The Literary Genre of Beowulf

Beowulf is an Epic: A long narrative poem in elevated style. It presents a character of high degree and describes important events that have a national, worldwide, or cosmic setting. (The Odyssey, the Star Wars films, etc.). Traditionally, epics came from oral cultures, were passed down orally, and were of importance to a nation. With the spread of literacy and writing, single authors began to write epics. Most epics have the following characteristics:

• An epic hero of imposing stature and who is meaningful as a legend or historical figure

• His/her actions take place on a grand scale and are important nationally, internationally, or worldwide

• The action consists of a great deed( s) requiring superhuman courage and perhaps superhuman strength

• Supernatural forces (gods, angels, demons) are involved or interested in the action

• The style is grand and elevated 

Background on the Poem Beowulf

• It is generally held to be the first great narrative poem (it is 3,182 lines in length), in the English language.

• It survives with other, unrelated works in a single manuscript, referred to as the Nowell Codex (Cotton Vitellius A.xv in the British Library); it does not have a name in the manuscript, but is referred to universally as Beowulf after its main character.

• It is written in Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon), an early form of the English language that was spoken in England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. It is a West Germanic language and therefore is similar to Old Frisian and Old Saxon. It is also quite similar to Old Norse (and by extension, to modern Icelandic).  This is English as it was spoken and written before and immediately after the Norman Conquest of Britain in 1066, when French and classical influences began to alter the language.

• It is thought by many scholars to be originally an oral story guessed to have been written down around 1000 by two anonymous scribes (given the evidence of two different handwriting styles).  For much of the twentieth century, there was agreement among most scholars that the poem itself dated back to the eighth century, but in recent debate some scholars have asserted a later date of composition, but there is no agreement as to how late.  Also, there is debate over whether the poem in its entirety is indeed oral in origin; certainly many of the stories recorded within it were passed down orally for centuries, but the complexities in the craftsmanship of the poem have been used by some scholars to suggest that the poem as we have it is literate in origin (i.e., composed in written form).

• Deducing what we can from what is datable in the poem, the hero, Beowulf, would have been born near the end of the fifth century and would have died late in the sixth century, so, even with the debate about the date of composition, the author is looking back at what would have even then seemed the distant past.

• The various people described in the poem are located in Scandinavia or northern Germany, the regions from which the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians migrated to England.  There are no Englishmen or Englishwomen mentioned in the poem, but to the English of the time, Germania was looked at as a "mother of nations," with England one of her progeny.

• The main plot surrounds a warrior-hero named Beowulf and his men. They are from a tribe called the Geats (pronounced yai-ots), a tribe  that inhabited what is today southern Sweden. They have crossed the ocean to Denmark to help a tribe called the Scyldings (pronounced Shildings), ruled by King Hrothgar (a figure well known to several early Scandinavian writers).  The Scyldings are being eaten and killed by an evil monster called Grendel.

• The story captures customs, traditions, and values of the Anglo-Saxon Society, but with commentary and digressions that also reflect a Christian perspective.

Life in the Times of Beowulf

Though this Anglo-Saxon work seems to chronicle the life of a Viking people, as opposed to the Germanic Anglo-Saxons, these cultures were close enough for the cultures to be interchangeable. The following aspects of Anglo-Saxon society include the following (from "The Invaders of Early Britain"): 

• Each tribe had their own king.

• They built walled farms and wood-hut villages.

• They used bronze and iron tools and grew crops.

• They also warred with each other.

• Since war was always a possibility, life was unstable and often violent.

• Warriors were loyal to a king and would fight to the death for him; surrender was cowardly.

• These were oral cultures (there was no writing or recorded history).

• They were pagans, worshipping many gods.

Additional Notes on Anglo-Saxon Culture

• The mead-hall was very important. Within the tribal cluster of wooden buildings surrounded by a strong wooden fence stood the mead-hall. Here the lord or king would gather his warriors (called thanes) to eat, drink mead, pass out gifts and treasure, and renew the oath-bonds between himself and his men.  (Mead is a fermented alcoholic beverage made of honey, water, and yeast. It was also called "honey wine." It was popular in the Anglo Saxon and Viking cultures and in medieval Europe and England.) In the mead-hall, they were entertained by a scop. Since these structures were constructed primarily of wood, we have only a few archeological samples that survive to provide examples.  We know from descriptions in Anglo-Saxon texts that they were filled with mead-benches, which were elaborately carved and decorated with gold.  Words such as "horn-gapped" (an example of a kenning) may imply architectural features, or they may imply that the hall was decorated with the horns of stags and other trophy animals.

• The scop (pronounced "shope") was a poet/story teller/historian.  His role was very important.  Besides telling a story, his job was to retell current and past events--to record, remember, and retell history all from the record of his mind. Fame and honor meant a lot to these people; it was the scop’s job to preserve a record of their achievements for later generations.

• Among the Anglo-Saxons, a thane  was a particular type of warrior who vowed to fight for his lord (called a hlaford) and die in his service.  He was also supposed to avenge his lord's death if that lord was killed. 

• A hlaford (from Anglo-Saxon hlaf+ord, "loaf-leader" or "loaf-giver") was a warrior chieftain who was served by a number of loyal warriors.  In Beowulf, Hrothgar is the hlaford of Heorot, and Weoltheow is the hlafdig, a hlaford’s wife. 

• Comitatus (Latin: "companionship" or "band") is the term used to describe the tribal structure of the Anglo-Saxons and other Germanic tribes, in which groups of men would swear fealty to a hlaford (lord) in exchange for food, mead, and “heriot,” the loan of fine armor and weaponry. The men who swore such an oath were called thanes, and they vowed to fight for their lord in battle.  It was considered a shameful disaster to outlive one's own lord.  The comitatus was the functional military and government unit of early Anglo-Saxon society.  The term was first coined by the classical historian Tacitus when he described the Germanic tribes north of Rome.

• The beot (Anglo-Saxon: "vow"; becomes Modern English "boast")  was ritualized boast or vow made publicly by Anglo-Saxon warriors known as thegns before the hlaford in a mead-hall the night before a military engagement.  A typical warrior's boast might be that he would be the first to strike a blow in the coming battle, that he would kill a particular enemy champion, that he would not take a single step backward in retreat during the battle, that he would claim a renowned sword from an enemy warrior as booty, and so on.  This vow or boast was often accompanied by stories of his past glorious deeds.  While Christianized medieval culture disdained boasting as a sign of arrogance or sinful pride, the pagan Anglo-Saxons valued such behavior.  The beot was not so much a negative sign of arrogance as a positive sign of determination and character.  Examples of the beot can be seen throughout Beowulf, such as when Beowulf vows to fight Grendel without using any weapons.

• Flyting is an extended and vigorous verbal exchange that, in Old English poetry, was a boasting match between warriors, usually before combat.  It involved a contest of wits and insults.  Each tried to demonstrate his superior vocabulary, cleverness, and bravery. The verbal rivalry between Unferth and Beowulf in Beowulf is an example.

• Wyrd is a word meaning something like fate, but the word comes from a root meaning "past"; thus, the emphasis is on fate derived from one's past actions.

• Wergild (lit. "Man-Gold) was part of the legal system of many Germanic tribes, including the Anglo-Saxons. This tradition allowed an individual and his family to make amends for a crime by paying a fine known as wergild to the family of another man whom he had injured or killed. The price varied, depending upon the nature of the injury and the status of the injured man.

• Another important fact to remember about the style of Beowulf is the matter of ancestry. The writer of Beowulf often mentions details that do not seem to relate to the main plot, mainly commentary on ancestors: “son of...”; so-and-so’s “thane”). This is done for a few reasons:

  • As an oral marker--stories were often told in more than one sitting. The scop might leave off on one spot and repeat some information the next day to remind listeners where he left off.

  • As a retelling of history and a chronicle of ancestry. When the writer mentions relationships (i.e. calling Beowulf “Hygelac’s thane” in line 131 or calling Hrothgar “the son of Healfdene” in line 125) he may do this to remind listeners of who came from where and who is related to whom. They had no writing or history books to chronicle these things. Being remembered was very important in Anglo-Saxon society.

  • To keep rhythm. The scop told the poem to a beat, rhythm, and with alliteration. Words may be shortened or elongated for this purpose.

• The Vikings and Anglos-Saxons had "fame/shame" cultures (the anthropological term for a culture in which masculine behavior revolves around a code of martial honor).  These cultures embody the idea of "death before dishonor."  Such civilizations often glorify military prowess and romanticize death in battle.  Typically, such a society rewards men who display bravery by (a) engaging in risk-taking behavior to enhance one's reputation, (b) facing certain death in preference to accusations of cowardice, and (c) displaying loyalty to one's king, chieftain, liege lord, or other figure in the face of adversity.  Those in power may reward such brave followers with land, material wealth, or social status, but the most important and most typical reward is fame or a good reputation.  This is important to consider when reading Beowulf and interpreting men's words and behavior. Especially in fatalistic fame/shame cultures, fame is the most valuable reward since it alone will exist after a hero's death.  Just as such cultures reward bravery, loyalty, and martial prowess with the promise of fame, they punish cowardice, treachery, and weakness in battle  with the threat of shame and mockery.  A fame/shame culture is only successful in regulating behavior when an individual's fear of shame outweighs the fear of death.  This dichotomy of fame/shame serves as a carrot and stick to regulate behavior in an otherwise chaotic and violent society.  

Main Characters in Beowulf

• Beowulf is the hero. He is a Geat who leads his band of warriors to find and kill Grendel.

• Grendel is the man-monster who raids Hrothgar’s mead-hall, eating his people.

• Hrothgar is the King of the Scyldings in Denmark.

• Hygelac is the King of the Geats (Beowulf’s king back in Sweden).

• Unferth is one of Hrothgar’s thanes; he questions Beowulf’s strength and ability.

• Wealhtheow is Hrothgar’s wife.

Important Relationships to Remember for Understanding:

• Son of Ecgtheow--Beowulf (also called Hygelac’s thane)

• Son of Ecglaf--Unferth (also called Hrothgar’s herald)

• Son of Healfdene--Hrothgar 

Characteristics of Anglo-Saxon Poetry (Demonstrating the Skill and Style of the Scop)

• Digressions temporary departures from the main subject in speaking or writing) are also significant in Beowulf. As you read it, ask yourself what these are developed through the narrator's digressions.