Beowulf: An Ancient English Heroic Poem
Beowulf
The oldest of the great long poems written in English may have been composed more than twelve hundred years ago, in the first half of the eighth century, although some scholars would place it as late as the tenth century. The title has been assigned by modern editors because the manuscript does not give any indication of title or authorship.
Linguistic evidence shows that the poem was originally composed in the dialect of what was Mercia, the Midlands of England today. It was converted into the West-Saxon dialect of the southwest.
In 1731, the manuscript was seriously damaged in a fire that destroyed the building in London that housed the extraordinary collection of medieval English manuscripts. As a result of the fire and subsequent deterioration, a number of lines and words have been lost from the poem.
In Beowulf, the poet was reviving the heroic language, style, and pagan world of ancient Germanic oral poetry. The poem deals with two South Scandinavian tribes, the Danes and the Geats, who live on the Danish island of Zealand and in southern Sweden.
It is believed that Beowulf is the work of a single poet who was a Christian and that his poem reflects well-established Christian tradition. The conversion of the Germanic settlers in England had been largely completed during the seventh century.
The monster Grendel is said to be a descendant of Cain.
There are allusions to God’s judgment and to fate, but not to pagan deities. References to the New Testament are absent, but Hrothgar and Beowulf often speak of God as though their religion is monotheistic.
In addition, the poem relates with sadness that the Danes pray for help at heathen shrines desperately because of Grendel’s attacks.
Hrothgar and Beowulf are portrayed as morally upright and enlightened pagans, but they fully emphasize and frequently affirm the values of Germanic heroic poetry.
Depicting the warrior society, the most important of human relationships was that which existed between the warrior—the thane—and his lord, a relationship based less on subordination of one man’s will to another’s than on mutual trust and respect.
When a warrior vowed loyalty to his lord, he became not so much his servant as his voluntary companion, one who would take pride in defending him and fighting in his wars. In return, the lord was expected to take care of his thanes and to reward them richly for their valor.
The relationship between kinsmen was also of deep significance to this society. If one of his kinsmen had been slain, a man had a moral obligation either to kill the slayer or to exact the payment of wergild (man-price) in compensation. Each rank of society was evaluated at a definite price, which had to be paid to the dead man’s kin by the killer if he wished to avoid their vengeance. The payment itself had less significance as wealth than as a proof that the kinsmen had done what was right.
THE POEM STARTS with the description of a funeral and the laments for the dead. Beowulf is portrayed as an ambitious young hero.
THE POEM FINISHES with the description of a funeral and the laments for the dead. Beowulf has become an old king, facing the dragon and death. People mourn him and praise him for his nobility, generosity, courage, and the kindness for his people.