet emerged, and the tribes which eventually became known as Saxons and Franks were still distinguished by their individual tribal names. But Tacitus listed the Angles among the Germanic tribes of his time.

The Angles (Angli) were a southern Danish people who came from Jutland (and
northern Germany, a region still called Angeln), and it is believed that "Beowulf" represents a glimmer of their lost poetic tradition. The surviving Old English poetry would have been known throughout the northern world, recited in halls of Germanic and Scandinavian chieftains for centuries. So, to call it specifically English is a bit misleading. The poetry is preserved in Old English, and undoubtedly reflects the influence of Old English culture (as in the Christian themes introduced into "Beowulf"), but it provides a strong resonance of pre-Norse Germanic/northern traditions.

The organization and social cooperation the poem attributes to the Danish and Swedish peoples (the Geats, the southern Swedes who were eventually subdued by their northern neighbors) reflects Tactitus' own description of the peoples living around the Baltic Sea. He claimed they had organized kings and societies much more powerful and advanced than those of the west German tribes who had become involved with the Roman Empire in areas that are now northern France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

Another tradition, not preserved in poetry (so far as I know) is the legend of Offa of Angel, ancestor of the King Offa of Mercia who built the famous dyke between England and Wales. Offa of Angel was a great warrior who supposedly slew a dragon and saved his aged father (Wearmund). This earlier Offa is mentioned in the poem "Widsith" and he is believed to have lived in Denmark in the 4th or 5th century. He is also mentioned in "Beowulf".

The Mercians were an Anglic people. The name "Mercia" is related to "mark" (a border region) and the Mercians were at one point called the Myrcca
(border-folk). Nonetheless, some scholars have argued that the ancient Angli dynasty somehow made its way to Mercia in the 6th century.

A history of the Mercians is available on the Web:
http://www.ealdriht.org/mercianhistory.html

I haven't fully read the site, but what I've seen of it agrees with what I recall of Old English history and prehistory. This is a well-written and well-researched treatment of the subject, in my opinion, although I don't know how much authority it would carry among students of Old English history and culture.

Still, I think it should become obvious that "Beowulf" represents a fusion of two very ancient traditions: one is northern and pre-Old English and the other is Biblical, dating back to the time of David and Solomon.

[Swain]

Originally Posted by Michael

I

Now Beowulf bode in the burg of the Scyldings,
leader beloved, and long he ruled
in fame with all folk, since his father had gone
away from the world, till awoke an heir,
haughty Healfdene, who held through life,
sage and sturdy, the Scyldings glad.
Then, one after one, there woke to him,
to the chieftain of clansmen, children four:
Heorogar, then Hrothgar, then Halga brave;
and I heard that -- was -- 's queen,
the Heathoscylfing's helpmate dear.
To Hrothgar was given such glory of war,
such honor of combat, that all his kin
obeyed him gladly till great grew his band
of youthful comrades. It came in his mind
to bid his henchmen a hall uprear,
a master mead-house, mightier far
than ever was seen by the sons of earth,
and within it, then, to old and young
he would all allot that the Lord had sent him,
save only the land and the lives of his men.
Wide, I heard, was the work commanded,
for many a tribe this mid-earth round,
to fashion the folkstead. It fell, as he ordered,
in rapid achievement that ready it stood there,
of halls the noblest: Heorot {1a} he named it
whose message had might in many a land.
Not reckless of promise, the rings he dealt,
treasure at banquet: there towered the hall,
high, gabled wide, the hot surge waiting
of furious flame. {1b} Nor far was that day
when father and son-in-law stood in feud
for warfare and hatred that woke again. {1c}
With envy and anger an evil spirit
endured the dole in his dark abode,
that he heard each day the din of revel
high in the hall: there harps rang out,
clear song of the singer. He sang who knew {1d}
tales of the early time of man,
how the Almighty made the earth,
fairest fields enfolded by water,
set, triumphant, sun and moon
for a light to lighten the land-dwellers,
and braided bright the breast of earth
with limbs and leaves, made life for all
of mortal beings that breathe and move.
So lived the clansmen in cheer and revel
a winsome life, till one began
to fashion evils, that field of hell.
Grendel this monster grim was called,
march-riever {1e} mighty, in moorland living,
in fen and fastness; fief of the giants
the hapless wight a while had kept
since the Creator his exile doomed.
On kin of Cain was the killing avenged
by sovran God for slaughtered Abel.
Ill fared his feud, {1f} and far was he driven,
for the slaughter's sake, from sight of men.
Of Cain awoke all that woful breed,
Etins {1g} and elves and evil-spirits,
as well as the giants that warred with God
weary while: but their wage was paid them!



INITIAL COMMENTARY:
The secondary Christian influence is again apparent in the description of Grendel's nature and origin. The (second) poet regards all classical Scandinavian/Germanic creatures of myth (Giants, Elves, and evil-spirits) to be among the children of Cain.

There is some question as to whether the Christian influence is "secondary." While throughout the 19th and first 2/3 of the 20th century, the poem was seen as a "pagan" or "pre-Christian", native Germanic oral epic But in the last 30 years or so a new strain of interpretation has argued that the poem was composed only shortly before the manuscript in which it is written, circa 1000. This means that the Christian influence is PRIMARY, not secondary, and that it would be what is called a "Secondary Epic" meaning that it was written down with an eye to being literary and to "interface" if you will with other literature, such as the Bible. If correct, this throws a completely different light on the poem, particularly its religious aspects. But of course there is no agreement on the question; the majority of interpreters however still see the poem in pagan terms with secondary Christian influence.

This of course then changes how one would view the statement that these come from Cain's kin. One should note too the mention of Cain here: he killed his brother Abel. Grendel and Unferth too are killers of their brothers, fratricide, so regardless of the secondary nature of the Christian influence, the mention of Cain in the poem as we have it is very perceptive on the part of the poet and addresses some important points in the first 2 episodes.

I think it's also important to note the Hrothgar was able to command many Danish tribes to contribute to the building of Heorot. The implication is that the early Danes were very closely organized, somewhat like the federations of tribes which invaded and colonized the Roman empire in the 4th and 5th centuries (approximately the same period in which "Beowulf" is supposedly set).

It certainly testifies to Hrothgar's success in war, as well as his father and grand-father. It occurs to me that there is an analogue in the Bible with David and Solomon, the latter commanding the nations around so to speak to help build the Temple. So certainly during the time of Hrothgar there may have been some close association, but likewise later in the poem there is indication that the tribes were not closely organized.

The Angles (Angli) were a southern Danish people who came from Jutland (and northern Germany, a region still called Angeln), and it is believed that "Beowulf" represents a glimmer of their lost poetic tradition. The surviving Old English poetry would have been known throughout the northern world, recited in halls of Germanic and Scandinavian chieftains for centuries.

Yes, with the caveat above: if Beowulf is actually as late as 1000, it colors this picture greatly and certainly stretches the connection to the Angles' far distant past. There are some interesting connections to be made too: for example a monk at Fulda, an Anglo-Saxon monastic house in what is now Poland, in the second half of the 800s produced a Latin translation in imitation of Virgil of an old lay known as the Waltharius. A portion of the same tale survives in Old English, known as the Waldere. Deor and the Wanderer mention other Germanic kings; the Latin work written in Anglo-Saxon England, Liber Monstrorum, the book of Monsters, mentions Hygelac; Gregory of Tours, a Frankish bishop in the late 500s mentions both Hygelac and Hrothgar...in short not only is there a great deal of "remembered" culture among the Anglo-Saxons, but there continued to be a great deal of continued contact with their past and the present on the continent that kept these legends alive and spawned others.
So, to call it specifically English is a bit misleading. The poetry is preserved in Old English, and undoubtedly reflects the influence of Old English culture (as in the Christian themes introduced into "Beowulf"), but it provides a strong resonance of pre-Norse Germanic/northern traditions.

Maybe I missed the material on the first section of the poem, but I'd like to draw attention to line 11: that was a good king! The line is in reference to Scyld and seems to me to set up the whole poem: if nothing else the poem is about what a good king is. How does Beowulf compare to Scyld?

Heorot is usually assumed to get its name "hart" from antlers hung on the gables. A good deal has been done on halls in the last half century: See this site for information on the reconstructed village with hall, West Stow: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2471/weststow.html and see Regia Anglorum's reenactment: http://wychurst.regia.org/index.html And this image from a book: http://www.heorot.dk/heorot.jpg But the name may also simply be symbolic, the hart being the symbol of Hrothgar's family; it is unknown which or some combination thereof.

The hall was the center of everything: collegiality, protection, belonging. To be outside a hall surely meant death, to be in a hall meant allegiance to the hall's lord. NOte the dire prediction of Heorot's destruction by fire.

Hrothgar is referenced here by the "rings" he gives: this can be both literal and figurative. Literal in the sense that finger rings, arm rings, neck rings etc are an easy way to give reward as well as easily portable wealth. A Lord in this context is good if he can give good and consistent reward for the deeds of his men; if he can not he will not long be king as will be discovered later in the poem. Elsewhere in the poem Hrothgar will be called a "ring-giver."

Note Grendel's approach: here is identified Grendel's problem: he is disturbed by the joy expressed by those in Heorot.

Ok, more commentary later, and thanks to MIchael for the opportunity.

[Martin Read]

The Mercian royal house's connection with the continental Angles would seem to be supported by the use of the personal name Offa for the most powerful of their kings.

Having said this, the Mercian state was founded by a man, Penda, with a not very convincingly Anglo-Saxon name. He came to dominate a large number of sub-regions which were probably occupied by a mix of Anglo-Saxon and Old Welsh speaking peoples, of which he was a sort of overlord. Throughout his reign he was allied to Welsh princes and consistently fought his "fellow Angles" the Northumbrians. This sort of murky socio-political origin may indicate that Mercia's connection to the old Angles of North Germany was more a backwards projection of people seeking an heroic "English" past than it represented a lineal descent.

[Swain]

Originally Posted by Martin Read

The Mercian royal house's connection with the continental Angles would seem to be supported by the use of the personal name Offa for the most powerful of their kings.

Possibly. One has to be careful with names. There was also Offa of East Anglia, an Offa from Northumbria 2 Offas in the tenth century in the Southeast (one in London, one at Maldon), and so on, so unless one is going to argue that all the kingdoms so kept connected to the same family/dynasty of continental Angles, one can only suggest that this might be the case.

Having said this, the Mercian state was founded by a man, Penda, with a not very convincingly Anglo-Saxon name.

Well, not quite. Mercia had been an independent kingdom for some time, and then had come under the overlordship of Northumbria. It is Penda's grandfather who is credited with founding the kingdom of Mercia. One has to be careful too with names in that the etymology of the name does not necessarily reflect the ethnicity of the person.There are any number of reasons why Penda has a Celtic namel, though of the royal Mercian house.

He came to dominate a large number of sub-regions which were probably occupied by a mix of Anglo-Saxon and Old Welsh speaking peoples, of which he was a sort of overlord. Throughout his reign he was allied to Welsh princes and consistently fought his "fellow Angles" the Northumbrians. This sort of murky socio-political origin may indicate that Mercia's connection to the old Angles of North Germany was more a backwards projection of people seeking an heroic "English" past than it represented a lineal descent.[/quote]

It may, it may not. More later.

[Martin Read]

I meant that Penda founded the kingdom as a large and powerful state (or proto-state), not that Mercia or the Mierce as a people did not pre-date him. The earlier Mercians seem to have been a people settled on the right bank of the Trent, and only of relatively local significance.

The early genealogies of Anglo-Saxon dynasties can be problematic, they probably show how power changed hands between generations, but may not always indicate real genetic connections. After all Constantine the Great asserted a family connection with the earlier emperor Claudius Gothicus, this connection being rather doubtful to modern eyes, in a much more stable and literate society than that of the early Anglo-Saxons. Political upstarts often seek legitimacy by claiming descent from the great names of the past. The Sassanids claimed Achaemenid ancestry, the Tudors claimed an ancestry back to the early British kings such as "Cadwallader," to bolster their rather slight connections to the Plantagenets.

[Swain]

Originally Posted by Martin Read

I meant that Penda founded the kingdom as a large and powerful state (or proto-state), not that Mercia or the Mierce as a people did not pre-date him. The earlier Mercians seem to have been a people settled on the right bank of the Trent, and only of relatively local significance.

Ah, ok, I misunderstood your intent. Yes, certainly with Penda Mercia enters on a period of increasing significance and importance until Offa, and then its importance begins to shift and decline as Wessex gains ascendancy. So I'd agree with you then.

The early genealogies of Anglo-Saxon dynasties can be problematic, they probably show how power changed hands between generations, but may not always indicate real genetic connections.

Exactly so. Many of the geneologies not only go back to the continent and cite Woden, they also include Biblical names and trace ancestry back into Biblical times, which shouldn't be taken as an indication that King David and Alfred are related. There is some question about Penda in particular, whether he was a usurper or not and so on, though his geneology indicates that he was legitimate.


So we must look elsewhere for connections between the Anglo-Saxons and the continent, and we do have them.