The Beowulf Discussion: Section XXI

[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

XXI.


HROTHGAR'S ACCOUNT OF THE MONSTERS.



{Hrothgar laments the death of Æschere, his shoulder-companion.}


Hrothgar rejoined, helm of the Scyldings:
"Ask not of joyance! Grief is renewed to
The folk of the Danemen. Dead is Æschere,
Yrmenlaf's brother, older than he,
5 My true-hearted counsellor, trusty adviser,
Shoulder-companion, when fighting in battle
Our heads we protected, when troopers were clashing,


{He was my ideal hero.}


And heroes were dashing; such an earl should be ever,
An erst-worthy atheling, as Æschere proved him.
10 The flickering death-spirit became in Heorot
His hand-to-hand murderer; I can not tell whither
The cruel one turned in the carcass exulting,


[47]


{This horrible creature came to avenge Grendel's death.}


By cramming discovered.[1] The quarrel she wreaked then,
That last night igone Grendel thou killedst
15 In grewsomest manner, with grim-holding clutches,
Since too long he had lessened my liege-troop and wasted
My folk-men so foully. He fell in the battle
With forfeit of life, and another has followed,
A mighty crime-worker, her kinsman avenging,
20 And henceforth hath 'stablished her hatred unyielding,[2]
As it well may appear to many a liegeman,
Who mourneth in spirit the treasure-bestower,
Her heavy heart-sorrow; the hand is now lifeless
Which[3] availed you in every wish that you cherished.


{I have heard my vassals speak of these two uncanny monsters who lived in
the moors.}


25 Land-people heard I, liegemen, this saying,
Dwellers in halls, they had seen very often
A pair of such mighty march-striding creatures,
Far-dwelling spirits, holding the moorlands:
One of them wore, as well they might notice,
30 The image of woman, the other one wretched
In guise of a man wandered in exile,
Except he was huger than any of earthmen;
Earth-dwelling people entitled him Grendel
In days of yore: they know not their father,
35 Whe'r ill-going spirits any were borne him


{The inhabit the most desolate and horrible places.}


Ever before. They guard the wolf-coverts,
Lands inaccessible, wind-beaten nesses,
Fearfullest fen-deeps, where a flood from the mountains
'Neath mists of the nesses netherward rattles,
40 The stream under earth: not far is it henceward
Measured by mile-lengths that the mere-water standeth,
Which forests hang over, with frost-whiting covered,[4]
[48] A firm-rooted forest, the floods overshadow.
There ever at night one an ill-meaning portent
45 A fire-flood may see; 'mong children of men
None liveth so wise that wot of the bottom;
Though harassed by hounds the heath-stepper seek for,


{Even the hounded deer will not seek refuge in these uncanny regions.}


Fly to the forest, firm-antlered he-deer,
Spurred from afar, his spirit he yieldeth,
50 His life on the shore, ere in he will venture
To cover his head. Uncanny the place is:
Thence upward ascendeth the surging of waters,
Wan to the welkin, when the wind is stirring
The weathers unpleasing, till the air groweth gloomy,


{To thee only can I look for assistance.}


55 And the heavens lower. Now is help to be gotten
From thee and thee only! The abode thou know'st not,
The dangerous place where thou'rt able to meet with
The sin-laden hero: seek if thou darest!
For the feud I will fully fee thee with money,
60 With old-time treasure, as erstwhile I did thee,
With well-twisted jewels, if away thou shalt get thee."


[1] For 'gefrægnod' (1334), K. and t.B. suggest 'gefægnod,' rendering
'_rejoicing in her fill_.' This gives a parallel to 'æse wlanc'
(1333).


[2] The line 'And ... yielding,' B. renders: _And she has performed a
deed of blood-vengeance whose effect is far-reaching_.


[3] 'Sé Þe' (1345) is an instance of masc. rel. with fem. antecedent.
So v. 1888, where 'sé Þe' refers to 'yldo.'


[4] For 'hrímge' in the H.-So. edition, Gr. and others read 'hrínde'
(=hrínende), and translate: _which rustling forests overhang_.



INITIAL COMMENTARY:

Since I switched translations midway, it's not apparent that a certain phrase has been used three times by the poet up to this point. He describes Hrothgar (in this translation) as "Helm of the Scyldings". That is, Hrothgar is their protector. Hrothgar is regarded very highly by the poet. He is never faulted for being weak or cowardly. Tolkien treats Theoden in much the same way. Both kings are actually stricken with a paralysis of inaction when they are visited by the heroes who help them. Neither Hrothgar nor Theoden is any longer an effective leader, much less a true protector of his people. The immense amount of respect paid toward each king by the authors is contrary to the way a modern fantasy writer would handle the characters. Today's writers focus on flaws and weaknesses and seek to humble great men rather than sustain their veneer of glory. The revered leaders are not trivialized.

And I'd like to point out something about Section IX (it would be section VIII in this translation). Wealtheow, Hrothgar's wife, is one of the Helmings (Helmingas). These would be the "sons of Helm". I just passed right over that, for some reason, but clearly the phrase influenced Tolkien, who used it as a name for the Men of Westfold Dale (where Helm Hammerhand spent his last winter, defending the people against the Dunlendings).

There are a number of names in this poem that one will find in Tolkien:

Breca (Brecca)
Froda (Frodo)
Eanmund (Eomund)
Helm, Helmingas
Ingeld (Ingold)
Swerting
Wulf

There is a neat site about "Beowulf" prepared by several people from McMaster University in Canada. It uses frames but provides extensive commentary, family trees, and notes about the peoples and individuals referred to in "Beowulf" and the "Finnburh", a related poem (a fragment).

http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~beowulf/main.html

There is no direct parallel in Tolkien for the tradition of two monstrous giants terrorizing a people in Middle-earth. But one might sense that Tolkien's Ettenmoors owe something to the description of Grendel's home in this section. Trolls are said to have lived in the Ettenmoors, and the Rangers and sons of Elrond occasionally ventured into those lands to do battle with the monsters, in much the same way Beowulf pursues Grendel and his mother.

Tolkien loved harsh landscapes. He included them in his stories in The Silmarillion (including Avathar in Aman, where Ungoliant dwelt) and The Lord of the Rings. Monsters always have to have a homeland, and Tolkien
made sure they had plenty of such spaces in Middle-earth. The lands where monsters dwell are desolate and forbidding, and "good" or "natural" creatures fear to tread in such places.

Ancient Europe is the abode of monsters and dangerous beasts. The European landscape wasn't really tamed until after the Middle Ages. But going back to classical times, there were tales of huge beasts such as the Aurochs, a massive Elk-like animal that was hunted by Gauls, Germans, and Romans. There were lions in southern Europe. There were legends of dragons and half-human creatures scattered across the landscape. Fantastic creatures and animals of dreadful strength and power haunted the ancient and medieval imagination.

We have lost almost all trace of that kind of mystery. Today we have the Loch Ness Monster and a few related "sea beasts", we have the Yeti and Sasquatch and a few similar creatures (including a hobbit-sized one recently reported in Malaysia), and we have cattle-mutilating/wanderer-seizing space aliens. Our imagination has shrunk as we have pushed back the boundaries of the wilderness.