God, Fate, and the Hero of "Beowulf"

God, Fate, and the Hero of "Beowulf"
Author(s): Mary C. Wilson Tietjen
Source: The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Vol. 74, No. 2 (Apr., 1975), pp. 159171
Published by: University of Illinois Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27707876
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GOD, FATE, AND THE HERO OF BEOWULF
Mary
C. Wilson
Tietjen,
Queens
University,
Kingston,
Ontario
a
that Beowulf was originally
were added by a later hand,1
to prove him wrong
and have
Christian character. Friedrich
the first major critic to examine sympathetically
the Christian
Klaeber,
now
of
for
the
Beowulf,
argues convincingly
aspects
generally accepted
so
are almost without
view that "the Christian
elements
exception
ex
cannot
in
of
the
be
the
fabric
that
very
poem
deeply ingrained
they
as the work of a reviser or later interpolator."2 The almost
plained away
of Klaeber's
universal
point?that
acknowledgment
quite
legitimate
a
in
is
the
of
Beowulf
unfortunately,
product
single Christian poet?has
a host of overzealous
recent years,
to
critics
the
who
door
have
opened
to throw out the baby with
critics
These
the bathwater.
proceeded
assume that if Christian
is an integral part of the poem,
sentiment
in tone and attitude.
is doubtless
almost exclusively Christian
Beowulf
insistence
of
Tolkien's
the
characters
R.
R.
that
Beowulf are conceived
J.
as
a noble but heathen
in
and
the
of R. W.
observation
past,"3
"living
'Heroic
that the poet shows us "the virtues of the heathen
Chambers
. . .
new belief,"4 have both
the
the
of
Age'
gentleness
tempered by
been largely forgotten in attempts to explain away the poem's paganism,
as Blackburn
to
and his followers had earlier attempted
just
explain
its
away
Christianity.
Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur's
comment on the content of the poem
is
of
the
much
Germanic
with
pagan
typical: "Although
spirit, together
motifs and situations descending
from pagan times, remains discernible,
the refashioning
of ancient pagan stuff has been so complete
that the
a Christian
extant poem is
to
Contributions
the
view
essentially
epic."5
Since F. A. Blackburn
argued in 1897
to
which
Christian
elements
pagan poem
in various ways
critics have attempted
concluded
that the poem exhibits a unified
1 F. A.
"The Christian
in the Beowulf,"
Blackburn,
Coloring
205-25.
2 Friedrich
at
and the
ed., Beowulf
Klaeber,
Fight
Finnsburg
Introduction,
p. 1.
3
The Monsters
and the Critics,"
J. R. R. Tolkien,
"Beowulf:
12 ( 1936),
British Academy,
42.
4 R. W.
An Introduction
to the
Chambers,
"Beowulf":
Study
in 1932.
book was first published
1963),
p. 128. Chambers'
bridge,
5 Arthur Gilchrist
"Christian
and Pagan,"
The Art of
Brodeur,
ley,
i960),
p.
183.
159
PMLA,
12
(Boston,
Proceedings
of the Poem
"Beowulf"
(1897),
1950),
of
the
(Cam
(Berke
i6o
Tiet jen
in attitude take many different
that Beowulf
is predominantly
Christian
forms : in recent years, the poem has been interpreted as an allegory of
as a Christian
over
on the victory of concordia
salvation,6
allegory
sin of pride,8 and as
discordia,7 as a didactic poem about the Christian
a narrative many of whose events are
parallel with those of the life of
Christ and whose hero is a type of Christ.9 Moreover,
the pagan concept
of wyrd has been pressed
into the service of Christianity
by Brodeur
in Beowulf
and Marie Padgett Hamilton,10
is
who argue that wyrd
an
to
as
dictates
of
cannot
God
the
and
therefore
considered
be
subject
entirely pagan concept. Pains have also been taken, particularly
by
to strip Beowulf
himself
of any motives
that smack of the
Brodeur,
pagan heroic ideals of personal prowess and earthly lof. Tolkien's
argu
ment that "Beowulf s real trust was in his own
might"11 is contested by
is just as pious
Brodeur, who goes to great lengths to prove that Beowulf
as
s
are
Brodeur's
Beowulf
for
arguments
Hrothgar.12
legitimate
piety
is that faith in one's own strength is to be
enough, but his implication
frowned
E. Goldsmith
makes
Brodeurs
upon. Margaret
implication
sin of pride,
the
ideal
with
heroic
the
Christian
explicit by connecting
and argues that Beowulf dies because he becomes proud of his
strength
and earthly
to
God's
and
fame, and refuses
grace
acknowledge
guidance.13
to make the poem's pagan
These critical discussions
that undertake
as
an
elements
with
Christian
compatible
thought
(citing,
they do,
abundance
to
of references
the liturgy,
the Church Fathers,
Boethius,
our
in
and the Seven Deadly
to Beowulf
Sins) impoverish
approach
that we are reduced to dealing with a poem of considerable
complexity
in terms of what amounts to a narrow Christian didacticism.
But despite
such efforts to ignore, explain away, or
the pagan elements
underplay
of the poem, a careful consideration
of the text reveals that the story told
is undeniably
both Christian and pagan in attitude
by the Beowulf-poet
and tone: the society presented
to us is one in which
the heroic ideal has
remained an ideal?although
the Christian concept of God's grace is also
6M.
B. McNamee,
"Beowulf?An
190-207.
7Morton
Allegory
of
Salvation?"
JEGP,
59
(i960),
W.
An Interpretation
and Christian
of
Bloomfield,
"Beowulf
Allegory:
7 (1949-51),
Unferth,"
Traditio,
410-15.
8
E. Goldsmith,
"The Christian
M JE, 29 (i960),
Theme
of Beowulf"
Margaret
in Beowulf"
and "The Christian
14
81?101,
Literature,
Comparative
Perspective
71-80.
(1962),
9 Allen
and the Liturgy,"
195-201.
Cabaniss,
54 ( 1955),
JEGP,
"'Beowulf
10Marie
in Beowulf"
61
"The Religious
Hamilton,
PMLA,
Principle
Padgett
309-31.
(1946),
11
Tolkien,
p. 45.
12
Brodeur,
pp. 191 if.
13
see n. 8, above.
Goldsmith;
161
God, Fate, and the Hero of Beowulf
in which men are subject both to the Christian God and
present?and
to the pagan power of wyrd. The ideals, divine and human, of paganism
exist side by side in Beowulf. The poem contains con
and Christianity
a
both
of
blind
and whimsical
force whose dealings with men are
cepts
unrelated to their merit, and of a benevolent
Christian deity who affords
is pre
to
himself
and
the
grace
guidance
Similarly, Beowulf
worthy.
and renowned war
sented both as the pagan heroic ideal of the mighty
rior and as the Christian
ideal of the virtuous hero who rightly attributes
his special powers, and the deeds arising from those powers, to the grace
the co
in the paragraphs
that follow, to discuss
of God. I propose,
existence of these Christian and pagan concepts in Beowulf,
and to show
accommodates
both.
how the poem effectively
"a parallelism
Charles W. Kennedy notes in his discussion
of Beowulf
of reference to the blind and inexorable power ofWyrd and to the omnip
otence of a divine Ruler Who governs all things well," and points out,
are
in addition, that sometimes "God and Wyrd
into juxtaposi
brought
tion in such a manner as to imply control of Fate by the superior power
are taken over by Miss
of Christian
arguments
divinity."14 Kennedy's
in support of the view that the Beowulf -poet's concept of wyrd
Hamilton
is similar to that which appears in King Alfred's paraphrase
of Boethius:
we
wandriende
his
de
hatad
[God's]
fter
faerd
wyrd
forponce
pios
wyrd
swa swa he tiohha? pset hit sie.15 However,
~1 aeft his gepeahte,
textual
is subject to God
evidence which serves to indicate that fate in Beowulf
is limited to two passages.
says to Beowulf:
After
the Geats
is min
wigheap gewanod;
on Grendles gryre.
|x>ne dolscea?an
arrive
at Heorot,
Hrothgar
fletwerod,
hie wyrd forsweop
God eaj)e maeg
daeda getwaefan!
(11. 476-79
)16
second passage occurs after Beowulf has defeated Grendel; here the
that Grendel would have killed more of Hrothgar's men,
poet comments
nef ne him witig God wyrd forstode / ond 3 smannes mod ( 11.1056-57 ).
the various occurrences
of the idea of wyrd in Beowulf,
By glossing
Alan H. Roper concludes
that although
the poet may in two instances
share with Boethius a Christian view of God's control of fate, the concept
of wyrd itself as it consistently
appears in the poem is neither Boethian
The
14 Charles
W.
Kennedy,
The
Earliest
English
Poetry
(New
York,
1943),
pp.
87,
88.
15
Version
Old English
De Consolatione
of Boethius,
King Alfred's
ed. Walter
1899),
(Oxford,
p. 128.
John Sedgefield
16 All
are taken from Klaeber's
from Beowulf
edition,
quotations
ences appear within
in the text.
parentheses
Philosophiae,
and
line
refer
i62
Tietjen
nor Christian.17
in Beowulf:
the notion
Roper finds three ideas of tvyrd
to die"; "the fact of ...
that "man from his birth is doomed
[a man's]
own
that
the
idea
of
the
death";
sweeps men
"body-snatcher"
particular
are
some
of
away. Although
arguable, the
aspects
Roper's interpretation
as a whole
in clearly demonstrating
that the con
is valuable
discussion
is
in
with death.
of
connected
the
almost
poem
cept
wyrd
consistently
once ( 11.572-73 ) does the poet tell us that fate bestows favour on
Only
men as God does, and in that case favour falls
on the man who is
only
as we find it most often in Beowulf,
is
the bringer of mis
Fate,
unfsege.
to the merit of those
fortune and death, and its dictates are unrelated
who are subject to them. It is the workings
of fate that are said to be
behind the onslaughts
that the war
of Grendel. Hrothgar
tells Beowulf
riors in his hall have dwindled because hie wyrd forsweop / on Grendles
and just before Beowulf
defeats Grendel
the poet
gryre (11. 477-78),
:
comments
waes
Ne
he ma
|)33t
\>set wyrd
manna
moste
ofer J)a niht.
?icgean
pa.
gen,
cynnes
(11.
734-36)
Fate is also
for Beowulf's death, and his last speeches demon
responsible
strate very clearly a calm acceptance
of the fate allotted to him. Ic on
ear de, he says, bad /
11.
( 2736-37 ) :
mselgesceafta
mine
magas
on eine;
eorlas
In the parts of the poem
of
fate,
there
is a
that consider
sense
strong
ealle
wyrd
forsweop
to metodsceafte,
ic him
aefter sceal.
that
the implications
the
and irreversible. Just before
preordained,
at Heorot,
the poet tells us that the men
geosceaft
grimme,
eorla manegum;
and after Beowulf's
death we
Wyrd
swa
lifgesceafta,
mod
mid
of the dictates
are
mysterious,
the arrival of Grendel's
in the hall
ne
mother
cuJ)on,
hit
wear?
agangen
(11.
1233-35)
learn that
Wundur
eorl ellenrof
of men
destinies
(11. 2814-16)
hwar
J)onne
ende gefere
f)onne leng ne maeg
his magum
meduseld
buan.
(11. 3062?65)
A few lines later, Wiglaf
fate was irreversible;
explains that Beowulf's
him from fighting the dragon and
the Geats could not have prevented
the gold, because he acted according to destiny's decree:
winning
17 Alan
386-400.
H.
Roper,
"Boethius
and
the Three
Fates
of Beowulf"
PC,
41
(1962),
God, Fate, and the Hero of Beowulf
Ne
we
meahton
rices
?;>aet
hyrde
he ne
lete hyne
grette
wunian
Heold
on
grimme
goldweard
J^eoden,
J^one,
peer he longe waes,
licgean,
wicum
leofne
gelaeran
raed
aenigne,
163
o? woruldende.
hord ys gesceawod,
heahgesceap;
waes
geogongen;
pe Sone Joeodcyning
|)aet
gife?e
to
swiS,
(11. 3079-86)
J)yder ontyhte.
is sometimes controlled by God is subject
The idea that fate in Beowulf
state that God can avert
to qualifications.
Both passages which explicitly
to
fate
the dictates of
refer
God's future control over events, and not to
on
as itwere, have
to
God's part
any ability
change decrees of fate that,
set
in
motion.
In
the first instance
(11. 476-79),
already been
Hrothgar
an
is
making
oblique reference to his hope that Beowulf will undertake
to defeat Grendel;
that in the future God can
thus, he tells Beowulf
hinder Grendel
his
that if
from murderous
deeds,
implication
being
as
once
God's
the
fate
kills
be
will
monster,
Beowulf,
agent,
prevented
and for all from decreeing
the deaths of the Danes by Grendel's
hand.
to God's control of fate is a post facto repetition
The second reference
of Hrothgar's words:
[Hrothgar] |)one aenne heht
aer
golde forgyldan,
|)one 8e Grendel
mane
swa
acwealde,?
nefne him witig God
ond
?aes mannes
mod.
he
hyra
ma
wolde,
wyrd forstode
(11.
1053-57)
Thus, God's control over the decrees of fate consists in Beowulf's
killing
of Grendel so that, as the poet comments, "never again would fate decree
that he could take any more of the human race for his food, after that
future decrees of fate; he does not reverse its
night."18 God prevents
dictates.
This idea that the decrees
cannot be
of fate, once set in motion,
averted by either God or man is evident when we examine the context
uses the words
in which
the Beowulf-poet
"fsege" and "unfsege" "fated
to die" and "not fated to die." In his
on the
speech
swimming match
with Breca, Beowulf
that
nered
/ unf gne eorl,
explains
wyrd oft
and later when we are told of the
ponne his eilen deah (11. 572-73),
escape of the slave from the clutches of the dragon whom he had robbed,
the
poet
18Ne
comments:
s
w
ma moste
manna
/ ?icgean
cynnes
pset wyrd
pa gen, / pset he
of er
I follow G. N.
niht
and Jacqueline
Simson's
translation
(734-36).
pa
Garmonsway's
of this passage,
in Beowulf
and Its
which
appears
(London,
1968),
Analogues
p.
21. The
italics are mine.
164
Tietjen
Swa
wean
maeg
ond
ea?e
gedigan
se ?e Waldendes
unfsege
wrascsi?
(11.
hyldo gehealdej)!
2291-93)
is that a man's fortunes can
is implied in both of these passages
What
be reversed if he is unfaege, but cannot be reversed if he is fsege. The
first passage points out that fortune favours the brave man if it has not
that he die, and the second, that a man requires the
already decreed
favour of fate as well as the favour of God if he is to survive misfortune,
is a victim of wyrd, the geosceaft
?schere
(1. 1234), and he is
grimme
mother
before
Grendel's
arrives, as fus ond fsege
described,
consequently
on
to Hygelac
that he
the
other
hand, explains
(1. 1241). Beowulf,
nses ic f ge
his
life
with
because
from
Grendel's
mother
pa gyt
escaped
( I.2141).
is inextricably
the
The concept
of fate in Beowulf
bound up with
in common with
fact of man's death, and has nothing whatever
the
a
in
Christian
the
God
decrees
whose
also
of
poem,
concept,
present
accord with a wise plan, conceived
for the good of man. While
the
dictates of fate are supreme and irreversible in determining
the circum
stances of a man's death, the actions of men on earth, before they meet
their inevitable end at the hands of fate, are controlled and judged by a
benevolent
Christian God who is the source of all favour and honour.
as a
at Heorot
is interpreted by Hrothgar
The arrival of Beowulf
gift
from God
and
himself
his
attributes
Beowulf
(11. 381-83),
strength to
in the
God's favour ( 11.1270-71 ). God grants Beowulf
fight with
triumph
Grendel
and permits him to see the sword on the wall of
(11. 696-700),
Grendel's mother's
I* 1S t0 God that the charac
(11. 1661-64).
dwelling
ters in Beowulf
in their ventures,
look for safety and guidance
and it is
God whom they thank for desires granted and favours bestowed.
in Beowulf of the concepts of a benevolent
The peaceful
co-existence
God and of the inexorable force of wyrd ismost clearly illustrated when
warns Beowulf of the
in doing so
Hrothgar
pitfalls of pride, and
explains
the functions of God and fate in the universe insofar as man is concerned.
Hrothgar
says:
is to
Wundor
hu mihtig God
sidne
J)urh
eard
ond
sele?
sefan
eorlscipe;
he 011 lufan
Hwilurn
momies
modge]}onc
on
him
ef)le
to healdanne
gede?
him
side rice,
his
manna
unsnyttrum
swa
secganne,
cynne
snyttru
brytta?,
he ah ealra
laete?
geweald.
hworfaii
maeran
eorj3an
cynnes,
wynne
hleoburh wera,
gewealdene
worolde
daelas,
ne masg
J)aethe his selfa
ende
gej^encean.
(11. 1724-34)
God, Fate, and the Hero of Beowulf
165
He goes on to point out, however,
that this same man may grow proud,
s
ser
him
dal
wuldres
God
/
Waldend,
sealde,
(11.
p
pe
weor?mynda
a
As
he
misuses
the
of
God:
1751-52 ).
result,
gifts
J)ince? him to lytel,
gytsa? gromhydig,
faette
J)aethe lange heold,
nallas on gylp sele<5
(11. 1748-50)
beagas.
is his failure to keep the transience
The root of his pride, says Hrothgar,
of life inmind :he pa fordgesceaft
/ forgyteS ond forgymed
( 11.1750-51 ).
is inevitable decay and death by decree of
His fordgesceaft, moreover,
fate:
Hit on endestaef
J^aetse lichoma
eft gelimpecS,
laene gedreose?,
(11.
faege gefealle?.
1753-55)
use of the
to make honourable
cautions Beowulf
Hrothgar
consequently
in
to
that
has
and
God
the
of
fate
mind:
ravages
given him,
gifts
keep
oferhyda
maere cempa!
ane
h wile;
eft
sona
J^aetpec adl o??e
o??e
fyres
o(58e
gripe
atol
forsite?
J)aet?ec, dryhtguma,
blaed
eafoJ)es getwaefed,
flodes
o??e
o??e
o??e
yldo,
ond
forsworce?;
o??e
gym,
bi?,
ecg
feng,
meces,
ne
is J)ines maegnes
Nu
gares
eagena
wylm,
fliht,
bearhtm
bi?,
semninga
dea<5 oferswy?e?.
(11. 1760-68)
Beowulf's defeat by the dragon is the proof of Hrothgar's words. When
we first hear that the
dragon is threatening the Geats, the poet comments:
se ?one
secean
gomelan
sawle
hord,
lif wi?
lice.
neah,
?ngemete
wyrd
sceolde,
gretan
sundur
gedaelan
(11.
2420-23)
We
later learn that Beowulf,
has both
admonitions,
heeding Hrothgar's
of death at the hands of fate and made
kept in mind the inevitability
the man whom
proper use of the honours granted him by God. Unlike
had
said
ond
/
(11. 1751
pa
Hrothgar
fordgesceafte
forgyteS
forgymed
on earde bad /
and
unlike
52), Beowulf
(11.
2736-37
);19
mselgesceafta
whom Hrothgar
had cited as a bad example, Beowulf
has
Heremod,
avoided the misuse of God's gifts:
heold min
ne
19 I follow
Bosworth
for that which
waited
sohte
and
in due
searoni?as
ne me
tela,
swor
fel?
Toller's
translation
of "ic bad
time fate would
assign me."
maelgesceafta"
as
"I
i66
Tietjen
a?a
on unriht.
Ic ?aes
seoc
feorhbennum
ealles
gefean
for?am me witan ne ?earf
mor?orbealo
maga,
Waldend
]x>nne
lif of
maeg
habban;
min
fira
sceace?
lice.
(11. 2737-43)
that his actions have been above reproach is con
Beowulf's
conviction
firmed for us when the poet tells us that, after his death, him of hrse?re
gewat / sawol secean sodfsestra dorn (11. 2819-20).
Beowulf dies because he is faege, God grants him one final
Although
earthly honour, victory over the dragon:
him God u<5e,
]xet he hyne sylfne gewraec
(11.2874-76)
J>ahim wass eines |)earf.
sigora Waldend,
ana mid ecge,
The final events of the poem, then, occur both according
to the decree
to the will of God. Beowulf's
over the
of fate and according
victory
a dictate of
a
is
is
God:
death
from
his
Beowulf's
dragon
gift
wyrd.
the treasure ( 11.2794 ff. ) conveys
prayer of thanks for success in winning
to us a strong sense of Christian victory that
perhaps renders his death
not
entirely
But
tragic.
because
Beowulf's
God-given
victory
is, of
course,
up in his defeat by fate, we find that his kinsmen grieve both.
wishes
both to bring back his chieftain's
life, which has been
Wiglaf
robbed by fate, and to change God's decree that Beowulf
fight and defeat
the dragon:
bound
Ne
meante
he
on
?eah
eor?an,
on Sam
frumgare
ne 8aes Wealdendes
wiht
wolde
dorn Godes
g?mena
gehwylcum,
he
u(5e
wel,
feorh gehealdan,
oncirran;
daedum raedan
swa
he
nu
gen
detS.
(11. 2855-59)
the tone of the end of the poem is predominantly
elegiac, al
we are not
to
that
Beowulf's
death
constitutes
though
permitted
forget
a Christian
to
victory over the forces of evil. The agents that contribute
the final events of the poem, the Christian God and the
of
Germanic
wyrd
are both
paganism,
given their due, but as the narrative draws to a close,
the poet chiefly emphasizes
the inevitable death of a
glorious hero:
Thus,
Swa
Geata
begnornodon
hlafordes
cwaedon
manna
leodum
(hry)re,
Jj>aet
mildust
li?ost
he waere
ond
ond
leode
heor?geneatas;
wyruldcyninga
mon
( ?5w ) aerust,
lofgeornost.
(11. 3178-82)
This final emphasis on the work of fate, which gives rise to the
elegiac
tone of the poem, can be accounted
for in the fact that the role of God in
concerns man's activities
the events of Beowulf
he is on
only while
God, Fate, and the Hero of Beowulf
167
earth. Of course, the poem takes into account the eternal reward granted
as Beowulf says, daer
those whose activities have been honourable;
gelyfan
sceal IDrijhtnes dome se pe hi?e dead nimed ( 11.440-41 ). But the fact of
man's death is determined
by fate, and the lament here is for misfortune
a power that knows
out
the
meted
by
nothing of reward for merit. On
other hand, God's function in the world of Beowulf
is to protect the good
man from the forces of evil for as
as he is destined
to live, and to
long
his
activities
after
death
has
his
fated
occurred.
Beowulf,
judge
earthly
even until the moment
of his death, is granted victory over evil forces,
and after he is swept away by fate ( 11.2814-16 )we are told that he longe
w re
sceal I on ?ses Waldendes
(11. 3108-3109).
gepolian
is that of
The most prominent
role of the Christian God in Beowulf
men
to
merit.
rewards
their
The
of God
favour
upon
bestowing
according
a
in the poem is a deserved
and
is
the
wrath
of
God
deserved
favour,
wrath. Grendel
is sentenced
to exile by God because he is from among
the untijdras that sprang from Cain and his kindred,
and that subse
l?unnon /
com
wi3
Gode
quently
lange pr?ge (11. 113-14). The poet
ments here that God him pses lean forgeald
another
(1. 114). Heremod,
offender of God, misuses
the gifts that God grants him. Hrothgar
tells
Beowulf
that he grew up to wselfealle
/ ond to dea?cwalum
Deniga
leodum (11. 1711-12),
?eah pe hi?e mihtig God
eafejjum
foro gefremede.
breosthord
Denum
Consequently,
death :
God
maegenes wynnum,
men
ealle
ofer
stepte,
him on ferhj^e greow
Hwaethere
nallas
blodreow;
aefter dome.
beagas
rewards Heremod
with
dreamleas
he
J)aet
leodbealo
geaf
(11.
J^aes gewinnes
eternal
1716-20)
damnation
gebad,
weorc
})rowade,
1720-22
(11.
longsum.
after his
)20
Those who please God, on the other hand, are afforded grace, both on
earth and following death. Beowulf
achieves so?fsestra dorn (1. 2820)
after death, and in life his success in battling Grendel, Grendel's mother,
as a reward for his
and the dragon is due to favour bestowed
by God
worth. After Grendel's defeat, Hrothgar
says to Beowulf:
J3u {)e self hafast
|)aet J^in dorn lyfa<5
daedum gefremed,
awa
to aldre.
gode forgylde,
20 N.
damnation
F. Blake
("The
presents
Heremod
convincing
Digressions
Alwalda
}:>ec
swa he nu gyt dyde!
evidence
that
in Beowulf,"
this passage
JEGP, 61
(11.953-56)
refers
[1962I,
to Heremod's
278?87).
i68
Tietjen
Moreover,
dragon
the poet comments with reference to both Grendel
that Beowulf was chosen by God to battle with them:
and
the
Haefde Kyningwuldor
Grendle
aldor
ymb
waes
{)onne
swa
togeanes,
aseted;
seleweard
guman
sundornytte
eotonweard'abead.
Dena,
|)aet yrfe
gefrungon,
beheold
(11. 665-68)
eacencraeftig,
iumonna gold
galdre be wunden,
hrinan ne moste
|)33t ?5amhringsele
g?mena
aenig,
sigora
?he
efne
nefne
swa
God
sealde
So?cyning
is manna
gehyld?
manna,
hwylcum
sylfa,
\>am
hord
<5e he wolde
openian,
swa him
gemet
?uhte.
(11.3051-57)
idea that victory is granted to the man whom victory befits runs
throughout the poem. In his speech about the proposed battle with Gren
del, Beowulf
says:
The
sijr?an witig God
on swa
hwae|)ere hond
halig Dryhten
swa him gemet |)ince;
maer?o d?me,
(11. 685-87)
mother
that
and the poet comments
during the battle with Grendel's
own
since Beowulf's
of
his
corselet
the
enable
and
strength
protection
him to rise to his feet after being pinned down by the monster, witig
/ rodera R dend hit on riht gesced / y d?lice (11. 1554-56). This
Drihten,
if it has not marked a
idea is carried over to the concept of wyrd, which,
man for death, may favour him:
nere?
/ unfsegne eorl, ponne
oft
Wyrd
his eilen deah (11.572-73)! The idea of reward for merit is also implicit in
Beowulf's
reply to the boastful speech of Unferth:
ic
Secge
})aet
atol
naefre
aeglasca
hyn?o
sefa
sunu
to so<5e,
J)e
swa fela
Grendel
swa
in Heorote,
searogrim,
the Christian
Although
the efforts of the worthy
"worth" that merits God's
certainly
exemplifies
ealdre
Ecglafes,
gryra
gefremede,
]3inum,
gif J^inhige waere,
swa
pu
self
talast.
(11. 590-94)
to
view that God affords grace and guidance
of
the
is evident
kind
throughout Beowulf,
favour is by no means Christian. Beowulf most
the Christian
virtues
of mildness
and
humility,
but
he is worthy of God's favour because of his great strength and courage.
Virtue in the world of Beowulf
lies largely in the fulfillment of the heroic
in the poem is
ideals of personal prowess and earthly lof. The emphasis
not upon heavenly
rewards but upon earthly ones. God's judgment of
men after death ismentioned
the world view
several times, but because
God, Fate, and the Hero of Beowulf
169
of the poem acknowledges
the inevitable destruction by wyrd of all that
men have strived for on earth, the
of doing
poet stresses the necessity
so
renown
on
of
meets
his
that
the
the
doer
after
he
will
live
great deeds,
encounter
fated death. Thus Beowulf
his
Grendel's
with
before
says
mother:
Ure aeghwylc sceal
lif es,
worolde
ende gebidan
aer deaj^e;
domes
se
wyrce
aefter
unlifgendum
pe
mote
pset bi(S drihtguman
seiest.
(11. 1386-89)
is little sense in Beowulf, as there might be in a poem exclusively
in attitude, that the actions of men on earth and God's favour
Christian
in
rewards
toward the spiritual
those actions are directed
guiding
life is
in
For
of
the
of
the
characters
heaven.
Beowulf,
granted
kingdom
one must endure as preparation
not a vale of tears whose vicissitudes
for
the joys of life after death; instead, they see man's final reward as the
that his earthly deeds will survive in the memory of the living,
knowledge
and this knowledge
iswhat makes the fact of death endurable.
the
heroic
ethic knows nothing of spiritual reward for merit,
Although
is nonetheless
the Beowulf-poet
able to reconcile the values of a society
based upon the pagan heroic ideal with the Christian notion that God
that personal strength must be used
rewards the worthy by emphasizing
man who possesses
it is to merit God's guidance
in his
if
the
properly
after
the poet reflects upon past events at Heorot
endeavours. When
Beowulf has returned to the Geatish nation, we learn that Beowulf made
proper use of his strength :
There
Swa bealdode
beam Ecg?eowes,
cu?
gu?um
aefter dome;
guma
dreah
heor?geneatas;
ac he
mancynnes
godum
nealles
naes
him
maeste
daedum,
druncne
hreoh
slog
sefa,
craefte
pe him God sealde,
(11.
ginfaestan gife,
heold hildedeor.
2177-83)
who breat
by contrast, the activities of Heremod,
and
whose
/ eaxlgesteallan
(11. 1713-14),
bolgenmod
beodgeneatas,
re
we
were blodreow
that
and
remember
(1. 1719);
Hrothgar
thoughts
career to
the
misuse
of
God's
of
views Heremod's
gifts
strength
exemplify
This passage
and
recalls,
power.
Heroic
whether
strength,
it is abused
it should be noted
or
rightly
involves recognizing
the deeds produced
attributing
however,
used.
here,
The
is considered
proper
use
of
a
one's
gift of God
strength,
it is God's
gift and consequently
to
that
the
grace of God. Thus,
by
gift
that
170
Tietjen
Beowulf
his success
credits God with
the treasure
in winning
from the
dragon:
Ic Sara
Frean
fraetwa
ealles
wordum
Wuldurcyninge
Sane,
secge,
ecum Dryhtne,
pe ic her on starie,
?5e ic moste
J^aes
aer
swyltdaege
minum
leodum
(11. 2794-98)
gestrynan.
swyle
The achievements
of Beowulf,
then, are in accordance with both the
heroic ideal of personal strength, and with the Christian view that victory
over evil is
a combination
of the efforts of man and the
accomplished
by
us
of
The
while
God.
tells
that,
grace
poet
fighting with Grendel, Beo
:
in
wulf kept inmind msegenes
and
addition
strenge,
put his trust in God
he
maegenes
gemunde
ond
are
to Anwaldan
him
strenge,
Se him God
gimfaeste gife,
frofre ond fultum;
gehnaegde helle gast.
sealde,
gelyfde,
?y he J)one feond ofercwom,
(11.
1270-74)
A combination
of heroic valour and Christian grace is also evident in the
comment
that Grendel would have killed many more of Hrothgar's
poet's
thanes, nef ne him witig God ivyrd forstode / ond Saes mannes mod
( 11.
of heroic and Christian
ideals is perhaps most
1056-57 ). This co-existence
seen
clearly
in Beowulf's
encounter
with
wulf's strength (which is in this instance
the power of God protect his life:
Grendel's
Haefde 8a forsi?od
sunu EcgjDeowes
under
Geata
nemne
gynne
herenet
grund,
him heaSobyrne
halig
gefremede,
God
(11.
geweold wigsigor.
It is God who enables Beowulf
me
mother's
geuSe
dwelling:
Beo
cempa,
helpe
ond
hearde,?
Both
mother.
with his armour ) and
connected
1550-54)
to see the sword on the wall of Grendel's
/ past ic on wage geseah
ylda Waldend,
eacen (11. 1661-63);
own
vet :t *sBeowulf's
wlitig hangian / ealdsweord
use the sword
a
strength that enables him to
against Grendel's mother,
sword mare donne aenig mon oder / to beadulace
aetberan meahte
(11.
1560-61).
In Beowulf,
far
God's
from
the pagan
referable
being
grace,
as
the
case
ideals of personal
to
might
sin
the
be
of
in a
pride
poem
prowess
and
with
and earthly
therefore
a more
at
orthodox
fame are
odds
with
Chris
a
view. Rather, personal
strength is gift of God, and if it is
men are rewarded with
used
victory in battle and as a conse
properly
quence gain earthly renown. It is therefore not out of keeping with the
Christian
Beowulf's
death, the
aspects of the poem that, in mourning
tian world
God, Fate, and the Hero of Beowulf
171
eahtodan
demdon
/ duguSum
(11.
eorlscipe ond his ellenweorc
was
affirm
and
that
he
the
of
all
the
3173-74),
lofgeornost
kings of the
world. Beowulf's
deeds of valour and his achievement
of earthly fame
are the proof that his activities have been blessed with the grace and
guidance of God.
Geats