Untitled - California State University, Long Beach

Ongenþeow are presented to us as peace-keepers who are focused on the
preservation of their communities, Beowulf falls well short of the mark.
Beowulf continually disregards the tenets of community, especially the
acknowledgement of his matrilineal relationships and refusal to provide
for his people a queen, instead focusing on his own glory-building and
quests for treasure. Robert Morey points out that Beowulf seems “married
to the eorlscipe he enacts among the Danes” (493). While Morey argues
this due to the fact that Beowulf is feminized in the narrative, I would
argue that it is because Beowulf is more devoted to causes outside his
home-tribe (we see no act on Beowulf’s behalf comparable to his battle
with Grendel, which restores peace in the Danish community, even as his
own people suffer with increasing feudal wars), rather than focusing on
the necessary community building efforts within his own people due to a
lack of regard for his mother’s kin. Wiglaf, Beowulf’s trusted companion,
delivers a speech that allows us to see Beowulf’s decision making process
at the end of his life:
‘Oft sceall eorl monig anes willan
wræc adreogan, swa us geworden is.
Ne meahton we gelæron leofne þeoden,
rices hyrde ræd ænigne,
þaet he ne grette goldweard þone,
lete hyne licgean þær he longe wæs,
wicum wunian oð woruldene;
heold on heahgesceap. Hord ys gesceawod. (3075-3084)
[Often many men shall endure misery / for the will of one, so
became us. / We could not teach or advise our well-loved king,
/ by not any counsel the guardian of the realm / that he might
not attack the guardian of the gold / might allow him to lie
low where he long was / to reside in settlement as far as the end
of the world, / Guarded in destiny. What is hidden, hoard, is
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Wiglaf in no uncertain terms claims that Beowulf’s decision to go against
the dragon was selfish. Beowulf refuses to take the counsel of his men and
leaves them in “wræc” [misery], in pursuit of his own “willan” [will or
desire]. His thanes prove unworthy substitutes for the counsel of a queen;
with the lack of a queen to advise him properly, Beowulf focuses on
seeking glory for himself rather than worrying about his people who are
torn apart by his decisions and by his unwillingness to be advised. When
faced with the dragon, Beowulf’s thoughts are not with his community;
rather, his focus is on fitting into the warrior mode he envisions for
himself and gaining treasure: “eorscype efne. Ic mid elne dæle / gold
gegangan” [I must perform this warriorly deed. I with strength shall gain
gold] (2534-2535). In contrast, when Grendel attacks Heorot, Hroþgar
does not himself descend into battle against Grendel. Putting himself
directly into harm’s way while his kingdom’s future is not certain (in that
both of his sons are too young to claim the throne and his community
would therefore be put into disarray over a fight for the throne) is not
how a king excels. Similarly, Ongenþeow only descends into battle as
a last resort to save his people from certain extinction. Beowulf’s own
kingdom is in similar turmoil, given that the death of Beowulf will
almost certainly mean invasion by the Swedish. With no heir left behind,
thereby destroying his mother’s bloodline that has ruled the Geats for
several generations, the Geats have no stable, established leader to turn to
for protection. Beowulf reflects on his lack of an heir after being mortally
wounded:
Nu ic suna minum syllan wolde
guðgewædu, þær me gifeðe swa
ænig yrfeweard æfter wurde
lice gelenge. Ic ðas leode heold
fiftig wintra; næs se folccyning,
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