A comment on Beowulf : gutarnas nationalepos by Tore Gannholm Rausing, Gad Fornvännen 1995:1, 50-53 http://kulturarvsdata.se/raa/fornvannen/html/1995_050 Ingår i: samla.raa.se 50 Debatt

A Comment on Beowulf- Gutarnas nationalepos by Tore Gannholm

Together with Widsid the Lay of Beowulf is the his ancestors' gestae alive in a society depend- oldest of the surviving Norse poems. Even ing on the spöken word for its history. It is though translated several times it has long been extremely unlikely that any 9th-century Norse- out of print, as has the Gutasaga. Since they are man or Anglosaxon wrote "historical fiction", both important to our understanding of Norse fiction in the sense that the characters and the society in the Migration Age the new edition, events described were the produets of the "au- prepared by Tore Gannholm, is welcome in­ thor's" imagination. Having been composed for deed. Tore Gannholm is to be congratulated for a definite purpose the Sagas must be taken having achieved this, the following comments seriously and read critically. Their factual in­ in no way detracting from the importance of his formation must be taken seriously. Doing so, work. Tore Gannholm attempts to fit the Lay of Beo­ It seems that the Norse royal families and wulf and the heroes' actions into the history of also those of the local magnates each had a Gotland and Denmark. "family saga", listing the ancestors and their In his introduction Gannholm reminds us most important deeds, and that each of these that we still suffer badly from earlier genera­ sagas may have formed a "register" to a series tions' "Swedish-centered" historical research. of sagas recording the deeds and fätes of indi­ History was always written by the victors, the vidual heroes. One such saga, one of the very "history" of the defeated and that of conquered few to have survived, is the Lay of Beowulf. Set territories usually being ignored or even misin- in the 6th century, it has survived in one ver­ terpreted. This is true, not only of Gotland but sion only, in an Anglosaxon manuscript of the ofall those landscapes which were conquered in 9th century. Like every other Norse saga Beo­ the 17th century and also, mutatis mutandis, of wulf has been very severely criticized by histori­ those parts of the old Sweden which were löst. ans, being usually considered to be nothing but Who now knows anything about the Middle "historical fiction of the 9th century". Ages of Karelia or of Ingermanland or, for that The historical novd has a long tradition in matter, of Finland? Gannholm reminds us that Europé, flourishing already in the Middle Ages. Gotland's history must be seen as that of Got­ In the nineteenth century sir Walter Scott land and of the "gutar", the people of Gotland, turned fiction into literature, popularizing the not as part of Sweden's, at least not until after genre. Today we are so used to "historical fic­ 1645. tion", presented in paper-backs and on the TV One expression of the "Swedish-centered in­ simply to amuse the reader without the author terpretation of history" is that the period from having any ambition to be taken seriously, that the "treaty of Aivar Strabein" to the Danish we find it difficult to imagine a time when conquest of 1361 is usually interpreted as being "fiction" was an unknown concept, when daily one when Gotland "was Swedish, formed part life was so full of dangers and of opportunities of the Swedish realm". Even though the Swed­ that fiction was not necessary to satisfy the ish king at times exerted great influence in local public demand for thrills, and when legal as politics, Gotland remained an independent well as moral restraint was so limited that the "state", paying tribute to the Swedish king in men and women of each generation were more exchange for certain trade privileges. Not until than likely to witness "deeds of arms" and, 1361 did Gotland lose its independence, did the perhaps all too often, to take personal part in people of Gotland become the subjects of a such or to suffer from them. We also tend to "foreign" king. underestimate the importance of annalistic sa­ When considering Gotland, and devdop­ gas as families' and individuals' political and ments in Gotland, we must always keep the social legitimation in society, we do not under­ island's unique geographical position in mind stand every man's need to keep the memory of as well as its consequences for the islanders'

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economy. As Gannholm reminds us, Gotland on Gotland, one who probably knew how to was a very important trading centre in prehis­ prize his services. This would automaticafly toric and early historie times, one through which lead to a great part, or the greater part, of the trade flowed. The abundant archaeological ma­ trade between these coasts and the continent terial from Gotland must not make us forget passing by way of Gotland—which made the that a great part of the goods imported into the men of Gotland wealthy. island, perhaps the greater part, was reexport- Gannholm suggests that Beowulfs "real ed, and that this transit trade was one of the name" may have been Alfhere (Alvar, Avair) sources of Gotland's wealth. A great proportion and that he may have been the last king of of this trade may have been in the hands of independent Gotland. This may be true, but Gotlandic merchants and skippers, but Gotland quite literally the name, Beowulf, means 'bee- is unique in one respect, one which has prob­ wolf, i.e. one who devours the nests of bees, i.e. ably contributed to its position as a mercantile 'bear'. His parents probably called the boy centre until the compass was introduced and something like rs.s, that forgotten Norse word reasonably accurate pilots' directions became for bear which was replaced by the present noa- available: in being accessible. The coasts of name, (which really means 'the brown one'). Sweden and Finland shelter behind an extreme­ 'Bee-wolf was another noa-name. There is ly complex labyrinth of islands, islets and rocks. nothing in the Beowulf epic to suggest that its In the sailing season the prevailing winds are hero may have been the last king of indepen­ from the sea towards the land, which means dent Gotland—indeed, had such been the case that the breakers fall away from the navigatör he would have had no successors interested in of a ship approaching those coasts, being thus perpetuating his story! Neither is there any­ extremely difficult to see. By the time the mari­ thing in the poem to suggest that Beowulf con- ner can see them it is too late, his ship is already cluded a peace with the king of the Svear. among the rocks, being pounded to piéces. The Gannholm stresses the intimate connections land and the islands are of the same height, and between the Goths on the continent and the of the same colour. From the sea it is almost Gauts of Gotland, as well as the military and impossible to discern the discrete islands and to political consequences of the Heruls' return to spöt the leading marks, if any. Only very expe- Sweden. However, the archaeological material rienced pilots, such as are thouroughly familiar suggests that "Sweden" formed one polity al­ with the particular stretch of coast ahead, can ready in the Roman Iron Age, long before the find their way in. This is true not only for the time when Herul power collapsed on the Conti­ coasts of Finland and of Sweden—also the en­ nent in the late Sth century. Beowulf leaves little trance to the Bay of Riga, the Irbensund, is an doubt that the Gauts of Gotland were involved exceedingly dangerous one, winding between in the wars against Clovis' Franks, those which sandbanks far out of sight of any landmarks and ended with the collapse of the Visigothic king­ around the infamous Domesnäs, and equally dom in France. According to Procopios the the mouth of the Neva shelters behind a maze Heruls returned to Seandinavia after the col­ of shallows. lapse of the Herul state in Hungary. Gannholm The coast of Gotland is quite different, being suggests that they settled in the Mälar valley in open and easily accessible. The coastal shelf is the 6th century as "Svear", founding a Swedish dangerous, but leading marks are easy to see state, one whose rulers imitated Roman dress and to identify. In summertime the clouds över and used Roman coins. He also believes that Gotland can be seen all över the Baltic, from the surviving Ostrogoths joined them after the Poland to Äland. Long before the compass final collapse of the Ostrogothic kingdom in came into general use, ever since man first Italy. sailed the Baltic, anyone could find his way to There may of course have been an immigra­ Gotland and land on Gotland—and anyone tion to Seandinavia at this time, but the Roman sailing to Sweden, Finland, the mouth of the influence was very strong already several hun­ Neva or into the Riga Bay had to pick up a pilot dred years earlier, and the great import of East-

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Roman currency seems to coindde with the seem to have been fortified settlement sites, time of the Hun Empire in Europé. Byzantine dating from the end of the Sth and the early 6th records tell of very large payments to the Huns century. Such do not testify to a strong govern­ but little is said of such payments to the Goths. ment but to the opposite. In the Middle Ages It seems more likely that most of the gold coins private castles were built when the king could were the savings of Swedish mercenaries re­ not guarantee peace and security, and every- turned after having served with the Huns. It thing points to the majority of the hill-forts seems unlikely that any immigrants could have having been built for the very same reason. brought the "Asa-gods" north in the 6th cen­ When queen Margaretha had Consolidated her tury, since the days of the week were named for power and reestablished order she razed the them at a time when Sol Invictus was still the private castles, and it seems possible that the supreme god of the Roman pantheon, i.e. some- century or so when hillforts were built and time in the third century A.D. occupied in Seandinavia was a time when the Gannholm means that Beowulfs "weder- central kingdom had collapsed or, at least, löst geats" should be understood as "vädur-gau- a great deal of power, and that this anarchic tar", "ram-gauts", implying that Gotland's period came to an end, the "kingdom" being heraldic ram may have been the pagan island­ re-established, sometime in the 6th century. ers' totem beast. Perhaps Jordanes referred to We have always tried to draw conclusions the same people when writing of the "vagoth" concerning the course of events and concerning in Seandinavia? the development of prehistoric economy from Gannholm also assumes that the returning the graves and from the grave goods. "Rich" Heruli not only "founded" the Swedish realm graves are usually taken to prove the society of but also brought the "new" religion, with Odin the time to have been a rich one, whereas poor- and Tor as the most important gods, and that ly equipped graves are bdieved to testify to the tradition of these gods originally hailing poverty and political decline. But can this pos­ from Asia was a Herul one. But Ynglingatal and sibly be right? In mainland Sweden "rich" and the Ynglinga Saga tell a different story. The saga "poor" graves often occur on the same grave lists the Ynglinga kings up to the time of Ragn­ fields. At those times when some of the dead vald, in the 9th century. If Egil lived in lhe were buried under barrows on the grave fields early 6th century, as seems probable, Gann­ the contemporary graves under flat ground holm^ theory leaves no room for all the Yng­ seem mostly to have been rather poorly linga kings preceeding him. They may, of equipped. "Rich" graves under Ilat ground course, be apocryphal—but if so, why is Van- usually date from times when no barrows were lande's death by tetanus (and, laler, old Adils' built in the district. "Rich" graves prove cer­ death by stroke) described in so dinically cor­ tain members of society to have had the materi­ rect and detailed a männer? But if the early al means to equip their dead lavishly. "Rich" Ynglinga kings are factual the "beginning of the graves, whether under barrows or under flat story" would fall sometime in the 3rd century, ground, seem to have been the means of the which would fit the archaeological material leading families to mark their social position, to much better than does an "invasion by the acquire prestige, and they seem to occur only Heruli". Some continental Heruli probably did when, and where, the leaders in society felt the "return" to Seandinavia—but, no matter where need to mark their position. Thus, the lack of rich they originally came from, by the middle of the graves from any one period or area does not prove the 6th century the Heruli had been active on the period to have been a poor one, does not prove the society continent for about 500 years, or at least 20 to have been an "egalitarian" one. Per se, poorly generations, a time during which they had been equipped graves prove only that they were "genetically diluted". It has not been possible poorly equipped. But at any time the predomi- to pin them down by ordinary archaeological nance of simple graves lacking elaborate equip­ means! ment may equally suggest that the period was a peaceful and possibly a prosperous one, that Most of the hill-forts of continental Sweden

Fornvännen 90 11995) Debatt 53 society was stable, that no one felt the need to the island's history: the expulsion or voluntary mark his territory and his position in society. emigration of a considcrable part of the popula­ Gannholm quotes Srigley (Tor 22, 1988-89) tion, and the condusion of peace and of a trade who sees scenes from the Iliad on certain Got­ agreement with the king of the Swedes. The land "picture stones". Srigley may be right, but context puts the former tale somewhere in the it is equally possible that these pictures illus­ time of the Roman Empire, which would fit well trate certain passages in Norse tales or sagas. with the emergence of the Cherniakhov cul­ The scenes on the picturestones are like pic­ ture on the continent, that culture generally tures cut from films—unless we know the plot ascribed to the Goths, even though it is also we cannot make anything out of the pic­ possible that it reflects memories of Gotland ture—and most likely we do not know, and mercenaries taking service with the Romans. shall never know, most of the tales! To under­ Avair Strabein's trade agreement with the stand the Iron-Age pictures we must under­ Swedish king may have been conduded already stand the frame of reference, much as we can in Vendel times but there is nothing in Beowulf only understand most quotations when we to suggest that anyone on either side visualized know the context from which they have been the possibility of peace and of a trade agree­ culled. Even though the picture-stones were not ment in the early 6th century, and there is little grave-markers perhaps we should understand Gotland material, if any, in the Swedish graves some of these pictures as "kennings", as refer­ of the time. ences and pictorial "paraphrases" for events in As it is described in the Gutasaga, the general the life of dead men, for their heroic deeds? If spirit of the treaty with the Swedish king was so, to understand the pictures of such a stone much the same as that of the treaty conduded we must know the whole saga to which the with Henry the Lion in the 12th century, but it picture refers in order to be able even to guess seems likely that we would have heard of such a at the meaning of the picture-stone as a monu­ treaty with the Swedish king also from other ment. sources had it been conduded in the 12th cen­ Gannholm quotes the old hypothesis of the tury. Also the archaeological material suggests runes having been invented by the Goths on the that already in the 7th and 8th centuries Got­ Continent. At the moment it seems that the landers were active in many parts of Sweden runic alphabet was invented somewhere in and in Swedish settlements east of the Baltic. It south Seandinavia rather than in southern Eu­ seems rather likely that Avair Strabein should ropé. It is unlikely that the runes were created be dated sometime in the 7th or early Sth cen­ by learned men using several ancient alphabets tury. as a pattern—the runes were probably a literate It is interesting to note that, according to the Norse-man's modification of the alphabet with Gutasaga, the sailing season was from Valpur- which he was familiar, to fit new and unconven- gisday, May the first, to All Saints, November tional writing media. the first, and that "they (the men of Gotland) The whole question of the "Götar" has could not row across the sea (to the lands on the caused rivers of ink to flow. In actual fact there eastern shore of the Baltic) but had to await is no reference to a "göta kingdom" until well suitable winds for their crossing". into the Middle Ages, when "Sweden" was I can only agree completely with most of already well established. Only, in the ninth Gannholm's conclusions, even though I har­ century, Rimberth called Birka a "town of the bour some preconceived ideas which differ from Gothi, situated in the land of the Swedes". his. This does not mean that my preconceived Perhaps Gannholm makes a point when sug- ideas are any better than his, and I must rec- gesting that there may have been a sufficient ommend everyone interested in Scandinavian number of merchants from Gotland in the town events during the first millenium A.D. to read to make Rimberth led that the population dif­ the book and to form his or her own opinion! fered from that in the surrounding countryside? The Gutasaga teils of two important events in Gad Rausing

Fornvännen 90 (1995)