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Beowulf Research Paper 10-30-2018 HSTR101 – Section 1 Dr. Robin Hardy

Beowulf is a poem that was written by an unknown author circa 600-1000AD that has given Historians a view into Medieval Europe. Beowulf is a heroic classic story of good vs. evil where throughout the poem the main character who is the prince of the Geats, Beowulf, battles the monsters Grendel, Grendel’s mother and eventually, a fire breathing dragon. The poem ends with the final battle between Beowulf and the fire breathing dragon where Beowulf suffers a heroic death. Throughout this paper the intended topics to be talked about will be Beowulf’s worldview, tensions between old and new religious culture, and what the poem Beowulf can tell historians today about lifeways of early Europeans during the middle ages. The worldview through Beowulf’s eyes is a world of kings, soldiers, and mystical creatures. Features of Beowulf’s world include honor, bravery, superstition, and religion. Honor and being known by the people of the kingdom were a large part of Beowulf’s society. In section twenty-three of the poem Beowulf is told by Healfdane’s son how his fame is around the world and that Beowulf holds this in his heart wisely.1 Beowulf’s fame is around the world because of his defeat of the monster and his protection of the kingdom. Honor and integrity is shown when Beowulf immediately gathers the fourteen Geats and they set of to slay the demon known as Grendel as soon as he receives the news of the monster.2 We also see Beowulf’s honor when he speaks highly of his mother, Edgetho, in section four and accepts the mission to slay the monsters.3 This makes him honorable because he went to help Hrothgar without him asking and spoke highly of his mother without her being there. Another honorable time in the story is after

1 Author unknown, translated by Burton Raffel, Beowulf (New York: 1999), pp. 72, lines 1703-1705 2 Ibid., pp. 11, lines 197-203 3 Ibid., pp. 14, lines 260-275

Beowulf dies and his men heap wood together and hang shields and helmets and mail shirts in order to honor him even after his death.4 Bravery is also an important factor in his worldview because Beowulf is asked by many kings to slay the monsters that are terrorizing their kingdom and in order to be successful, he has to be brave enough to fight the beasts. He fights the monsters many times, a great example being when Beowulf finally defeats Grendel in section fourteen by ripping the monsters arm off with his bare hands and boasting by hanging the arm on Hrothgar’s wall like a trophy.5 Beowulf’s own men also showed immense bravery as well because they hacked at the beast while Beowulf ripped off the beasts arm since no weapon on Earth could pierce Grendel’s skin. 6 Superstition throughout the poem was prevalent when it came to Hrothgar and his people’s belief in the supernatural beings like Grendel.7 Grendel tortured Hrothgar’s warriors by killing thirty of them in their sleep after a long night of eating and celebrating in the King’s hall.8 It was after this fatal meeting that Grendel then struck again the next night.9 Grendel continued to torture the Danes for twelve years and took over Heorot where the King and his men were unable to challenge him.10 The superstition throughout this entire poem lies in the stories of Grendel, his mother, and the fire-breathing dragon. The stories were passed along by word of mouth throughout this age. Surely there were people who did not believe in the stories of the beasts that Beowulf slayed but on the other hand, there were people who did. Throughout this poem religion seems to be a large part of Beowulf’s worldview. After nearly everything Beowulf, or anyone else says for that matter, they typically include a portion 4 Ibid., pp. 127, lines 3135-3145 5 Ibid., pp. 43, lines 985-990 6 Ibid., pp. 42, lines 959-962 7 Ibid., pp. 8-9, lines 115-175 8 Ibid., pp 8-9, lines 115-120 9 Ibid., pp. 8, line 134 10 Ibid., pp. 9, line 144

thanking God or giving God credit for their actions. A good example of this is in section twentythree when Hrothgar is speaking and says that the Lord gives some men the gift of wisdom, others wealth, makes others great, and that the world is God’s.11 This is a great example of their view of religion because it shows the gifts that the people believe God gives to them. During this time period the people in this story were typically transitioning from Pagan belief to Christian belief and the way that they portray God throughout the poem shows how big of a role that God played in their lives. The tension between old and new religious culture throughout the poem Beowulf lies not just in parts of the poem but in the entire poem itself. Like I stated earlier, typically most people in this story give credit to God, but the story took place in early Scandinavia. The new religious culture in this poem would be how the unknown author of this poem makes constant references to God even though typically the religion in early Scandinavian culture was Pagan. The catch about this poem is that the story was originally told throughout medieval Europe which had been Christianized at the time, so this could explain why most people in the story give credit to or mention God when they speak. There are more references in this poem than could be put into this research paper of when the characters reference God or give credit to religion. Another good example of Christian religion being referenced is in section twelve when Grendel is finally slain and it is stated that he would go down to hell and have to confront God himself.12 It is after this in section fourteen that Hrothgar thanks God for finally giving him relief from the evil monster and gazed upon his ripped off arm as if it is a trophy.13 Old religious culture throughout the poem Beowulf is not quite as obviously prevalent. The biggest example of old Pagan belief is the entire superstition behind the monster Grendel 11 Ibid., pp. 73, lines 1725-1729 12 Ibid., pp. 36, lines 807-810 13 Ibid., pp. 41, lines 925-929

because Grendel is a representative of what is evil in the world and this is referenced when it is said that Grendel lives in a hell on Earth.14 Another example of Pagan religion in the poem Beowulf is the importance of the sword that typically also receives a name. An example of this is in section twenty-one when it is explained how Hrothgar lent Beowulf an old sword by the name of Hrunting.15 The sword is described as having an iron blade and etched writing on it. 16 Another specifically great example of Pagan beliefs is in section two of the poem when it is talked about how Hrothgar was so desperate to get rid of the monster Grendel that he prayed to the Devil and made sacrifices to stone Gods in an effort to get rid of the awful beast.17 The poem Beowulf gives historians a look into the Middle Ages because the poem was written down by an unknown author somewhere between 600-1000 AD and has survived all of these years. The poem includes many different types of people from the Scandinavian culture where this story takes place. In Dr. Hardy’s lecture we learned about the Geats, and Danes that both come up within the poem.18 There are many good examples of when these different groups come up but a good example would be how King Hrothgar is the King of the Danes and he is a main character in this poem, being the person to have Beowulf slay the beast that terrorizes his land.19 Also, the main character in the story Beowulf, is the king of the Geats and is said to be stronger and greater than anyone in the world.20 The character Beowulf can also tell us how it is good to be honorable and courageous. Beowulf is honorable throughout the entire book but a particularly good example of when he is when he hears Grendel is terrorizing Hrothgar’s land and rallies up fourteen men and sets sail 14 Ibid., pp. 6, lines 102-104 15 Ibid., pp. 64, line 1457 16 Ibid., pp. 64, lines 1458-1459 17 Ibid., pp. 9-10, lines 175-180 18 Robin Hardy, “Middle Ages” (lecture) Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, October 23, 2018. 19 Author unknown, translated by Burton Raffel, Beowulf (New York: 1999), pp. 11, lines 190-255 20 Ibid., pp.11, lines 194-195

across the sea in order to help the king and stay true to his good name.21 This makes him honorable because he was not asked to come to Hrothgar’s land and save them from the demon that is Grendel, he decided to do this just based on the fact that the King needed help. An example of when Beowulf is courageous is during the fight between Beowulf and Grendel’s mother when Beowulf goes underwater to fight the monster and he loses his sword, he decides to use his bare hands to ward off her attacks until he finds the sword of a giant hanging on the wall of her cave and slices her in two.22 This makes Beowulf courageous because if anyone else would have seen a giants sword they would not have thought that they could pick it up because it would be too heavy for an ordinary man but Beowulf tried anyways and was able to kill Grendel’s mother.23 Another time when Beowulf is courageous is when he goes to fight the fire breathing dragon alone and tells his men to stay behind because it is too dangerous.24 This is courageous because Beowulf knows he might not come out of the fight alive and he does not want his men to suffer the same fate. Although Beowulf’s men end up finding him lifeless in the end, they also find the fire-breathing dragon’s lifeless body as well.25 Throughout his paper the topics that have been discussed have been, Beowulf’s worldview, tensions between old and new religious culture, and what the poem Beowulf can tell historians today about lifeways of early Europeans during the middle ages. In summary, the poem Beowulf is a poem filled with adventure and imagination but is still an important piece of written history for historians today. Although the books author is unknown, the writing is still considered an important look into the ways of early Europeans during the middle ages.

21 Ibid., pp. 11, lines 189-205 22 Ibid., pp. 66-68, lines 1517-1575 23 Ibid., pp 68, lines1567 24 Ibid., pp. 97, lines 2345-2346 25 Ibid., pp. 115, lines 2821-2827

Works Cited Author unknown, translated by Burton Raffel, Beowulf (New York: 1999)

Hardy, Robin “Middle Ages” (lecture) Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, October 23, 2018....