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Reading the Sword As Text in Beowulf Following

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Reading the Sword As Text in Beowulf Following Snow 1 Jennifer Snow Dr. Tison Pugh ENL 5006 March 21, 2005 Tempered Legends: Reading the Sword as Text in Beowulf Following Beowulf’s defeat of Grendel, in gratitude, King Hrothgar (ever respectful of the social-code governing relations between a lord and his thanes) gifts Beowulf with several items, whose images are consistently present throughout the text, both in isolation and in conjunction with each other. These items become linked, functioning as both practical use-objects and symbols in the text, and are presented to Beowulf at Herod in complete “battle-gear kit” fashion: “a gold standard as a victory gift, an embroidered banner; also breast-mail and a helmet; and a sword carried high, that was both precious object and token of honor” (Heaney 53). The objective value of the swords in Beowulf is evaluated by the practical use-value, and a combination of the materials used and the construction, or crafting, of those materials. In the above example, the sword functions materially as a “tool of the trade” for Beowulf the warrior and also as an object of exchange, for services rendered. The services rendered by warriors in the text directly correlate to the acquisition and defense of the material resources of lord/king and kin, and thus the strengthening of the (paternally-oriented) ancestral line of the landed classes, both royal and noble. The above-mentioned strength is measured in terms of dominance over resources, especially land, and corresponds to the rise of nationhood. In this way, the practical functions of the sword in the poem are consistent with the symbolic value assigned to it. Snow 2 This essay examines the various swords carried or wielded by Beowulf, and finds their symbolic values to lie in the celebration of the values of Germanic kinship and kingship, tempered (as is a sword in the literal sense) by the values of Christianity. The poem is set in the Germanic countries of the 6th century, so these swords bear witness to both historic and heroic episodes (with significant mythological qualities), episodes that celebrate ancestral lineage as an institution, and an awareness of ancestry within a historical framework. Each sword in the text can be read as a text with its own lineage, a lineage which is intimately tied to the (inter-)ancestral history of the various tribes portrayed in the poem. When Beowulf returns to Geatland, he (in accordance with his responsibilities dictated by social custom) presents King Hygelac with each of his acquisitions (in the same order in which they had been presented to him by the Danes). In compliance with Hrothgar’s instructions, Beowulf gives Hygelac an account of this war-gear: it belonged to Hrothgar’s older brother, King Herogar, who never bequeathed the items to his son, Heoroward, worthy (Beowulf notes) as he was. In this set of events, the Danish and Geatish swords function symbolically as alliance-builders, of no little significance in a climate of constant tribal warfare involving multiple factions. Indeed, before his departure home, Beowulf promises to be at Hrothgar’s aid with a thousand thanes should he hear that people at his borders are threatening battle. And, although not stated by the poet, we can easily speculate that the motivation behind Beowulf’s trip to Daneland were to forge an alliance between the Geats and the Danes. Prior to his battle against Grendel’s mother, the Dane Unferth loans Beowulf a sword called Hrunting. It is described as an heirloom possessing fabulous powers, which Snow 3 had been called upon in numerous heroic feats and had never failed the person wielding it (however, Hrunting subsequently fails Beowulf in his battle with Grendel’s mother). Perhaps as a return-gesture, Beowulf (should he die in battle against Grendel’s mother) bequeaths to Unferth his own patterned, “wave-sheened wonder-blade” (Heaney 65), mentioning that he himself has inherited it. In these cases, we again see the sword as solidarity-builder, and the sword as an item inherited across tribes/nations. This point of transaction evokes Unferth’s losing fame as a coward who avoids battle (a point which Beowulf is quick to mention earlier in the text), contrasted by the glorification of Beowulf as the more competent swordsman and embodiment of the heroic ideal. After Beowulf returns from Daneland, King Hygelac gives him a sword that belonged to Beowulf’s grandfather, King Hrethel: “it was the best example of a gem- studded sword in the Geat treasury. This he laid on Beowulf’s lap and then rewarded him with land as well, seven thousand hides; and a hall and a throne.” (Heaney 79). With increased land/hides comes an increased responsibility to the king in terms of troops and other provisions supporting the king’s wars. Here, the sword represents a confirmation of Beowulf’s royal lineage, and indicates (as a “token of acceptance”) Beowulf’s new legitimacy as a warlord- a gesture accompanied by an implied call to arms associated with this reciprocal, mutually beneficial (albeit unequal) relationship. This analysis in strengthened by invoking the example of Dazzle-the-Duel, a sword placed in the lap of a Danish king, functioning as a symbol of Danish retribution against the Frisians. Hrethel’s sword, too, signifies a call to Beowulf to engage in Hygelac’s vindictive campaign against the Frisians. Additionally, this example also supports my argument Snow 4 concerning the objectives behind Beowulf’s aid to the Danes being immediately related to forging an alliance. Naegling is the sword that was acquired by Beowulf during or before the time in which he killed Dayraven the Frank, shortly after Hygelac falls to the Frisians. Just before going to battle with the dragon, Beowulf says: “I shall fight like that for as long as I live, as long as this sword shall last, which has stood me in good stead late and soon, ever since I killed Dayraven the Frank in front of the two armies” (Heaney 85). Naegling represents the humiliation (public humiliation, in this case) of defeat, and the rewards of victory in battle (the sword itself is a looted reward for this victory). Here we see Beowulf associate his fate with fate of his sword, and thus with the fate of his tribe, his ancestral line. Beowulf, failed by Hrunting, is nearly killed by Grendel’s revenge-seeking mother, “had the strong links and locks of his war-gear not helped to save him: Holy God decided the victory. It was easy for the Lord…to redress the balance once Beowulf got back up on his feet. Then he saw a blade that boded well, a sword in her armory, an ancient heirloom from the days of giants” (Heaney 66). Both the narrator of the poem and the poem’s hero indicate that it was God who allowed Beowulf to behold this “well- boding” weapon. Beowulf’s objective in this instance, the death of Grendel’s mother, is thus aligned with the will of God and becomes the product of divine intervention. After Beowulf severs the heads off of both Grendel’s and his mother’s bodies with this sword, it begins to “wilt into gory icicles to slather and thaw. It was a wonderful thing, the way it all melted as ice melts when the Father eases the fetters off the frost and unravels the water-ropes, He who wields power over time and tide: He is the true Lord” Snow 5 (Heaney 67). Here, another alliance between Beowulf and the Christian God is forged by the poet. This alliance between the Pagan (but Royal) hero and god becomes strengthened when examined in conjunction with the symbolism contained on the hilt that corresponds to this sword. This Hilt, presented as a victory gift to Hrothgar, is embossed with jewels, rune symbols, and gold inlay. This portion of the sword reveals that the weapon was made for the Giants, and depicts how God extinguishes the tribe of Giants by flood after they suffer a severance from him. Not only does the episode surrounding this sword signify these murders as Beowulf doing the work of god, it further works to demonize Grendel’s kin (and thus deify Beowulf and his kin). Additionally, this sword depicts retribution for Danish losses, as well as a defense against Grendel’s mother’s vengeance-based attack against her son’s killer. Exacting compensation of the death of kin (through the system of Wergild and revenge-killings) is the driving force behind most of the violence occurring in the poem. In the play, Wergild is portrayed as a forum or battleground in which lands are conquered and fortunes looted. The sword in this example signifies this cycle of violence as God’s design, as war comes into the world by God seeking revenge. This system of justice becomes morally legitimized (although portrayed as often futile) by the poet, and in exacting revenge against wrongs committed against his kin (or allies) Beowulf follows in the footsteps of both his (ancestral) father, but (God) the Father as well. Naegling fails Beowulf in his battle against the dragon, in a strikingly similar (during attempted blows to the head) fashion to the failure of the sword, Hrunting, used against Grendel’s mother. Both adversaries possess supernatural powers which are associated with evil by the poet. Both Hrunting and Naegling are considered to be Snow 6 “lucky,” having magical properties and legends associated with them. Their famed invincibility acts, to the Pagan warriors assigning these attributes to them, as a testament to the superiority of those who handle and craft them.
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