Untitled - California State University, Long Beach

ymbesittendra ænig ðara,
þe mec guðwinum. (2729-2735)
[Now I would give my son / the battle-garment were I given the
guardian of an heir / from my body. I kept this nation / fifty
winters. Never the king / of a neighboring people, not any dared
/ greet with armies, awe or threaten [the Geats]]
Even in this speech, in what should be a reflection on his lack of an
heir or an attempt to provide guidance to his remaining thanes, Beowulf
reiterates the power of his rule, that no other king would dare to attack
the Geats while he lived. Beowulf, then, completely disregards the pattern
of kingly behavior exhibited in the text in favor of his own glory-seeking,
leaving his nation leaderless without his reputation to protect them.
While Beowulf focuses on masculine bonds and building his own
reputation as a fierce warrior, he refuses to acknowledge the necessary
matrilineal and feminine contributions to his own culture. Beowulf, the
man, may be content to live without a mother or queen, but Beowulf,
the king, requires a desire to continue and build glory in his mother’s
bloodline as well as a queen to weave peace for the betterment of his
people. When Beowulf disregards these aspects of his culture, he fails
spectacularly as a king and dies, leaving his tribe alone to be conquered
by the Swedes.
_________________________
Notes
1
In “Traffic of Women in Germanic Languages: The Role of the Peace Pledge in Marital
Exchanges.” Jamison outlines the four ways that peace pledges can interact within their
marriages: 1. being an object 2. being seen as a threat 3. becoming a kingmaker or 4.
rebelling and seeking vengeance on her new kin (14).
2
In “Beowulf and the Wills: Traces of Totemism?,” Glosecki argues that the skeleton of a
matrilineal kinship structure remains in Germanic cultures and that the Beowulf poet
has subscribed primogeniture (which was gaining prominence during the time that
Beowulf was composed) into the poem when, in fact, the kinship structure of the time
the actual events of Beowulf were taking place bears more relationship to the Crow
kinship system of tribal groups (where a matrilineal succession is valued).
3
Translations are my own with a focus on literal meaning.
4
References to Beowulf being Ecgþeow’s son are found in lines 263, 373, 529, 631,
1383, 1465, 1473, 1550, 1651, 1808, 1817, 1999, 2179, 2367, 2398, 2425, 2587.
Most notably, in line 2367, Beowulf is linked to Ecgþeow when Hygd offers him
Hygelac’s throne.
5
In “Beowulf’s Tears of Fatherhood,” Dockray-Miller examines masculinity in Beowulf,
specifically through the lens of Hroþgar’s leadership. She suggests that Hroþgar “adopts”
Beowulf as a way of regaining some of his lost masculine economy, but is ultimately
rejected by Beowulf because he can no longer exert that kind of masculine influence.
In her discussion, Ongenþeow is presented in contrast to Hroþgar’s failed leadership.
6
In “The Female Mourner at Beowulf’s Funeral: Filling in the Blanks/Hearing the
Spaces.” Bennett, through this article, wants to examine what would happen if we
let the absences in the Beowulf manuscript dictate our interpretations rather than
prescribing meaning onto the text because we desire a text that is “complete, closed,
[and] authorized” (36), an argument that allows for readings absences in the text as I
have done here.
7
Klaeber notes in his edition the problems with the deteriorated manuscript at this
section. Chickering also notes in his translation that the manuscript is ripped at this
line and the multitudes of options offered by translators are “conjecture” (240).
8
Wealhþeo, Hygd, Hildeburh and Modþryth are all described in ornamental terms,
usually adorned in gold. The Geatish woman is purely anonymous is description except
for her hair, tightly bound on her head.
74 | Sevi
Sevi | 75