21 Feb 22 Beowulf – Ancient Epic #13

Praise and Departure for Home

Until the black raven with raucous glee . . .

Out of the 30,000 lines of literature left from the Anglo-Saxon period, almost 4,000 lines are preserved in the text of Beowulf, the story of the warrior with the strength of 30 men in each arm. It is a story of the supernatural as well as a record of Anglo-Saxon history. Because there was little literacy and few books in Medieval England, scops were the key to recording history. They upheld the history of England since the very beginning, along with the ancestry of her first settlers.

Beowulf was recited long before it was first recorded by Medieval Poets, known as scops (pronounced shōps). Scops travelled to Mead Halls around the Anglo-Saxon countryside to recite their poems to the warriors who had returned from battle. As the warriors celebrate around mead and beer, the scops sing lines of praise for the heroes of battle, accompanying their melodies with a harp.

Scops were important in Anglo-Saxon society because they orally recorded historical events, forming reputations, both good and poor, for anyone to hear. It was an honor, though, to have a scop sing in one’s praise or lament one’s death. In the medieval period, it was believed that there was no greater honor than to be remembered. It was the way to immortality. Righteous kings were acclaimed throughout the kingdom. Heroes were venerated.

The word "scop" literally translates to "shaper" in modern English. They were the shapers of men’s reputations in Anglo-Saxon culture. Even today we venerate Beowulf for being courageous, but disregard Unferth for not fulfilling his boasts, and being a brother-killer.

And now . . . Back to Our Story . . .

We last left Beowulf being feted and praised for his killing deeds. Gifts and glory are showered upon him. All this made Beowulf one happy Geat . . .

The Geat was elated and gladly obeyed 

The old man’s biding; he sat on the bench.

And soon all was restored, the same as before. 

Happiness came back, the hall was thronged, 

And a banquet set forth; black night fell

And covered them in darkness. 1790

Then the company rose 

For the old campaigner: the gray-haired prince 

Was ready for bed. 

And a need for rest

Came over the brave shield-bearing Geat.

He was a weary sea-farer, far from home,

So immediately a house-guard guided him out, 

One whose office entailed looking after 

Whatever a thane on the road in those days 

Might need or require. It was noble courtesy.

That great heart rested. The hall towered,

Gold-shingled and gabled, and the guest slept in it 1800

Until the black raven with raucous glee

Announced heaven’s joy, and a hurry of brightness

Overran the shadows. 

Warriors rose quickly, 

Impatient to be off: their own country

Was beckoning the nobles; and the bold voyager

Longed to be aboard his distant boat.

Then that stalwart fighter ordered Hrunting 

To be brought to Unferth, and bade Unferth

Take the sword and thanked him for lending it.

He said he had found it a friend in battle       1810

And a powerful help; he put no blame

On the blade’s cutting edge. 

He was a considerate man.

And there the warriors stood in their war-gear

Eager to go, while their honored lord 

Approached the platform where the other sat. 

The undaunted hero addressed Hrothgar.

Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow, spoke:

“Now we who crossed the wide sea 

Have to inform you that we feel a desire

To return to Hygelac. 

Here we have been welcomed 1820

And thoroughly entertain. 

You have treated us well.

 If there is any favor on earth I can perform

Beyond deeds of arms I have done already, 

Anything that would merit your affections more, 

I shall act, my lord, with alacrity.

If ever I hear from across the ocean

That people on your borders are threatening battle 

As attackers have done from time to time,

I shall land with a thousand thanes at my back

To help your cause. 

Hygelac may be young     1830

To rule a nation, but this much I know

About the king of the Geats: he will come to my aid 

And want to support me by word and action

In your hour of need, when honor dictates 

That I raise a hedge of spears around you.

Then if Hrethric should think about traveling 

As a king’s son to the jnnjnjnjjn Foreign `places

Yield more to one who is himself worth meeting.”

Hrothgar spoke and answered him:    1840

“The Lord in his wisdom sent you those words 

And they came from the heart. I have never heard

 So young a man make truer observations.

You are strong in body and mature in mind, 

Impressive in speech. If it should come to pass

 That Hrethel’s descendant dies beneath a spear, 

If deadly battle or the sword blade or disease 

Fells the prince who guards your people

And you are still alive, I firmly believe

The seafaring Geats won’t find a man      1850

Worthier of acclaim as their king and defender 

Than you, if only you would undertake

The lordship of your homeland. 

My liking for you 

Deepens with time, dear Beowulf.

What you have done is to draw two peoples,

 The Geat nation and us neighboring Danes, 

Into shared peace and a pact of friendship

In spite of hatreds we have harbored in the past.

 For as long as I rule this far-flung land

Treasures will change hands and each side will treat      1860

The other with gifts;; across the gannet’s bath, 

Over the broad sea, whorled prows will bring

Presents and tokens. I know your people

Are beyond reproach in every respect,

Steadfast in the old way with friend or foe.”

Then the earl’s defender furnished the hero 

With twelve treasures and told him to set out,

Sail with those gifts safely home

To the people he loved, but to return promptly.

And so the good and gray-haired Dane,         1870

That high-born king, kissed Beowulf 

And embraced his neck, then broke down In sudden tears. 

Two forebodings

Disturbed him in his wisdom, but one was stronger: 

Nevermore would they meet each other

Face to face. 

And such was his affection 

That he could not help being overcome:

His fondness for the man was so deep-founded,

It warmed his heart and wound the heartstrings 

Tight in his breast.      1880

The embrace ended

And Beowulf, glorious in his gold regalia, 

Stepped on the green earth. 

Straining at anchor

And ready for boarding, his boat awaited him.

So they went on their journey, and Hrothgar’s generosity

Was praised repeatedly. 

He was a peerless king 

Until old age sapped his strength and did him Mortal harm, 

as it has done so many.

Down to the waves then, dressed in the web

Of their chain-mail and war-shirts the young men marched

In high spirits. 

The coast-guard spied them,       1890

Thanes setting forth, the same as before.

His salute this time from the top of the cliff

Was far from unmannerly; he galloped to meet them 

And as they took ship in their shinning gear,

He said how welcome they would be in Geatland.

Then the broad hull was beached on the sand

To be cargoed with treasure, horses and war-gear. 

The curved prow motioned; the mast stood high 

Above Hrothgar’s riches in the loaded hold.

The guard who had watched the boat was given      1900

 

A sword with gold fittings and in future days 

That present would make him a respected man 

At his place on the mead-bench.

Then the keel plunged

And shook in the sea; and they sailed from Denmark.

Background

Beowulf takes place in 6th century Denmark and Sweden. The Geats (Beowulf's tribe) inhabited the southern part of Sweden, and Hrothgar and his glorious mead-hall, Heorot, were from the Danish island, Sjaelland. Some historical digressions in the epic poem take place in other parts of Sweden, but also Denmark, Germany, Poland and "the Low Countries." At the time this poem took place, research proves that the Danes held their throne on Sjaelland Island at Lejre. Archeologists who have worked there have discovered a number of magnificent halls that were built around the 500s and onward, any of which could have been Heorot.

If Beowulf were created in the 7th or 8th centuries, it can be further narrowed down by considering where the author might have lived. Scholars believe there are three possibilities: Northumbria, during the Age of Bede, in the late 7th and early 8th centuries; during King Offa's reign in Mercia, in the latter half of the 8th century; or East Anglia during the 600s.

Although the possibility that Beowulf began in Northumbria is no longer a popular idea, as it was at one time. The idea of Mercia is possible because of the references to the King in the poem may have been a tribute to the poet's patron. That the poem's origin comes from East Anglia is quite a popular notion comes with the discovery of the Sutton Hoo: the ship burial is extraordinarily similar to those mentioned in Beowulf, but, even more, the items found in the burial ship can be closely linked with the Uppsala, the royal court of Sweden at that time. It is thought that Beowulf and the East Anglians share some ancestral lines. Beowulf may have been means to define East Anglical history all the way back to Scandinavia.

... Many of the characters were real: The Geat king, Hygelac, Hrothgar, Ongentheow, Haethcyn, Onela and Heardred. Also, the Ravenswood battle which took place in 510 AD is true.

The Swedish-Geatish wars refer to semi-legendary 6th century battles between Swedes and Geats and that are described in Beowulf. Little has survived of such battles in the Norse sagas. 

Exploration 1: Do your feelings about Beowulf alter knowing some of the people in the story were real, and that some of the battles referred to actually took place?

Exploration 2: Postscript for Grendel and his Mother – 

Today, thousands of species a year are going extinct. We hear of the “last of ___” like Africa’s white rhino and the American South’s Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Gone forever. What if Grendel and his Mother were the last two members of their species? How do their murders fit into the moral scheme of things?

Exploration 3: “In the medieval period, it was believed that there was no greater honor than to be remembered.” Does our modern culture have an honor-equivalent?