Beowulf - Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia

Six Narratives About the Good
There are six narratives about the good in Beowulf (Part I) . The first part itself and
five episodes within it. The inner episodes constitute the underlying current of the
good, and the use of good in the beginning and at the very end puts the inner episodes
into a framework, whereby the whole poem reveals itself as a matter of writing
about the good and what goes with it. This is a comprehensive theme since the good
is the ideal of all the positive characters of the poem. In Beowulf good is not restricted
to the battle or combat situations, although the use of force to secure the
good is vital. It therefore expands upon the notion of the word in comparison with
Maldon.
The framework surrounds the good and links it, not just to a responsible way of
living, but to the development of the civilised, i.e., Pagan, human being. Within the
framework the five episodes or narratives are supposed to make it evident why
good is used as it is in the beginning and the end of the poem. The use of good in the
end refers back to the beginning and supplies the poem with a logic related to the
development of a man through his actions.
The first narrative within the framework shows us what happens when good people
meet and how their interaction starts. In this case the meeting is caused by a crisis
for one of the good characters, the Danish King Hroðgar. The four consecutive
episodes depict the growth of the good in, two times two, typical situations.
The first of these is a contract situation in which Beowulf agrees and is allowed to
do the good by fighting the monster Grendel in order to free Hroðgar of the problem.
Beowulf succeeds. The second narrative, the speech of a woman who tries to obtain
security for her young sons, concerns goodness and peace in the family. The third
narrative is a parallel to the first with the exception that Beowulf, having engaged
himself to Hroðgar and received all kinds of gifts and the King’s goodness after
having defeated Grendel, is obliged to fulfil a new engagement to secure the results of
the first. The fourth is a parallel to the second, but it concerns peace, friendship and
reconciliation between two nations rather than within the family.
When Good People Meet
The first episode runs from verse 194 to 389 and good is used eight times. The
words are concentrated in groups (vv. 195, 199, 205; vv. 269, 279; vv. 347, 355
and v. 384) and the general feature that one good rarely comes singly does in other
words apply to this section. The narrative starts by mentioning that Beowulf has
heard of the problems that Grendel is causing in Denmark. It goes on to describe
how the hero sets out with his men and how they arrive at Denmark, where, through
negotiation, Beowulf is eventually welcomed by Hroðgar. It is the episode in which
the two leading good persons of the poem are brought together. The main purpose is
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