Pragma-professional questions
Beowulf is a heroic poem, the highest achievement of Old English literature and the earliest European vernacular epic. It deals with events of the early 6th century and is believed to have been composed between 700 and 750.
Question : How does the social world depicted in Beowulf do this? That is, what does it exclude, and why? What is its attitude towards the “outside” of culture? How does it control the forces that threaten social stability within the hall?
Beowulf, heroic poem, the highest achievement of Old English literature and the earliest European vernacular epic. It deals with events of the early 6th century and is believed to have been composed between 700 and 750. Although originally untitled, it was later named after the Scandinavian hero Beowulf, whose exploits and character provide its connecting theme. There is no evidence of a historical Beowulf, but some characters, sites, and events in the poem can be historically verified. The poem did not appear in print until 1815.Beowulf falls into two parts. It opens in Denmark, where King Hrothgar’s splendid mead hall, Heorot, has been ravaged for 12 years by nightly visits from an evil monster, Grendel, who carries off Hrothgar’s warriors and devours them. Unexpectedly, young Beowulf, a prince of the Geats of southern Sweden, arrives with a small band of retainers and offers to cleanse Heorot of its monster. Hrothgar is astonished at the little-known hero’s daring but welcomes him, and, after an evening of feasting, much courtesy, and some discourtesy, the king retires, leaving Beowulf in charge. During the night Grendel comes from the moors, tears open the heavy doors, and devours one of the sleeping Geats. He then grapples with Beowulf, whose powerful grip he cannot escape. He wrenches himself free, tearing off his arm, and leaves, mortally wounded.
The next day is one of rejoicing in Heorot. But at night as the warriors sleep, Grendel’s mother comes to avenge her son, killing one of Hrothgar’s men. In the morning Beowulf seeks her out in her cave at the bottom of a mere and kills her. He cuts the head from Grendel’s corpse and returns to Heorot. The Danes rejoice once more. Hrothgar makes a farewell speech about the character of the true hero, as Beowulf, enriched with honours and princely gifts, returns home to King Hygelac of the Geats.
The second part passes rapidly over King Hygelac’s subsequent death in a battle (of historical record), the death of his son, and Beowulf’s succession to the kingship and his peaceful rule of 50 years. But now a fire-breathing dragon ravages his land and the doughty but aging Beowulf engages it. The fight is long and terrible and a painful contrast to the battles of his youth. Painful, too, is the desertion of his retainers except for his young kinsman Wiglaf. Beowulf kills the dragon but is mortally wounded. The poem ends with his funeral rites and a lament.
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Beowulf belongs metrically, stylistically, and thematically to a heroic tradition grounded in Germanic religion and mythology. It is also part of the broader tradition of heroic poetry. Many incidents, such as Beowulf’s tearing off the monster’s arm and his descent into the mere, are familiar motifs from folklore. The ethical values are manifestly the Germanic code of loyalty to chief and tribe and vengeance to enemies. Yet the poem is so infused with a Christian spirit that it lacks the grim fatality of many of the Eddaic lays or the sagas of Icelandic literature. Beowulf himself seems more altruistic than other Germanic heroes or the ancient Greek heroes of the Iliad. It is significant that his three battles are not against men, which would entail the retaliation of the blood feud, but against evil monsters, enemies of the whole community and of civilization itself. Many critics have seen the poem as a Christian allegory, with Beowulf the champion of goodness and light against the forces of evil and darkness. His sacrificial death is not seen as tragic but as the fitting end of a good (some would say “too good”) hero’s life.
That is not to say that Beowulf is an optimistic poem. The English critic J.R.R. Tolkien suggests that its total effect is more like a long, lyrical elegy than an epic. Even the earlier, happier section in Denmark is filled with ominous allusions that were well understood by contemporary audiences. Thus, after Grendel’s death, King Hrothgar speaks sanguinely of the future, which the audience knows will end with the destruction of his line and the burning of Heorot. In the second part the movement is slow and funereal: scenes from Beowulf’s youth are replayed in a minor key as a counterpoint to his last battle, and the mood becomes increasingly sombre as the wyrd (fate) that comes to all men closes in on him.
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Beowulf has often been translated into modern English; renderings by Seamus Heaney (1999) and Tolkien (completed 1926; published 2014) became best sellers. It has also been the source for retellings in text—John Gardner’s Grendel (1971), for example, which takes the point of view of the monster—and as movies.
Beowulf is a heroic poem, the highest achievement of Old English literature and the earliest European vernacular epic. It deals with events of the early 6th century and is believed to have been composed between 700 and 750.
Question: Which plots are told in a straightforward narrative, and which are not? Why are there so many digressions and allusions? Discuss the relation between the plot (what happens) and the story (what order things are told in) in Beowulf.
The main plot of Beowulf is straightforward: the hero fights 3 monsters: Grendel, Grendel’s mother and a dragon. But woven into this plot are embedded stories about Scandinavian history. When we take the trouble to understand stories, Beowulf becomes a richer, more interesting work. The apparently simple tale of Beowulf’s heroic deeds belongs to a much more complex and troubling story that began before Beowulf’s birth and will continue after his death.
A digression is (in the case of a book) a passage in which the author veers away from the main point. Each digression offers an insight into the everyday lives, morals, life lessons, values, and important cultural aspects. The digressions and episodes provide a conscious balance and unity and, in fact, contribute to the artistic value of the poem.
There are so many digressions because this is a long legend, probably told in more than one sitting. This would mean that each section that was told would require a different digression for a different lesson or teaching aspect
There are MANY allusions in the Beowulf poem, some relatively clear to us today, and some not. The poem has many Biblical allusions within its context. Furthermore, while many people can easily be inspired by Jesus Christ, many have yet to understand the similar aspects that Beowulf shared with Christ. It is clear, that the widely known Bible has influence everywhere in the world among people and literature. Jesus Christ is acknowledged in a multitude of other famous literary works. And there are also several allusions to Norse mythology in Beowulf. In some cases, these allusions fill in the background of the pagan world in which the poem unfolds. In other cases, the mythological allusions offer stories that echo the story of Beowulf.
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Examples:
- In the fight between Grendel and Beowulf in Heorot there is an allusion to Heorot being burned down and that there will be war between members of the tribe.
- Several times when Beowulf is in Heorot there are allusions to future strife between Hrothgar and his sons and Hrothgar’s nephew, resulting in the nephew becoming king. This struggle probably results in the burning of Heorot.
- King Hygelac’s foolish raid into what is now Frisia, in the northern part of the Netherlands, in which Hygelac dies.
- There are allusions to characters from other tales or from history: the greedy, grasping King Heremod.
- Sigemund, the only other dragon killer in Northern European mythology.
- The evil queen Thryth or Mod-Thryth.
This last allusion is probably the most opaque in the entire poem. It is not clear who she is and exactly what it was that she did that made her so well known as an object of dislike. This type of allusion, to another character, is used by the poet to highlight aspects of one of the characters in Beowulf by contrast or apposition with the characteristics of a character in another story. This is a very efficient way of describing a character and evoking a mood or tone, and it makes the Beowulf poem dense.
The main plot of Beowulf concerns Beowulf's heroic defeat of the monster Grendel and later his mother. The story opens as the great mead-hall of the Danes is being visited nightly by Grendel, the monster who devours anyone he finds. No one in the Danish kingdom is strong enough to fight Grendel, but the great Geatish warrior Beowulf comes to the rescue and kills the monster with his bare hands the first night he is there. Then Grendel's mother comes to obtain revenge for the death of her son, and mighty Beowulf kills her even though he has to swim to the bottom of a lake to do so.
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Beowulf later returns home to the Geats and becomes king. The book follows his future exploits until his death in a battle with a dragon.
Beowulf is a heroic poem, the highest achievement of Old English literature and the earliest European vernacular epic. It deals with events of the early 6th century and is believed to have been composed between 700 and 750.
Question: Which plots are told in a straightforward narrative, and which are not? Why are there so many digressions and allusions? Discuss the relation between the plot (what happens) and the story (what order things are told in) in Beowulf.
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The main plot of Beowulf is straightforward: the hero fights 3 monsters: Grendel, Grendel’s mother and a dragon. But woven into this plot are embedded stories about Scandinavian history. When we take the trouble to understand stories, Beowulf becomes a richer, more interesting work. The apparently simple tale of Beowulf’s heroic deeds belongs to a much more complex and troubling story that began before Beowulf’s birth and will continue after his death.
A digression is (in the case of a book) a passage in which the author veers away from the main point. Each digression offers an insight into the everyday lives, morals, life lessons, values, and important cultural aspects. The digressions and episodes provide a conscious balance and unity and, in fact, contribute to the artistic value of the poem.
There are so many digressions because this is a long legend, probably told in more than one sitting. This would mean that each section that was told would require a different digression for a different lesson or teaching aspect
There are MANY allusions in the Beowulf poem, some relatively clear to us today, and some not. The poem has many Biblical allusions within its context. Furthermore, while many people can easily be inspired by Jesus Christ, many have yet to understand the similar aspects that Beowulf shared with Christ. It is clear, that the widely known Bible has influence everywhere in the world among people and literature. Jesus Christ is acknowledged in a multitude of other famous literary works. And there are also several allusions to Norse mythology in Beowulf. In some cases, these allusions fill in the background of the pagan world in which the poem unfolds. In other cases, the mythological allusions offer stories that echo the story of Beowulf.
Examples:
- In the fight between Grendel and Beowulf in Heorot there is an allusion to Heorot being burned down and that there will be war between members of the tribe.
- Several times when Beowulf is in Heorot there are allusions to future strife between Hrothgar and his sons and Hrothgar’s nephew, resulting in the nephew becoming king. This struggle probably results in the burning of Heorot.
- King Hygelac’s foolish raid into what is now Frisia, in the northern part of the Netherlands, in which Hygelac dies.
- There are allusions to characters from other tales or from history: the greedy, grasping King Heremod.
- Sigemund, the only other dragon killer in Northern European mythology.
- The evil queen Thryth or Mod-Thryth.
This last allusion is probably the most opaque in the entire poem. It is not clear who she is and exactly what it was that she did that made her so well known as an object of dislike. This type of allusion, to another character, is used by the poet to highlight aspects of one of the characters in Beowulf by contrast or apposition with the characteristics of a character in another story. This is a very efficient way of describing a character and evoking a mood or tone, and it makes the Beowulf poem dense.
The main plot of Beowulf concerns Beowulf's heroic defeat of the monster Grendel and later his mother. The story opens as the great mead-hall of the Danes is being visited nightly by Grendel, the monster who devours anyone he finds. No one in the Danish kingdom is strong enough to fight Grendel, but the great Geatish warrior Beowulf comes to the rescue and kills the monster with his bare hands the first night he is there. Then Grendel's mother comes to obtain revenge for the death of her son, and mighty Beowulf kills her even though he has to swim to the bottom of a lake to do so.
Beowulf later returns home to the Geats and becomes king. The book follows his future exploits until his death in a battle with a dragon.
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