Beowulf

1. Origin of the Poem. It is almost certain that the poem originated before the English invasions. There is no mention of England; Beowulf himself is the king of the “Geatas.” The poem, moreover, is pagan in conception, and so antedates the Christian conversion. With regard to the actual authorship of the work there is no evidence. It is very likely that it is a collection of the tales sung by the bards, strung together by one hand, and written in the West Saxon dialect.

2. The Story. There are so many episodes, digressions, and reversions in the story of Beowulf that it is almost impossible to set it down as a detailed consecutive narrative. Putting it in its very briefest form, we may say that Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow, and king of the Geatas, sails to Denmark with a band of heroes, and rids the Danish King Hrothgar of a horrible mere-monster called Grendel. The mother of Grendel meets with the same fate, and Beowulf, having been duly feasted and rewarded, returns to his native land. After a prosperous reign of forty years Beowulf slays the dragon that ravishes his land, but himself receives a mortal wound. The poem concludes with the funeral of the old hero.

3. The Style. We give a short extract, along with a literal translation, to illustrate the style. The short lines of the poem are really half-lines, and in most editions they are printed in pairs across the page. The extract deals with Beowulf’s funeral rites:

Him ðá ge-giredan For him then did the people of the

Geáta leóde Geáts prepare

Âd on eorðan Upon the earth

Un-wác-lícne A funeral pile, strong,

Helm-be-hongen Hung round with helmets,

Hilde-bordū With war-boards and

Beorhtū byrnū Bright byrnies

Swá he béna wæs As he had requested.

Ā-legdon ðá to-middes Weeping the heroes

Máerne þeóden Then laid down

Hæleð hiófende In the midst

Hláf-ord leófne Their dear lord;

On-gunnon ðá on beorge Then began the warriors

Bæl-fýra mæst To wake upon the hill

Wigend weccan The mightiest of bale-fires;

Wu [du-r] êc á-stáh The wood smoke rose aloft,

Sweart of swicðole Dark from the wood-devourer;

Swógende let Noisily it went, mingled

[Wópe] be-wunden With weeping; the mixture

Wind-blond ğ-læg Of the wind lay on it

Oð that he tha bàn-hús Till it the bone-house

Ge-brocen hæfd[e] Had broken,

Hat on hreðre Hot in his breast:

Higū un-róte Sad in mind,

Mód-ceare mændon Sorry of mood they moaned

Mod-dryhtnes [cwealm]. The death of their lord.

It will be observed that the language is abruptly and rudely phrased. The half-lines very frequently consist of mere tags or, as they are called, kennings. Such conventional phrases were the stock-in-trade of the gleemen, and they were employed to keep the narrative in some kind of motion while the invention of the minstrel flagged. At least half of the lines in the extract are kennings—beorhtū byrnū, hláf-ord leófne, higū un-róte, and so on. Such phrases occur again and again in Old English poetry. It will also be observed that the lines are strongly rhythmical, but not metrical; and that there is a system of alliteration, consisting as a rule of two alliterated sounds in the first half-line and one in the second half-line.

With regard to the general narrative style of the poem, there is much primitive vigor in the fighting, sailing, and feasting; a deep appreciation of the terrors of the sea and of other elemental forces; and a fair amount of rather tedious repetition and digression. Beowulf, in short, may be justly regarded as the expression of a hardy, primitive, seafaring folk, reflecting their limitations as well as their virtues.