Beowulf: the symbolic of wealth and gift-giving PDF

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IMLL workshop donné par Sarah Baccianti. Devoirs hebdomadaires, essay. What is the status of gold and gift-giving in the poem? Who gives gifts, who receives them, and why? Are the modern concepts of wealth, payment, monetary worth and greed appropriate for the world of Beowulf?...

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Sophie Toscan IMLL workshop 23.04.2012

Essay on Beowulf:

What is the status of gold and gift-giving in the poem? Who gives gifts, who receives them, and why? Are the modern concepts of wealth, payment, monetary worth and greed appropriate for the world of Beowulf?

Beowulf is an epic poem which depicts the heroic code of Germanic tribes around the 6th century. It does not only describe heroes’ marvelous deeds; it also focuses on the relationship between a king and his thanes, showing how they were treated and why they were willing to achieve good actions. From the beginning of the poem, the reader is introduced to the making of liberal gifts; “Swa sceal geong guma

gode gewyrcean, / fromum feohgiftum on fæder

bearme, / þæt hine on ylde eft gewunigen / wilgesiþas, þonne wig cume, / leode gelæsten”. In other words, it is already obvious that the powerful man (mostly the king) makes generous and precious gifts to his thanes – in order for them to respect their lord, and as a guarantee that they will stand by his side in times of troubles. The status of gift-giving is crucial: indeed during the whole poem, the king regularly distributes treasures, precious rings, and gold to his thanes. But it is not comparable to what is precious nowadays; thanes who received gifts did not consider themselves “wealthy” or “rich” – they did not even have the impress of being paid. It is more of a reward, which had a high moral value: indeed receiving presents from the king is a honor, and it would motivate thanes to perform great deeds or fight for their king. As an example, Wiglaf is the only one to help Beowulf during his fight against the dragon; and the fact that he was faithful and brave lead him to receive his king’s kingdom, as he was dying. Therefore it is arguable that the modern concept of monetary worth does not occur in the poem: these gifts are valuable of course, but they cannot be seen as a sign of

Sophie Toscan IMLL workshop 23.04.2012

wealth (as diamonds or expensive jewelry nowadays) – they are comparable to medals, given as an award or commemoration of some outstanding action....