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Beowulf and the Permutations of a Germanic Legend: the Incarnations of Ingeld Across Germanic Literature and Culture

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Beowulf and the Permutations of a Germanic Legend: the Incarnations of Ingeld Across Germanic Literature and Culture BEOWULF AND THE PERMUTATIONS OF A GERMANIC LEGEND: THE INCARNATIONS OF INGELD ACROSS GERMANIC LITERATURE AND CULTURE A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Edward Currie December 2018 © 2018 Edward Currie BEOWULF AND THE PERMUTATIONS OF A GERMANIC LEGEND: THE INCARNATIONS OF INGELD ACROSS GERMANIC LITERATURE AND CULTURE Edward Currie, Ph.D. Cornell University 2018 This dissertation examines the varying uses and contexts of the legend of Ingeld, a key figure across a range of Germanic literature and culture whose manipulation by the poet of Beowulf remains one of the most cryptic yet crucial allusions in that poem. His appearance in Old English verse is perhaps most familiar to scholars, but he is also represented significantly in Saxo Grammaticus’s Gesta Danorum (“Deeds of the Danes”), and in Snorri Sturluson’s Ynglingasaga (“Saga of the Ynglings”). No sustained evaluation of this figure’s varying facets or crucial role in displaying the different agendas of each of these works has yet appeared. The thematic innovations of authors on traditional narratives about Ingeld, who is a young ruler influenced by an old counselor, not only reveal authors’ rhetorical purposes, but also betray their ideological positions. Studying the narratives of Ingeld offers us the opportunity to puzzle out the variety and sophistication of medieval authors’ transformations and adaptations of legendary narratives according to various value systems and political intentions. Chapter 1 analyzes how the Beowulf poet took a traditional tale of Ingeld and put it to new use in order to educate his audience; we also investigate the influence of the author’s religious views on the representation of martial heroism. Proceeding chronologically, chapter 2 examines how the Danish author of the Gesta Danorum, Saxo Grammaticus, restores glory to martial heroism in order to create an ancient past of grand Danish warriors that never existed. His most ambitious episode features the old counselor Starcatherus converting the young King Ingellus to heroism in order to protect the Danish throne from the foreign Saxon threat: unlike the Beowulf poet, who writes chiefly in the exemplary mode, Saxo makes patriotism the principal value of his work. Chapter 3 considers the representations of Ingeld and Starkad in Iceland, where the two appear separately. Ingeld is changed into an explicitly “ill-advised” politician because Snorri Sturluson depicts the dark political behavior of the pagan past, featuring the most negative version of the ruler. The old soldier Starkad is not consequential at the court of the famous prince, as in previous versions, but rather as a travelling warrior. The literary trend of valuing the Viking way of life (i.e. “Viking romanticism”) influenced Starkad’s portrait in Gautreks Saga. The complicated interplay between the themes and values of traditional narratives and authorial innovations is discussed at length in this chapter. This dissertation concludes by considering reasons for the scholarly neglect of Ingeld, and reviews the “Ingeld digression” of Beowulf. By means of its analogues we reconstruct and interpret the crucial moment of Ingeld’s legend—namely, how advice inspires his transformation into a hero—which the English poet reworked; thus, though he is anonymous, we gain insights into the author’s method, cast of mind, and the creation of the finest poem in Old English. iii BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Edward Currie received his Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from Cornell University in 2018. He received an M.A. in Medieval Studies from Cornell in 2016 and an M.A. in English from Stony Brook University in 2010. He received a B.A. in English in 2008 from Stony Brook University. iv For my loving brother William. My first and finest friend. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to my committee for their help with this dissertation, and for my graduate training at Cornell. Each member has contributed to my academic growth over the years. Dr. Thomas D. Hill guided me through Beowulf in Old English, and his lectures on Old Norse sagas opened my eyes to new texts. His linguistic abilities have been inspiring, particularly in the Old Norse Reading Group. He struck a balance between advising me and granting me the freedom to work independently. Dr. Samantha Zacher advised me on the whole structure of my dissertation, and pointed me to important primary texts as well as secondary scholarship. After I defended my dissertation, her enthusiasm for my project and her stimulating ideas for future revisions immediately inspired me to think further about it. Dr. Andrew Galloway taught a captivating course on Chaucer, in which he stressed the importance of historical context for interpreting narratives. His approach to literary study influenced my own. Dr. Andrew Hicks skillfully taught me how to navigate the intimidating terrain of Latin literature and medieval paleography. I am thankful to both scholars for carefully reading my dissertation. Dr. Wayne Harbert, who was not on my committee, nevertheless shaped my career in his fascinating courses on Germanic Philology. In his class, “The Structures of Old English,” I studied the Ingeld Episode of Beowulf, and made my first attempt to interpret it. I owe infinite thanks to Dr. Joaquín Martínez Pizarro, who introduced me to medieval literature (and to many other literatures) at Stony Brook University. I cannot exaggerate the high quality of his instruction. His influence on my decision to pursue an academic career was decisive. My family has encouraged and assisted me over the years in innumerable ways. I am very grateful for the support of my parents. They were my first teachers, and I could not ask for a better education. My mother has encouraged me with immense love. My sister has been a bright light even in the darkest of times. My Nouná, who surrounds herself with knowledge, has promoted the value of education all my life. To my wife Angelica I owe more than I can express. Her remarkable dedication remained unwavering during the trials and tribulations of graduate study. Her love kept me going. Ti amo tantissimo. I would like to thank all the students I had the pleasure of teaching at Cornell. It was a real privilege not only to instruct them, but also to learn from them. My interest in literature was renewed by every class I taught. I must also acknowledge the friends I made at Cornell. Kaylin O’Dell, Mandy Albert, Natasha Binek, Ruth Mullett, Hannah Byland, and others, provided me with advice and support at critical moments. Cornell University has provided much in the way of support for my academic endeavors. Most of my dissertation was written during the academic year 2017-2018, which was possible because vi the university awarded me a Sage Dissertation Fellowship. I hope this dissertation repays such generous assistance. The staff at Olin Library, especially Patrick Stevens and Virginia Cole, have been very helpful in locating the scholarship I needed to carry out my work. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Biographical Sketch………………………………………………………………………… iii Dedication………………………………………………………………………………...… iv Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………………….. v-vi Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………. 1 Chapter 1: The Transmission and Reinterpretation of Heroic Legends in Anglo-Saxon England……………………………………………………………………………………… 21 Chapter 2 : Ingellus Meets Starcatherus: The Return of Martial Heroism in Saxo’s Gesta Danorum…………………………………………………………………………………….. 74 Chapter 3: Icelandic Transformations: Ingjald the Ill-Advised and Starkaðr the Viking………………………………………………………………………………………… 136 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………. 175 Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………………... 183 1 Introduction Ne meahton we gelæran leofne þeoden, rices hyrde ræd ænigne, þæt he ne grette goldweard þone.1 We could not advise the beloved prince, The guardian of the kingdom, any advice [give him], So that he would not attack the gold-guardian [i.e. the dragon]. These words spoken by Wiglaf, king Beowulf’s nephew, refer to the decision of the heroic ruler to fight a fiery dragon, resulting in the monarch’s death. Larry D. Benson believes that Wiglaf speaks for the “Beowulf-poet and his audience who live in post-heroic times, and who now look back to assess critically the value of the heroic age that has passed.”2 In this heroic age, “Beowulf scorns the advice, as a hero must; but, as a result, many a man suffers ruin from ‘anes willan.’”3 Because he ignores the ræd of his companions, his kingdom is left without their strong ruler and thus open to attack and destruction by enemy tribes. The noun ræd and the verb rædan are derived from the same root.4 In the most recent edition of Beowulf the word ræd is defined in the glossary as advice, help, and counsel and rædan as to advise, to explain, but also to control, to possess, and to rule.5 Nicholas Howe points out that the etymological note in the second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary explains that rædan and its Germanic cognates share the principal meanings of "to give advice or counsel," "to exercise control over something," and "to explain something obscure" (s.v. read).6 1 Klaeber's Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg: Fourth Edition, eds. R.D. Fulk, Robert E. Bjork, and John D. Niles, (University of Toronto Press: 2008), lines 3079-81. 2 “The Originality of Beowulf” in Contradictions: from Beowulf to Chaucer: selected studies of Larry D. Benson, eds. Theodore M. Andersson and Stephen A. Barney, (Scolar Press, 1995), p. 67. 3 Ibid. 4 A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, J.R. Clark Hall (University of Toronto Press: 1960, s.v. ræd, rædan, p. 276). 5 For example, God is referred to as "rædend" (ruler) in Beowulf in line 1555. 6 Nicholas Howe, "The Cultural Construction of Reading in Anglo-Saxon England," pp. 4-5, in Old English Literature: Critical Essays, ed.
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