Beowulf - Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia

peasants, namely the marriage between Olaf Feilan and Alfdis of Barra in the saga
about Aud, but archaeological finds like Helgö and Borg in Lofoten with their
guldgubbar confirm the evidence of texts on lower social level, i.e., the levels where
petty cheiftains and peasants belong.
Displays of luxury play an important role in the texts. Luxury may be the house
itself, as the description of Heorot shows, but it is mainly expressed in the splendid
gifts bestowed upon worthy heroes. In the archaeological record the houses may
also be impressive, but otherwise the display of luxury was through the smashed
glasses, which must have represented a considerable value. Glasses are not explicitly
mentioned in the texts, but toasting and drinking are inherent in the display of luxury
and the reward theme.
The centrality of the building is naturally very important in the texts. Beowulf is
absorbed with the hall as the centre of the kingdom, and one is struck by Venantius’
expression that the hall ‘gets its eyes back’ and the peculiar light, its serenity, when
Lupus returns after his victory over the Saxons and Danes. This indicates that the hall
is the head of the kingdom. In the archaeological record the centrality is visible at
Vallhagar, but also at Borg in Lofoten, at Gudme and at Wijster, not to mention Old
Uppsala. At the same time it goes without saying that those who visit the hall must be
a very small number of people in comparison with the whole population of a given
area.
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Hall Talk
Goodness is a metaphor for kingly behaviour, and the hall its focal point as well as
the centre of royalty as an institution. This means that all the aspects of aristocratic
life which take place outside the hall are treated in the hall, and several of the primary
functions of kingship and aristocracy are also carried out there. In the long perspective
life in the hall develops from a distinctly private and informal institution into a
public and also more clearly formal one. This development goes hand in hand with
the formation of the aristocratic group and its retainers. Hall society is a selection of
people representing all the worthwhile inhabitants of the kingdom, and with this constellation
of people it is natural that the whole life of society should be processed in
this room. Most of the actions in the hall are about what has happened or will happen
in the outside world, but eventually hall actions become relevant in a public sense and
thus also part of the outside world, which was originally only informally commented
upon in the private circle of the rich farmer and his closest family. That is to say that
some of the truly aristocratic virtues are exported to the rest of society if not always
as a pure fashion then as at least as a social norm or as rules.
Parallel to this large-scale development there is a shift in the character of hall
society. To begin with it is mainly a forum for the formation of the individual, for