The Father’s Lament: The Representation of Male Grief in Beowulf
In Beowulf, the passage known as The Father’s Lament is renowned as a paragon of the
Old English poetic style. In the ominous style of battle verse, it works through major Beowulfian themes and considers the complicated traditions of Anglo Saxon kinship. Some scholars have argued this passage behaves primarily as a way for Beowulf to contemplate his indecision and pressure to lead (De Looze.) I will focus less on how memory serves Beowulf, as the importance of heritage serves an important but unrelated purpose, and instead consider how The Father’s
Lament demonstrates loss in the abstract. With no explicit grammatical relationship to the preceding lines, the passage behaves appositionally to the King Hrethel’s circumstance.
Considering Frederic Robinson’s Beowulf in the Appositive Style, and his argument for the poet’s cultivated use of narrative dualism, it becomes necessary to investigate the poet’s intention for
The Father’s Lament. I argue that the poet chose to employ an appositional approach to Hrethel’s grief out of respect for lordship, founded in the kinship of the comitatus. This touches on
Beowulfian elements of moderation and loyalty, while working inside the larger theme of religious apposition.
Once I have established a logic for the poet’s style in The Father’s Lament, I will question the poet’s seemingly adverse handling of King Hrothgar’s grief.
In Strategies of Distinction, Walter Pohl defines the role of language and the changing utility of specific vocabularies to further layer Old English narratives. Leading up to the famous lament, Beowulf speaks, recalling the time after his father died, and he was welcomed into King
Hrethel’s family: héold mec ond hæfde Hréðel cyning. geaf mé sinc ond symbel. sibbe gemunde. næs ic him tó life láðra ówihte beorn in burgum þonne his bearna hwylc (2430–2433)
Beowulf uses the the first person here, speaking of the concrete and personal as he recounts a tragedy in the royal family. The Geat king had three sons, Herebeald, Hæthcyn, and
Hygelac. While the princes were still boys, Hæþcyn accidentally shot the eldest brother,
Herebeald, and killed him.
Wæs þám yldestan ungedéfelice maéges daédum morþorbed strëd syððan hyne Hæðcyn of hornbogan his fréawine fláne geswencte· miste mercelses ond his maég ofscét bróðor óðerne blódigan gáre. (2435–2440)
Following the death of his son, King Hrethel grieves. Beowulf’s narration shifts from experience to fiction as he speaks of an abstract man whose son may “ríde giong on galgan.” It may seem upon first reading these lines that Beowulf is referring to the death of Herebeald. However, it becomes clear that he is not speaking of the son already lost but of Hæthcyn. wihte ne meahte on ðám feorhbonan faéghðe gebétan. nó ðý aér hé þone heaðorinc hatian ne meahte láðum daédum þéah him léof ne wæs. (2464a–2467) The Anglo Saxon law required vengeance. The father is caught between his duty to ensure
justice and his instinct to protect his family. Unable to reconcile duty to action, the king sinks
irreparably into grief.
The apposition of The Father’s Lament works analogously to the Modern English passive
construction. Here, I have chosen to use the sentence “Mistakes were made,” as an example,
because it captures both the sense of shrouded guilt in The Father’s Lament as well the
mechanism which allows for it. The absence of a logical subject in the aforementioned example
diverts the focus of the sentence. By allowing the logical subject to remain undefined, this style
of phrasing dismisses blame and encourages the listener to attend to the misfortune of the
situation rather than the guilt of the excused subject.
There are two faults that can be identified in Then Father’s Lament. Each deals with a
moral failing and inability to maintain the “selfes dome.” The King Hrethel had a duty to avenge
the prince. Feuding and vengeance were ubiquitous in Beowulf, and can be seen early on in the
digression about Grendel as a descendant of Cain as well as Beowulf’s account of Freawaru.
However, what honor can be found in killing Haethcyn, the remaining son? Both the
establishment of the duty, as well as the shame in not honoring it can be seen when Beowulf
encourages Hrothgar to not give in to dread and grief:
'Ne sorga, snotor guma· sélre bið aéghwaém
þæt hé his fréond wrece þonne hé fela murne·
úre aéghwylc sceal ende gebídan worolde lífes: wyrce sé þe móte dómes aér déaþe· þæt bið drihtguman, unlifgendum æfter sélest. (1384–1389)
The other sense of fault is rooted in the unimpeded, senseless grief of the abstracted
father. symble bið gemyndgad morna gehwylce eaforan ellorsíð· óðres ne gýmeð tó gebídanne burgum in innan
Yrfeweardas (2050–2054a)
Hrethel is unable to control his grief and is swallowed by it. He proves himself to be under the
power of emotion rather than self possessed and directed by rational thinking. Having both the
ability to balance things internally and the influence to moderate external forces is noble and
proves strength of spirit. Robert C. Roberts defines moderation in an Aristotelian sense as “not a
mean with respect to pleasure, but the temperate person’s pleasures are rationally qualified by a
variety of qualitative and quantitative methods” (Roberts, 97). For the purpose of Hrethel,
“pleasure” can be replaced with “natural inclination.” The purpose of restraining sorrow is not to
eradicate or shame human inclination, but to moderate it so that it does not inhibit, harm, or
overshadow duty.
This moral failing did not lead Hrethel’s people to abandon him. Rather, they prove loyal
even when it may seem unprofitable. This can be read as pagan nobility as well as a Christian
virtue. In Romans 13: 5, 7 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also
as a matter of conscience.
7. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if
respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
The Anglo Saxon system of the comitatus is introduced early in the poem. sceal geong guma góde gewyrcean fromum feohgiftum on fæder bearme
þæt hine on ylde eft gewunigen wilgesíþas þonne wíg cume· léode gelaésten: lofdaédum sceal in maégþa gehwaére man geþéön (20-25)
A man must first gain respect, and as his reputation is established, he must solidify bonds of
loyalty through gifts of treasure. The ritual guarded King Hrethel even when he ceased to
perform royal responsibilities because the comitatus was sacred. The king lead his soldiers as a
father, and warriors, like sons, protected their father in battle and in reputation. Proverbs 19:26
holds a similar attitude, “Whoever mistreats their father and drives out their mother is a child
who brings shame and disgrace.”
These themes of honor and moderation, as addressed early in this paper, take place in a
fiction, as Beowulf digresses into memory. This allows the audience, according to Robinson, to
create for themselves the relationship between the separate narrative. It could be argued that, by handling Hrethel’s grief in apposition, the poet forfeited emotional economy. Herebeald’s death
holds less impact. However, by not exploiting the king’s weakness for narrative gains, the poet
demonstrates respect for the king in grieving. He acknowledges both the biblical virtue required
to honor the father, and the pagan loyalty of protecting the king. The poet exercises moderation
of style in that he does not leap at the natural inclination to tax a sensitive bit of history for all it
is worth. Rather, he follows the same system of honor as is expected of his characters in the
comitatus.
Now it is time to consider an issue in this argument; if the poet chose to have Beowulf
speak appositionally of Hrethel’s grief for reasons I have claimed, why then did the poet speak in
such laboring detail of the sorrow of King Hrothgar? At Beowulf’s departure, the poet writes of
Hrothgar’s sorrow: gecyste þá cyning æþelum gód,
þéoden Scyldinga ðegn betostan ond be healse genam· hruron him téaras blondenfeaxum· him wæs béga wén ealdum infródum, óþres swíðor.
þæt híe seoððan geséon móston módige on meþle· wæs him se man tó þon léof
þæt hé þone bréostwylm forberan ne mehte ac him on hreþre hygebendum fæst æfter déorum men dyrne langað beorn wið blóde. (1870-1880)
After a description like this, is it appropriate to assume the poet does not consider Hrothgar a
good king, worthy of respect? Only a few lines before, Beowulf speaks of “ic þé wél herige.” Or
is there a lack of continuity of stylistic approach? I believe there is a more natural explanation for
these seemingly opposed representations that fits with the overarching theme of religious
analogy.
There is apparent difference in circumstance: Beowulf is not dead, as Herebeald is.
However, more important is the manner and difference of the young men’s departure. Before
Beowulf leaves the Schyldings, Hrothgar sends Beowulf with a readied ship, treasure, and
council on how to cement bonds of loyalty and lead.
Ðá gít him eorla hléo hine gesealde mago Healfdenes máþmas twelf· hét inne mid þaém lácum léode swaése sécean on gesyntum
Hrothgar does not grieve fruitlessly for a tragedy he had no power to prevent, he mourns the
willful departure of a friend.
The abstracted father representing Hrethel, can do nothing to prevent the onset of fate.
ond hé him helpan ne mæg eald ond infród aénige gefremman. symble bið gemyndgad morna gehwylce eaforan ellorsíð. (2448b–2451a)
The son dies, while the father, though “eald ond infród,” stands unable to exercise authority
when he most needs to. The king’s influence, fame, and war might are worth nothing in the path
of fate.
The appositional style was used to guard Hrethel’s honor when weakness overwhelmed
his ability to lead. Does the poet not believe Hrothgar to be worthy of the same respect? It is
important to distinguish the weakness of Hrethel as a moral failing.
Gewíteð þonne on sealman. sorhléoð gæleð
án æfter ánum. þúhte him eall tó rúm
wongas ond wícstede.
His despair is a markedly unchristian trait. The home seems too roomy, alluding to the
space in the father’s life once occupied by the son, now empty. The belief that there will be
reconciliation and reunion is founded in the Christian idea of salvation. Hopelessness suggests a
lack of confidence in the power of God.
10. My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long, "Where is your God?"
11. Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
(Psalm 42 10–11)
Despair, to the poet’s audience, would have been too direct of an affront from the pagan story.
To despair is to turn one’s back on God. With the understanding that Hrethel was morally depleted by Herebeald’s death, the
question then becomes, should Hrothgar’s sorrow for Beowulf require similar handling? Does
his grief present itself as moral incapacity? No, rather King Hrothgar is described as “orleahtre,”
blameless.
þæt wæs án cyning, aéghwæs orleahtre oþ þæt hine yldo benam mægenes wynnum sé þe oft manegum scód.
He was blameless in everything, only failing his tribe by growing old and eventually being
parted from them.
The poet was aware of the differences of Hrothgar and Hrethel, both of whom were
honorable kings. Their opposed representation could be intended as a portrayal of the Christian
and pagan approach to death. Hrothgar, as a beloved and upright king, behaves as the faithful
Christian who believes “þæt híe seoððan geséon móston / módige on meþle”
Works Cited
Beowulf, Edited by Michael Alexander. Penguin, 1995.
The Bible, The New International Version, Biblica, 1978.
De Looze, Lawrence N. “Beowulf as Narrator.” Interpretations of Beowulf. Edited by R. D.
Fulk,
Indiana University Press, 1991.
Roberts, Robert C. “Virtue and Their Vices,” Oxford University Press, 2014.
Robinson, Frederic. Beowulf and the Appositive Style. Knoxville, University of Tennessee Press,
1985.