The Beowulf Discussion: Section XVII

[Michael]

This discussion was originally posted to the Endor mailing list. It used the Project Gutenberg eText based on Leslie Hall's translation of the poem. The source can be found here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16328/16328-8.txt


XVII.

BANQUET (_continued_).--THE SCOP'S SONG OF FINN AND HNÆF.


{Each of Beowulf's companions receives a costly gift.}

And the atheling of earlmen to each of the heroes
Who the ways of the waters went with Beowulf,
A costly gift-token gave on the mead-bench,
Offered an heirloom, and ordered that that man

{The warrior killed by Grendel is to be paid for in gold.}

5 With gold should be paid for, whom Grendel had erstwhile
Wickedly slaughtered, as he more of them had done
Had far-seeing God and the mood of the hero
The fate not averted: the Father then governed
All of the earth-dwellers, as He ever is doing;
10 Hence insight for all men is everywhere fittest,
Forethought of spirit! much he shall suffer
Of lief and of loathsome who long in this present
Useth the world in this woful existence.
There was music and merriment mingling together

{Hrothgar's scop recalls events in the reign of his lord's father.}

15 Touching Healfdene's leader; the joy-wood was fingered,
Measures recited, when the singer of Hrothgar
On mead-bench should mention the merry hall-joyance
Of the kinsmen of Finn, when onset surprised them:

{Hnæf, the Danish general, is treacherously attacked while staying at
Finn's castle.}

"The Half-Danish hero, Hnæf of the Scyldings,
20 On the field of the Frisians was fated to perish.
Sure Hildeburg needed not mention approving
The faith of the Jutemen: though blameless entirely,

{Queen Hildeburg is not only wife of Finn, but a kinswoman of the murdered
Hnæf.}

When shields were shivered she was shorn of her darlings,
Of bairns and brothers: they bent to their fate
25 With war-spear wounded; woe was that woman.
Not causeless lamented the daughter of Hoce
The decree of the Wielder when morning-light came and
She was able 'neath heaven to behold the destruction
[38] Of brothers and bairns, where the brightest of earth-joys

{Finn's force is almost exterminated.}

30 She had hitherto had: all the henchmen of Finn
War had offtaken, save a handful remaining,
That he nowise was able to offer resistance[1]

{Hengest succeeds Hnæf as Danish general.}

To the onset of Hengest in the parley of battle,
Nor the wretched remnant to rescue in war from
35 The earl of the atheling; but they offered conditions,

{Compact between the Frisians and the Danes.}

Another great building to fully make ready,
A hall and a high-seat, that half they might rule with
The sons of the Jutemen, and that Folcwalda's son would
Day after day the Danemen honor
40 When gifts were giving, and grant of his ring-store
To Hengest's earl-troop ever so freely,
Of his gold-plated jewels, as he encouraged the Frisians

{Equality of gifts agreed on.}

On the bench of the beer-hall. On both sides they swore then
A fast-binding compact; Finn unto Hengest
45 With no thought of revoking vowed then most solemnly
The woe-begone remnant well to take charge of,
His Witan advising; the agreement should no one
By words or works weaken and shatter,
By artifice ever injure its value,
50 Though reaved of their ruler their ring-giver's slayer
They followed as vassals, Fate so requiring:

{No one shall refer to old grudges.}

Then if one of the Frisians the quarrel should speak of
In tones that were taunting, terrible edges
Should cut in requital. Accomplished the oath was,
55 And treasure of gold from the hoard was uplifted.

{Danish warriors are burned on a funeral-pyre.}

The best of the Scylding braves was then fully
Prepared for the pile; at the pyre was seen clearly
The blood-gory burnie, the boar with his gilding,
The iron-hard swine, athelings many
60 Fatally wounded; no few had been slaughtered.
Hildeburg bade then, at the burning of Hnæf,

[39]

{Queen Hildeburg has her son burnt along with Hnæf.}

The bairn of her bosom to bear to the fire,
That his body be burned and borne to the pyre.
The woe-stricken woman wept on his shoulder,[2]
65 In measures lamented; upmounted the hero.[3]
The greatest of dead-fires curled to the welkin,
On the hill's-front crackled; heads were a-melting,
Wound-doors bursting, while the blood was a-coursing
From body-bite fierce. The fire devoured them,
70 Greediest of spirits, whom war had offcarried
From both of the peoples; their bravest were fallen.

[1] For 1084, R. suggests 'wiht Hengeste wið gefeohtan.'--K. suggests
'wið Hengeste wiht gefeohtan.' Neither emendation would make any
essential change in the translation.

[2] The separation of adjective and noun by a phrase (cf. v. 1118)
being very unusual, some scholars have put 'earme on eaxle' with the
foregoing lines, inserting a semicolon after 'eaxle.' In this case 'on
eaxe' (_i.e._, on the ashes, cinders) is sometimes read, and this
affords a parallel to 'on bæl.' Let us hope that a satisfactory
rendering shall yet be reached without resorting to any tampering with
the text, such as Lichtenheld proposed: 'earme ides on eaxle
gnornode.'

[3] For 'gúð-rinc,' 'gúð-réc,' _battle-smoke_, has been suggested.


INITIAL COMMENTARY:
One comparison I thought should be pointed out is that the Beowulf poet every now and then interrupts the flow of the story to have a character recount a related history. When Unferth challenges Beowulf's integrity by pointing out that he had lost the swimming race, Beowulf explains how he had to fight all the sea-beasts. After Grendel is slain, the scop breaks into a song, and here he goes into another song.

These interludes serve to tell the audience a little bit more about the main characters in the story. They also help remind the audience of other great tales that were once widely known, but which are now only recalled through "Beowulf" and a few other scant sources.

In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien had his characters occasionally break into song or relate a story in some detail. The tangents always reveal more information about someone involved in the main narrative. Even when Aragorn sings the song recalling Eorl's victorious charge against the Balchoth, Tolkien is sharing with the reader a glimpse of Theoden's brave and noble personality. Hence, when the feeble old man we first see recovers his strength and his wits, his own arrival on the Pelennor Fields is believable. It is in Theoden's clearly established heritage that the men of his family will keep their word and do what Gondor asks of them.

Aragorn's personal motivations, as Paul Kocher points out in Master of Middle-earth, are clearly revealed in his selection of the tale of Beren and Luthien when he sings a song for the Hobbits at Weathertop. The story reminds him very much of his own love for Arwen, and helps keep him focused on his future. Aragorn is a goal-oriented man, and unlike the song about Eorl, which is episodic, Aragorn's lay about Beren and Luthien covers a much broader scope of their lives and history. He explains how Beren and Luthien fall in love and, after many adventures, take a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown.

The historical implications of this passage of "Beowulf" are intriguing. Who was the Hengest mentioned as leader of the Frisians? Is he supposed to be related to the Hengest who leads the rebellion of the Saxon mercenaries in Brittannia, launching the successful invasion and conversion of Brittannia into England, Scotland, and Wales?

But the passage also denotes clearly how Frisians, Danes, and Swedes were all closely interacting with each other in this late classical period. They didn't have to travel far to seek out war and great perils. They need only look across the landscape to their neighbors' homes. The northern world was thus, despite its homogeneity of language and culture, a very dangerous place in which to live.

The funeral pyre of Hnaef and Hildeburg's son is a remnant of the pagan customs of pre-Christian northern Europe. It's interesting how the poem intermingles Christian and non-Christian customs and references. Tolkien, of course, did something similar.