Text

• Beowulf. Clarence Griffin Child. In Parentheses. Old English Series. York University, Canada. Modern English prose translation.
• Beowulf. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia. Modern English translation.
• Beowulf. Gummere translation. Project Gutenberg. Modern English translation.
• Beowulf. Old English text. Project Gutenberg.
• Beowulf. Paul Halsall. Fordham University. ORB Medieval Sourcebook. Gummere’s Modern English translation.
• Beowulf. Paul Halsall. Fordham University. ORB Medieval Sourcebook. Klaeber’s Old English edition.
• Beowulf in Hypertext. Dr. Anne Savage. McMaster University. Old English and modern English texts.

Audio in Old English

• “Anglo-Saxon Aloud.” Professor Michael D. C. Drout. Wheaton College.
• “Beowulf.” Learning: Changing Language. British Library.
• “Readings from Beowulf.” Old English at the University of Virginia. Peter S. Baker. University of Virginia.

Composition

Although the events in the poem take place in the 5th century, the poem was likely composed somewhere from the 8th century to the early 11th century. No one, however, knows exactly when the poem was composed or who composed it. It is also possible that the poem had existed through generations as an oral work.

Subject

Although Beowulf is considered the first great English poem, the events are set in what is now Scandinavia. Beowulf and his people, the Geats, are from an area that is now part of Sweden; Hrothgar is king of the Danes. The culture portrayed, however, is the Anglo-Saxon culture using the language brought to Britain beginning with the 5th-century Anglo-Saxon invasions. View a video about the Sutton Hoo ship burial, an archaeological source of much information about the culture portrayed in Beowulf.

Structure

Some scholars see Beowulf as having a two-part structure:

• Beowulf in his prime, fighting Grendel and his mother for the Danes
• Beowulf in old age, fighting the dragon for his own people, the Geats

Other scholars see the structure as corresponding to the three battles:

• Beowulf against Grendel
• Beowulf against Grendel’s mother
• Beowulf against the dragon

Theme

One theme of Beowulf involves the preservation of the Anglo-Saxon societal structure. Every society worries that their values and standards will be abandoned and that their social order will die out as a result. An elegiac tone and a mood of longing for the past permeates the epic Beowulf. At the end of the poem, Wiglaf mourns both the death of Beowulf and the potential passing of his tribe, vulnerable to attack because their reputation for cowardice will spread among other tribes after the retainers fail in their vows of loyalty.

Beowulf challenged by the coast guard by Evelyn Paul, from Guerber’s Myths & Legends of the Middle Ages (1911).

Anglo-Saxon society was based on the Germanic heroic idealthe standard of excellence required of a leader, excellence in all that was important to the tribe: hunting, sea-faring, fighting, the standard of excellence required of a leader, excellence in all that was important to the tribe: hunting, sea-faring, fighting. The leader of each tribal unit, often family units especially in earlier years, gained his position because of his physical strength and capabilities in the activities necessary for survival. The men of the tribe, the thanes or retainers, swore loyalty to the leader and in return he rewarded them with the spoils of their battles and raids.

An important part of the Germanic heroic ideal was the king-retainer relationshipa reciprocal relationship which dictated that the thanes should be loyal to their leader and in return the leader would protect them and share the treasures obtained in battle with them, a reciprocal relationship which dictated that the thanes should be loyal to their leader and in return the leader would protect them and share the treasures obtained in battle with them. The group bound by this relationship, the comitatus, formed the basis of Anglo-Saxon society.

Theme and 3-Part Structure

The theme of concern for cultural values, in this case the comitatus, plays out in the details of the three battles:

• first battle: Beowulf has the “home field” advantage because he fights with Grendel in the mead hall, and he defeats the monster with his bare hands. During the fight, his retainers and Hrothgar’s retainers all stand close by in case Beowulf needs help. They won’t interfere unless Beowulf needs them because they don’t want to detract from their leader’s glory in battle.
• second battle: Beowulf has to go into the monster’s home territory to fight Grendel’s mother, and he has to use a sword—which suggests his strength isn’t quite as great. Not only does Beowulf use Hrunting, the sword Unferth presented him, but when Hrunting fails, Beowulf finds an enormous sword, a sword made by giants (perhaps an ancient Roman sword) which he uses to kill Grendel’s mother. When they see the blood bubbling up through the mere, Hrothgar’s retainers are not faithful—they give up and go home, assuming Beowulf is dead. Only Beowulf’s personal retainers stay at the mere until he returns. There seems to be a direct connection between the loyalty of the retainers and Beowulf’s strength.
• third battle: Fifty years later Beowulf fights the dragon in its lair. All the retainers except Wiglaf abandon their leader and run to hide in the woods. Beowulf not only has to use a weapon to kill the dragon, but he also has to have help from Wiglaf. Again Beowulf’s strength fades as his retainers fail in loyalty.

Notice the speeches that Wiglaf makes to the cowardly retainers. He shames them for running, and he even tells them that now their society will fall. Other tribes will hear about how cowardly they are and, believing them to be easy targets, will come to attack them. The three battles, then, form the structure of the poem and suggest the theme of failing values.

Oral Formulaic Tradition

Many scholars believe that the story of Beowulf existed in oral tradition, perhaps for hundreds of years, before it was recorded in writing, the story told around the fires of the mead hall by the scopthe singer, the shaper or creator of tales, the singer, the shaper or creator of tales. The scop may have used certain memory aids to help him remember the long story, one of which was the formulaa set pattern of words, a set pattern of words. For example: “Þæt wæs god cyning” in line 11 (line numbers may differ according to the translation consulted) of the Prologue uses the formula “Þæt wæs X Y.” The X and Y are filled in with different words each time the formula is used.

• in line 11, “Þæt wæs god cyning” [that was good king]
• in line 170, “Þæt wæs wræc micel” [that was much misery]
• in line 309 “Þæt wæs foremærost” [that was most famous {hall}]
• in line 348 “Þæt wæs Wendla leod” [that was the Wendles’ (Vandals’) chieftain]
• in line 705 “Þæt wæs yldum cuÞ“ [that was widely known]
• in line 765 “Þæt wæs geocor sið“ [that was terrible journey]
• in line 834 “Þæt wæs tacen sweotol” [that was clear symbol]
• in line 864 “Þæt wæs god cyning” [that was good king]
• in line 1039 “Þæt wæs hilde-setl” [that was war seat (saddle)]
• in line 1075 “Þæt wæs geomuru ides” [that was woeful woman]
• in line 1458 “Þæt wæs an foran” [that was of early times]
• in line 1559 “Þæt wæs wæpna cyst” [that was choicest weapon]
• in line 1594 “Þæt wæs yðgeblond” [that was wave mixture]
• in line 1608 “Þæt wæs wundra sum” [that was wondrous thing]
• in line 1692 “Þæt wæs fremde Þeod” [that was estranged people]
• in line 1812 “Þæt wæs modig secg” [that was bold hero]
• in line 1885 “Þæt wæs an cyning” [that was unequaled king]
• in line 2390 “Þæt wæs god cyning” [that was good king]
• in line 2441 “Þæt wæs feohleas gefeoht” [that was fee-less fight (no wergild could be claimed)]
• in line 2817 “Þæt wæs Þam gomelan” [that was last word]

Another formula is “X maÞelode [X spoke].

• in line 348 “Wulfgar maÞelode” [Wulfgar spoke]
• in line 371 “Hroðgar maÞelode” [ Hrothgar spoke]
• in line 405 “Beowulf maÞelode” [Beowulf spoke]

The idea of the formula is that the scop could remember the list of set phrases to remind him of various events in the plot which he needed to tell. Think of telling a children’s story such as “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” No one uses exactly the same words each time the story is told. However, we all remember the formula: “This X is just right!” And we remember the variation of the formula: this porridge, this chair, this bed, and thus we remember the main events of the plot that need to be told. The formula worked the same way for the Anglo-Saxon scop.

Names to Know From Beowulf

The names from Beowulf are unusual and hard to remember; use the following list to identify major characters in the poem.

• Hrothgar—King whose hall is attacked by Grendel
• Grendel—monster
• Hygelac—Beowulf’s king
• Ecgtheow—Beowulf’s father
• Healfdene—Hrothgar’s father
• Hrethel—Beowulf’s grandfather and Hygelac’s father
• Unferth—character vexed by Beowulf
• Breca—character with whom Beowulf contended in the sea
• Wealhtheow—Hrothgar’s wife
• Aeschere—Hrothgar’s thane killed by Grendel’s mother
• Wiglaf—Beowulf’s faithful thane
• Scyldings—Hrothgar’s people
• Geats—Beowulf’s people
• Heorot—Hrothgar’s hall
• Hrunting—sword given to Beowulf by Unferth

Literary Techniques

• cæsura and half lines

  Old English verses are divided into two half lines with a pause in the middle of the line. The cæsurathe pause in the middle of a line of Old English poetry, the pause in the middle of a line of Old English poetry, is indicated in print by the space in the middle of each line:

  line 1	Hwæt! wē Gār-Dena	in geār-dagum
  line 2	Þēod-cyninga	Þrym gefrūnon,
  line 3	hū Þā æðelingas	ellen fremedon.
  line 4	Oft Scyld Scēfing	sceaðena Þrēatum,
  line 5	monegum mǣgðum	meodo-setla oftēah.
  line 6	Egsode eorl,	syððan ǣrest wearð
  line 7	fēa-sceaft funden:	hē Þæs frōfre gebād,
  line 8	wēox under wolcnum,	weorð-myndum ðāh,
  line 9	oð Þæt him ǣghwylc	Þāra ymb-sittendra
  line 10	ofer hron-rāde	hȳran scolde,
  line 11	gomban gyldan:	Þæt wæs gōd cyning!

• alliteration

  Old English poetry does not use rhyme. Instead, it uses alliterationthe repetition of initial sounds of words in a line of poetry, the repetition of initial sounds of words in a line of poetry. For example, note the repetition of initial “s” sounds in line 4 above and the repetition of initial “m” sounds in line 5.

• kennings

  Old English poetry is characterized by the use of kenningsa compound metaphor used in place of a simple noun, compound metaphors used in place of a simple noun. Examples include whale’s way or swan’s road for ocean, heaven’s candle for the sun, battle sweat for blood, and ring-giver for king.

• litotes

  Old English poetry sometimes expresses ideas with the use of litotesa type of understatement in which meaning is expressed by negating its opposite, a type of understatement in which meaning is expressed by negating its opposite. For example, litotes may be found in the “that was X Y” formula in statements such as “That was not a good place” to mean it was a bad place.

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