Christian Folkloric Beowulf

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  • Literatim & Theology, Vol 11 No 4, December 199J

    CHRISTIAN AND FOLKLORICTRADITION IN BEOWULF:DEATH AND THE DRAGON

    EPISODEJudith Garde

    Abstract

    It is reiterated in Part I that biblical precedent and the omnipotence of Godare fundamental aspects of Beountlf, dominating the medieval Christianagenda. In the first of two complementary stones, the hero of this contem-porary English moral folk fable is introduced as God's nght-thinking cham-pion, triumphantly destroying monstrous, heathen enemies. Conventionalthemes, in the form of structured folklonc functions, sequences and 'moves',are then related to familiar references to and the unsolicited interaction ofGod, revealing that the death of the old hero-king is appropriately andsatisfyingly devised to fulfil mythic-heroic, folklonc and Christian eschatolo-gical expectations.

    NOTWITHSTANDING MANY decades of scholarly evaluation since Klaeber'sseminal study,1 two fundamental questions remain regarding the structure ofBeowulf. The first concerns the curious combination in Part I of Old Testamentreferences and other non-specific theology, conventional folklonc themesand pseudo-historical anecdotes of the ancestral north, in conjunction withpious and virtuous northern personae who were, historically, unfamiliar withthe Christian faith. The second, more controversial, involves the deathof the long in consequence of an unwise heroic undertaking that effectivelydestroys the nation. In an earlier, exploratory, paper, I relate the associationof wise, God-fearing protagonists and Cain-related giants in an heroic-ageenvironment to a prophetic Wisdom lection in the Easter Saturday andPentecostal liturgies which suggests, along with texts selected from theSapiential canon, that divine approbation and aid may have been regarded asentirely appropriate for the poem's righteous characters. In contrast, anecdotalaggressors such as Hengest, Hrothulf, Ingeld and others engaged in theSwedish/Geatdsh wars may unplicidy have recalled the criminal acts ofGrendel/Cain. I conclude that divine omnipotence demonstrably prevails inPart I, and fate is perceived to be the unpredictable factor occasioning deathO Oxford University Pros 1997

  • 326 CHRISTIAN AND FOLKLORIC TRADITION IN BEOWULFin Part II Beowulf is regarded in this paper as a contrived, fictional figure andthe underlying folk-tale as exemplary device (comprising two separate stones)is considered at some length. I suggest that the old king's role reversal as hefights the dragon alone for fame and a golden prize would not have surpriseda medieval audience.2

    Recalling a conventional function of the storyteller, the present paper willagain explore the combination in this medieval English folk- (or fairy)tale ofChristian and folkloric themes, corroborating Geoffrey Shepherd's observa-tion that '[Beowulf] is a fairy-story wrapped up quite confidently in anunexphcit Christian metaphysic'3. In the first fabulous encounter, the poetinvokes biblical and apocryphal themes to demonstrate the omnipotence ofGod in his contrived mythic-heroic environment, and he clearly announcesthe direction of the concluding story by way of Hrothgar's moralistic address.The dragon episode then demonstrates both the essential humanity and theunequivocal triumph that are conceived for his God-fearing hero. As mightbe expected, this remarkable medieval epic reflects the wisdom and learningof the literate Anglo-Saxon Christian culture of which it is a product, and itimparts this wisdom (in Sapiential terminology equating with essential know-ledge of God) because it is a function of much Old English poetry to affirmreligious truths.4 This is achieved in the first story (as in the religious poems,Elene and Andreas) by a combination of relevant narrative, exemplary charac-terization and unambiguous direct speech. Fabulous and Christian elementsjointly typify monstrous, villainous Grendel, offspring of Cain, and virtuous,God-fearing Beowulfrespectively God's heathen enemy and chosen cham-pionand they are similarly prominent at the death of the hero in Part II,again in consequence of the conventional structure of the folk-tale. It isargued that selective critical readings of the hero, his motives or his actionsthat disregard either of these fundamental structural elements, or overlookpersistent evidence of divine omnipotence and control, are inappropriate anddifficult to sustain in an work of popular Christian fiction.5

    From this perspective, attempts in the 1960s to 'christianize' mythicBeowulf by way of sophisticated allegory6 inevitably failed to convince, asthese (mutually exclusive) analyses by definition disregarded the poem'srevised folkloric agenda. They overlooked reiterated advice that the hero wasnever conceived as a free agent, because the actions of men in this poem aredivinely directed. Poet and protagonists alike understood that the outcomeof each dramatic encounter would be determined in some way by God.More importantly, Goldsmith's uncompromisingly condemnatory patristicmethodology diverted attention from the traditional, biblically-denved, cat-echetical faithrepresented here by Sapiential (possibly liturgical) and apo-cryphal influence that clearly favours the right-thinking herothat seemsmore appropriate to a mixed, or popular, Christian audience. In contrast, the

  • JUDITH GARDE 327

    1983 commentary with translation of Raymond P. Tripp, Jr., has greatpotential to mislead, as this hypothesis is founded in inference and assumption,again paying scant regard to the storyteller's craft. To confront the idealBeowulf (regarded as the poem's suitably christianized 'great avenger'), Tnppintroduces an incongruous folk phenomenon deriving from later Norseliteraturea magical man-dragon, seeking to defy death and God by occupy-ing the golden hoard.7 Palaeographical preferences notwithstanding, theconventional understanding of a humble thief and the spontaneous removalof a cup is arbitrarily dismissed in dus work by deceptively self-fulfillingargument and evident textual misrepresentation,8 while the Beoivulf composerunequivocally subjects each traditional villain and discernible occasion formagic to the will of God (II, below).9 Tripp's similarly arbitrary perceptionthat innumerable man-dragons had occupied the barrow10 precludesrecognition (surely desirable in this thesis) of God-favoured Beowulf in theancient, prescriptive incantation at 305iff. (n. 46 below), and he is obligedeventually to concede that die (supposedly magically transformed) last survivordoes indeed undergo biological death at 2269b70a; that 'Dragon or not, itis God who determines when we come and go from this world'.11

    While the fairy tale genre readily accommodates minimal logic and somedegree of inconsistency, it does not tolerate contradiction. In contrast, dieproposed structured educative epic, featuring the recasting of traditionalthemes from a contemporary Christian point of view, favours a more or lessliteral interpretation and accords well with many critical readings. It encour-ages audience appreciation both of die cosmic antagonism diat motivatesterrible, uncanny Grendel and the poet's objective interest in doomedBeowulf, including his hero's characteristic response to the malicious, night-flying dragonconsideration, diat is, of what the poem appears to be aboutrather than critical theories about it.12 Most importandy, a contemporaryChristian folk epic permits a comprehensible interpretation of the wholepoem. It recognizes the causal relationship between Hrothgar's admonitoryaddress in Part I and the spiritual rectitude and commendable duty-of-carefor which the old king is remembered, justifying the amalgamation of twoseparate stories to demonstrate an uncompromising medieval Christian per-ception of mortality. In a work diat appears consciously to replicate a folk-tale format, die simple expedient of returning God and biblical precedent tothe centre of the medieval universe13 goes far towards resolving the first ofthe critical concerns indicated above. Contemporary familiarity with diepoem's legendary characters is routinely assumedRoberta Frank suggestsdiat each name and legend may be regarded as another poem14and it isargued diat the biblical and associated dieological references m Part I similarlyevoked expectations in common of particular significance for medievalChristians.

  • 328 CHRISTIAN AND FOLKLORIC TRADITION IN BEOWULFIt is further proposed that no Christian writer could have avoided locating

    his heroic fiction within the divinely decreed confines of biblical history,regardless of the date or place of composition or of any event recalled fromthe common cultural heritage. Neither, in consequence of the creation/judgment scenario within which Beowulf's confrontations with the Grendelclan proceed (and particularly in view of the unequivocal declaration at183b88)15 could he fail to concern himself with the eschatological dimensionof his work. The soul of the heathen villain is summarily despatched to hellto await divine judgment in Part I (852, 977bff.), recalling an apocalypticevent that was foreshadowed by the flood and feared by Christians as theinevitable consequence of humankind's unmerited redemption. However,the soul of the virtuous hero departs in due coune to seek the judgment ofthe righteous, in the estimation of his young kinsman to reside in the comfortof the Ruler. Beowulf's definitive heroic declaration before the second fight(Ure ceghwylc sceal ende gebidan/ worolde lifes; wyrce se pe mote/ domes cer deape,13868a, 'Each of us must await the end of life in the world; let the onewho can achieve glory before death') is explicitly countered by Hrothgarafter the event (below). It is also tacidy qualified, in spite of his traditionalGermanic determination, individualism and propensity for audacious deeds,by the poetic presentation of an overtly righteous, spiritually confidenthero/ruler who is remembered and admired for personal qualities reminiscentof a Christian king.16 Part I below reiterates the evident Christian orientationof the work. In Part II, I examine die English poet's adaptation of theconventional folk-tale structure to accommodate the contemporary vision ofdeath that underlies the dragon story, accounting for the second criticalconcern noted above.

    IWhile Sapiential influence may reasonably be assumed by virtue of its likelyliturgical association (n. 2), affirming the poem's demonstrable righteous/heathen polarity, die text itself offers compelling evidence of a contemporaryChristian point of view. Initially, as E.G. Stanley's examination of prayer andthanksgiving in Beowulf reveals, example follows unambiguous example ofthe recognition of and devotion to one wise and holy God (Creator andeternal Lord, Ruler of victories, King of glory and Judge as in Old Englishreligious verse) by poet and protagonists from die coming of Scyld diroughthe series of fabulous encounters to die deadi of die nght-diinking hero.17In the Christian/folkloric context discussed below, each of die poem's admir-able characters is devised and depicted as subject to the will of an omnipotentDeity: Hrodigar remains confident that God can and will destroy the monsterand gives dianks when diis is achieved; Beowulf at all times behaves predict-ably, anticipating glory or deadi as God decrees. Divine domination is absolute:

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    of God's satanic foes in the Grendel episode, of fate (by averting impendingcatastrophe, as in the biblical poem, Exodus) and, not fortuitously, of themythic-folkloric environment. Readers who query the absence of a formalChristian agenda may recall that Christ was understood by the Church Fathersand the poets only as GodCreator as well as Redeemer, Ruler as well asJudge of his recalcitrant creation. In the other self-consciously exotic poemin the Beowulf manuscript, addressing the Saviour (nergend) of all world-dwelling peoples (8ibff.), the Old Testament heroine, Judith, mvokes the aidoflfrympagod ondfiofregast, beam alwaldan ('creating God and Spirit of comfort,Son of the Omnipotent One'), prynesse prym ('Majesty of Trinity'), sweglesealdor, peoden gumena, mihtig dryhten, torhtmod tires brytta ( 'Ruler of the heavens,Prince of men, mighty Lord, radiant Dispenser of glory,' before se hehstadema ('the supreme Judge') inspires courage (just as he does for every manwho approaches him with faith and proper attitude, 94.bff.) and god sweglesealdor (i23b-4a, 'God, Ruler of the heavens') grants victory.18

    A medieval Christian conception of temporal history is clearly indicatedin the Grendel story, where biblical, mythical and pseudo-historical figures andevents are contained by a creation/judgment time frame. St. Augustine'sinfluential catechetical instruction envisages cosmic interaction from the cre-ation of the world through representative Ages of progressive human enlight-enment, each foreshadowing the definitive Christ-event in the sixth Age, thewhole culminating m a well-documented, ever-imminent day of judgment.19Identifying apocalyptic influence in Old English elegiac verse includingBeowulf, Martin Green observes: 'For [these] writers, history is Heilsgeschkhteand time is linear, and thus the final event in time is conceived of workingitself out of a divine plan. Putting it another way, the end is implicit in thebeginning.'20 From this perspective, it is possible to discern in Beowulf theconscious integration of traditional folkloric elements and the Christian under-standing of salvation history, the single, all-encompassing historical dimensionthat demonstrably underlies most Old English religious literature.

    In a perceptive article, John M. Hill discusses the continuity in the poemof past, present and future time and the associated continuity of ethical valuesand religious piety, over which God ruled then as now. While he deducesfrom epithets for God that 'the poet as narrator does not profess even therudiments of Christian faithalthough his theism accords well with God theFather's status in Christianity', Hill perceives indications in the poem of anafter-life in the protection and keeping of the Father to which all may aspire,and he cites numerous examples to suggest that the poet effectively affordshis own theism to his noble characters.21 (Conversely, Manjane Osborneidentifies a dual historical perspective, involving cosmic history as theChristian poet and his audience might have understood it and the limitedpagan understanding to be expected of an heroic-age Beowulf and his peers.)22

  • 330 CHRISTIAN AND FOLKLORIC TRADITION IN BEOWULF

    John D. Niles describes the reinvention of the legendary Germanic past as 'agreat act of historical imagination ... a major assimilative act'. He, too,observes the highly effective literary fusion of Germanic and Christian lore,23

    but it may be that the poet's extraordinary achievement in this regard owesmuch to the biblical and patristic conception of historical time in which allhuman activity was understood to proceed. Harris notes in the context ofprophecy how the audience is pruned in Old English biblical and otherreligious verse to expect that an event controlled by God will proceedpredictably within the narrative,24 and it seems beyond doubt that the sameChristian mind-set prevailed in the biblical environment that motivates Part I.

    In addition to a wealth of patristic commentary on the Grendel/Cainconnection (n. 25), Robert E. Kaske convincingly demonstrates a likelypseudepigraphical influence. Like the Cain-related creatures in the apocryphalI Enoch, Grendel devours the flesh and drinks the blood of his victims. He isambiguously described as a giant (eoten, 761, pyrs, 426); an evil spirit (e.g.eUengcest, 86, grimtna gcest, 102) and a devil, a demon from hell (e.g. feond onhelle, 101, helrune, 163, helle gast, 1274, deofol, 1680). In the Book of Enoch,the giants, '(being) produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evilspirits upon the earth (which) shall be their dwelling. ... And the spirits ofthe giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction onthe earth' (4235). Females of the species appear as sirens, frequently 'asspectral wanderers in the wasteland, as the companions of demons, and asviolent flesh-eating monsters'. Grendel's mother is described by the uniquecompound, mereurif, 1519, which Kaske speculatively relates to other OEglosses of meremen or meremenen ('literally "sea-maid"') for sirena (4278). Theapocryphal giants are also understood to lead men to sacrifice to demons,recalling the puzzling episode m Beowulf where the Danish counsellors resortto idol worship (178b183a). Kaske notes some thirty-two instances in thelater chapters of I Enoch of the wa bid formula that concludes this segment(quoted n. 15), which he suggests is intended to be read as a judgment uponGrendel (42930).^

    Stanley J. Kahrl argues that the major action in the poem evolves as aconsequence of the archetypal Jcehd between God and Cain,26 whose twice-described criminal act was traditionally understood to have determined man'sevil ways. Maxims I (C)27 is explicit in its condemnation of Cain, perhaps insome way clarifying the distinction in Beowulf between highly regarded butdemonstrably inadequate heroic-age weaponry and those ancient swords thatare so impressively deployed on God's behalf in each story:

    Wear3 fehpo fyra cynne sippan rurpum swealgeorQe Abeles blode. Naes paet andaege nicSof pam wrohtdropan wide gesprongan

  • JUDITH GARDE 331micel mon aeldum, monegum beodumbealoblonden rub. Slog his brofler swaesneCain, bone cwealm nerede. Cub waes wide sibbanbaet ece nib aeldum scod, swa abolwarumdrugon waepna gewin wide geond eorpan,ahogadon ond ahyrdon heoro slipendne. (5563)

    (Feuds came into being for the races of men after the earth first swallowedAbel's blood. That was not a single day's hostilityfrom those strife-beanngdrops sprang up great wickedness widely among men, pernicious hatred to manypeoples. Cam slew his own brother, perpetuated (preserved) that WillingAfterwards, it was widely known that eternal strife caused divisions among menas, far and wide over the earth, its inhabitants endured the conflict of weapons,fashioned and hardened the destructive sword.)

    Genesis A, 98jff., also describes the proliferation of evil over the world afterCain killed his brother in a fit of envious rage. The branches of that terriblecrime spread far and wide, painfully afflicting the communities and sons ofmen as they still do, and every kind of atrocity flourished.

    In the Grendel story, an inarguable community of mterest is established asthe biblically-derived historical perspective is expanded to encompass, uncrit-ically and in its entirety, the epic confrontation between God's declaredenemy and his chosen champion. Within this authoritative framework, thefiction evolves in those days of this life when Heorot was new and a minstreljoyfully proclaimed the creation story, poetic asides affirming that theseamazing events occurred before the great hall was reportedly consumed byfire and Hrothulf usurped the throne.28 It is certainly no accident that thisDanish court is portrayed as harmonious and unified within and at peacebeyond its borders, under the wise stewardship of a God-fearing distributorof wealth, in dramatic contrast with anecdotal evidence of treachery andbetrayal m the ancestral north. Frank notes that English royal houses oftenclaimed ancestry among the gods and rulers of northern Europe, going backseveral generations to Geat. In this regard, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 892added several northern ancestors including Scyld, Scef, Beaw, Heremod andHwala, all legendary figures in Old English verse, to the genealogy of KingAlfred's father, ^thelwulf, marking, she suggests, the integration into onekingdom of Englishman and Dane.29 Shepherd goes so far as to suggest acredible milieu for the poem in Alfred's tenth century Wessex, observingthat some households of thanes where 'learning, anQquananism and a tradi-tional vernacular piety flourished' were, by the year 1000, 'undoubtedlyAnglo-Danish in inheritance'.30

    The explicit depiction of Grendel as kin of Cain and God's declared enemyseems an unmistakable indication of this poem's intended direction, recalling

  • 332 CHRISTIAN AND FOLKLORIC TRADITION IN BEOWULFfamiliar scriptural and popular traditions in which giants and infamous menwere recognized as the godless (hence irrevocably condemned) progeny ofCain, and dutiful kings and other suitably righteous personae not only war-ranted divine favour (in contrast, for example, with Heremod, below) butmight aspire to a heavenly reward.31 The Grendel adventure may, in context,be regarded as a self-contained, edifying tale involving a young and virtuoushero whose raison d'etre (in this particular story) is to destroy God's monstrousenemy and associated female relatives32 with appropriate divine aid and tocleanse the model kingdom. (Whether or not any of this is understood byBeowulf and his peers is irrelevant.) Hrothgar's parting address to the younghero then associates divine beneficence and the responsibilities that this entailswith the inevitability of his demise, urging spiritual vigilance and eternalcounsel in the context of on-going satanic persuasion (from 1724b). It isconsidered to be central to the presentation of the old king in the dragonstory, where persistent authorial commentary and review serve to detach acontemporary audience from events in the mythical past, obliging them toassess the concluding episode in terms of their own Christian experience.

    As Beowulf prepares for his final fatal onslaught, every significant aspectof the dragon story has already been signalled: his heroic aspiration to beremembered as most famous; the spiritual responsibility of every (inevitablydoomed) man; the scnpturally attested duty of the king and his Christianobligation properly to distribute wealth; indications of moral rectitude incontrast with feuding, faith-breaking and, notably, the slaughter of kinsmen,in the declared context of Cain. In anticipation of the hero's death in theconcluding story (just as his God-assisted victories are predetermined m PartI), divine interaction occurs only insofar as the now-doomed hero is permittedby God to open the golden hoard and so fulfil his great destiny. This alsosuggests that the prize of available gold should be appreciated m context aspositively beneficial for the people of the king, as it is consistently portrayedin Hrothgar's exemplary Denmark. It should not have been uselessly rebunedin deference to a dead ruler.33 In the demonstrable environment in Part I ofa cosmic conflict and a clearly deficient cultural hero,34 the historical andreligious barriers that have been erected for decades to support a dominantheroic-age ethic simply evaporate, and the educative significance of thesecond, complementary, story must be taken into account.35

    The dragon tale is preoccupied with the topic of death, notably that ofthe same mighty hero who, although blessed with an incredible gift ofstrength to destroy God's infamous enemies, was destined to succumb inextreme old age to the venomous bite of a dragon. Death of the doomedman occurs in various ways, repeatedly in the course of bloody tnbal warfare,but the Christian poet's reworking of the folkloric medium is not immediatelyapparent here, as it is in the earlier story. Old Beowulf must confront his

  • JUDITH GARDE 333own mortahty in Part II, apparently in accordance with a folklonc conventionthat the hero may encounter a third adversary, possibly a destructive dragon,and not only will not survive the conflict, but will die in the presence of a'helper'. The poet must at the same time resolve and affirm eschatologicaland other concerns that were raised in Hrothgar's address.

    IIDaniel Barnes' 1970 discussion of conventional folklonc structure in the twoparts of Beowulf is most revealing when the work is considered from acontemporary Christian point of view. Perceiving the folk-tale to be aparticularly fruitful and provocative subject for investigation, Barnes identifiesconsistent examples of the (up to) thirty-one sequential functions and threeconventional moves identified by Vladimir Propp as comprising the traditionalstructure of a folk-tale.36 My purpose here is two-fold: to show that Christianreferences to and appellations for God are strategically placed to modifyconventional sequences, reaffirming persistent authorial declarations of divineomnipotence and control; to demonstrate the similar recasting of traditionalfolk themes m the later story to encompass the Christian eschatologicalimperative, where the death of the mythic hero and king of the Geats recallsthe fate of every man. I selectively cite Barnes' examples of designatedProppian folk functions and draw Christian inferences where appropriate.

    Barnes notes that the initial situation traditionally introduced the villain'svictim, and often enumerated the members of the victim's family. Takinginto account the English predilection for impressive genealogies, the contex-tual significance is obvious of the Danish Beowulf as exemplary, God-favoured, patriarch of Hrothgar's Scylding dynasty (52ff.) after the aged Scylddeparted with great ceremony into the keeping of the Lord:37

    Daem eafera wass aefter cenned,geong in geardum, bone God sendefolce to frofre. FyrenQearfe ongeat,be hie xr drugon aldor(le)aselange hwile. Him paes Lrffrea,wuldres Wealdend, woroldare forgeaf. (12-17)

    (To him afterwards a son was born, a boy in the courts, whom God sent as acomfort to his people. He had seen the dire need that they had endured before,being lordless for a long time. For that reason, the Lord of life, Ruler of glory,gave him honour in the world.)

    In Propp's function V, the villain receives notification of his victim in apenod of unusual prosperity, and Hrothgar constructs the magnificent hallprecisely in order ... peer on innan eall gedcelan/ geongum ond ealdum swyk him

  • 334 CHRISTIAN AND FOLKLORIC TRADITION IN BEOWULFGod sealde/ buton folcscare ond feorum gumena (713, " . . . t h e r e w i t h i n t o s h a r eeverything among young and old as God might grant to him except land mcommon and the lives of men'). However, the outcast Grendel is enraged bythe sound of rejoicing in the hall, as the minstrel relates how, in distant tames,the Almighty made the bright earth, tnumphandy placed radiant sun andmoon as light for land dwellers, created life in every living creature (Q2ff.).Grendel is portrayed here as an evil spirit, a fiend from hell, and identifiedas kin of the arch-murderer, Cain, from whose stock all manner of monstrousprogeny proceeded including the race of giants, who were subsequendypunished by God (86114). The horrific characterization of this enemy ofGod and man and the magnitude of die ensuing struggles affirm this cosmicinterpretation.

    The initial act of villainy (VIII) necessitates the hero's response on his owninitiative to the misfortune (EX) and the notification to Hrothgar of Beowulf'sarrival, in the course of which the Geats thank God for dieir safe arrival andthe coast-warden entreats the Almighty Father to keep diem safe in grace.The conjunction of folk and contemporary Christian sentiment is unmistak-able m this episode, initially when Hrothgar believes diat Hine halig God/forarstafum us onsende/ ... wid Grendles gryre (381b4a, 'Holy God in his mercyhas sent him to us ... against the horror of Grendel') and in his laterobservation that God can easily overcome this daemonic foe (478b). Unferththen assumes the dual roles of tester and prospective donor of a magical agent(XII), to which the hero responds appropriately (XIII). Functions XVI, XVIIIand XIX encompass die struggle, victory and liquidation of the initial misfor-tune,38 and the authorial understanding is again apparent as die narratoradvises: Hcefde Kyningwuldor/ Grendles togeanes, swa guman gefrungon/seleweard aseted; sundomytte beheold/ ymb aldor Dena; eotonweard ahead (665b9.'As men learned, die King of glory had appointed a hall guardian againstGrendel; afforded a special service on behalf of the leader of the Danes;offered a giant-watch'). The hero trusts in his mighty God-given strengdibefore observing: ... ond sipdan untig God I on swa huxepere hond, halig Dryhten, /mmdo deme swa himgemetpince (685b87, ... and afterwards, wise God, dieholy Ixird, will assign glory on whichever hand seems appropriate to him').From a Christian perspective (and exphcidy in regard to the curse on bunedtreasure in Part II), the magical component is invalidated by divine decree asthe spell imposed by Grendel over Danish swords is conveniendy bypassedby the hero's magnanimous reliance on his gift of strength. The narratoractually announces the outcome before describing the furious activity thatalmost destroyed the hall: the Lord granted success in batde to the wholeWeder troop dirough die might of one man, clearly affirming mat Sod isgecyped/ pcet mihtig God manna cynnesl weold wideferhd (69607023, 'The trudiis made manifest that mighty God has ruled the races of men for ever').

  • JUDITH GARDE 335Beowulf's dramatic fight with the enemy of God and man (7O2bff.) then

    proceeds in the certain expectation of victory, before the monster finallydeparts through the mere minus of his arm, mortally wounded. The text isunequivocal: Beowulfe weard/ gudhred gyjede (8i8b-9a, 'To Beowulf wasgranted glory in battle'); Deadfcege ... feorh alegde, hcedene sawle; peer him helonfeng (850-2, 'Doomed to death ... he laid down life, the heathen soul;there hell received him'). Hrothgar effusively thanks the Almighty for thesight of Grendel's hand, affirming that God, Guardian of glory, can alwaysperform marvel upon marvel (93ob-ia). Fame, acclaim and spectacular giftsduly reward the victorious hero, but the contemporary audience wasundoubtedly aware, as modern readers are not, that this was not the definitiveconfrontation. A pursuit of some kind (function XXI) and subsequent revelrysoon initiate further consternation as Grendel's avenging mother assumes thevillain's role (p. 424). Barnes notes that further misfortune may include eithera repeat of the initial villainy or a completely different form of attack,whereupon a new story begins as the second move of the original tale.39

    Again, the newly-won peace at Heorot is shattered by an act of villainy(VIII), the hero is approached and responds, decides on counteraction anddeparts (IX, X, XI), is provided with a (supposedly) magical agent and isguided to the object of his search (XTV, XV). Hrothgar introduces the nextwcelgcest wcefre, mightig manscada (1331b, 1339a, 'restless, murdering spirit;mighty evil-doer'), who will prove to be a vastly more challenging opponentthan monstrous Grendel. As the hero embarks on this traditional secondencounter in an underwater cavern with the dead villain's (even more deadly)female relative (XVT), it will become clear that, not only is the magicalelement entirely lacking, but the mythical weapon 'Hrunting' will fail toperform. Only God's super-strong champion is equipped to fulfil this particu-lar function by wielding the giant sword that God will reveal to him. Thenarrator duly advises that the hero would have fared very badly except thathis battle garment helped him ... ond halig God/geweold urigsigor; witig Drihten, /rodera Rxdend, hit on ryhtgesced/ ydelice, sypdan he eft astod (i552b-56, ' . . . andholy God granted victory m battle; the wise Lord, Ruler of the heavens,easily decided it rightly after he stood up again').

    Beowulf later relates how the Ruler of men permitted him see the huge,beautiful, old sword hanging on the wall (i66iff.), and Hrothgar learns theorigin of that ancient conflict from the inscription on its hilt. The audienceis again reminded that the race of giants was destroyed by the flood (aconventional Augustinian judgment symbol), reiterating the poem's authorit-ative scriptural context and the likely reference to Bar. 3:268.w Estrangedfrom the eternal Lord, that people received their final reward through thesurge of water (168793), recalling the forthright denunciation of Cain'saberrant progeny at 10214. With the villainous pair destroyed, indisputably

  • 336 CHRISTIAN AND FOLKLORIC TRADITION IN BEOWULFas a consequence of divine aid, the initial misfortune is liquidated (XVIII,XIX), the hero returns (XX), arrives home and is recognized (XXIII, XXVII),is given a new appearance (XXTX) and ascends the throne (infrequentlymarrying, XXXI), concluding Propp's sequence of traditional folk functions(pp. 425-7)-

    The third move in the Beowulf story is introduced by a set of functionsnot yet encountered, corroborating Kiernan's conclusion that two distinctstones in separate manuscripts were joined by a later bridging passage for thepurposes of this work (n. 35 above). The initial situation is briefly indicatedby Beowulf's fifty years of peaceable rule before the sudden onslaught of thedragon, followed by an absence (function I, identified by Barnes as the outlawseeking refuge); an interdiction (II, which he perceives to be the cursesecuring the hoard); its violation and the transmission of this fact to the villain(III, V). The third move then follows the conventional pattern with an actof villainy (VIII) as the dragon flies out by night to destroy the kingdom,motivated by malice at the theft of its cup (2312fF.).41 The hero is informedof the misfortune and responds appropriately, decides on counteraction(2337ft".), departs and reaches the object of his search before engaging inmortal combat (IX-XI, XV, XVI). He is marked, or branded (XVII, 2711b),by the dragon before the villain is defeated with the help of Wiglaf and hissupposedly magical, explicitly ancient and venerable, sword (XVIII, 26o2fF.).Barnes identifies several traditional Proppian functions as the initial misfortuneis liquidated (XEX): the object of the hunt is removed when Beowulf killsthe dragon; the object sought (the treasure) is obtained with the help of amagical agent; Beowulf's death breaks the spell of the cune, while the waterthat Wiglaf sprinkles on his dying king (2790b, 2854) may recall the 'deadlyand life-giving waters' that traditionally revived a slain hero. [This is particu-larly likely in view of the narrator's immediate disclaimer: Wiglaf was unableto change any decree of the Ruler because the judgment of God ruled theactions of each man, as it still does, 2855ff.]. Beowulf's intentions are thenmade known to his helper by way of appropriate commands. RecallingKlaeber's speculative observation, Barnes concludes that the folk-tale 15 'thegerm pure and simple' of the Beowulf story.42

    Identification of folkloric convention does little, however, to advancecritical understanding of this notoriously demanding episode, which GeorgeClark has described as a crisis for formal criticism.43 Regarding the poem'smany legendary allusions, Harris affirms that a contemporary audience isprovided with as much information as it needs to follow the story,44 and itis suggested that modern analysts might profitably consider the raised expecta-tions of that audience. The mythical protagonist is presented in Part I aswholly admirable, a virtuous, wise and restrained young hero who performsso impressively on God's behalf while gratefully acknowledging divine power

  • JUDITH GARDE 337

    that he is described in Part II as victory-blessed. As the second story begins,the medieval audience (unencumbered by the intellectual baggage that retardsthe modern reader) is advised in the bridging passage of the hero's politicalsensitivity (in the Ingeld affair) and his devotion to his own king and people.In evident revision of the misspent youth tradition, diey are expresslyreminded (2177b89) of the commendable attitude, peaceable disposition andyouthful restraint that were so acclaimed in Denmark (qualities that Beowulfwill later recall with evident satisfaction) and his newly acquired status andposition. As Hrothgar twice predicted, Beowulf has ruled the Geats well fora nominal fifty years-or a very long timeuntil, consistent with his ambitionto be remembered as the most worthy warrior who performed the mostaudacious deeds (3096, 264563, and the Unferth and Sigemund interludes),45he is suddenly confronted in extreme old age by 'a certain dragon.' We areclearly in Christian fairy tale land here, carrying forward from the earlierstory expectations both of the nature and disposition of the God-fearing(now-doomed) hero as hero and the duties and responsibilities incumbentupon the king. Beowulf is regarded as tragic victim neither by die poet norhimself, and Wiglaf, although clearly identified as helper, assumes die hero'smantle only marginally, as Barnes readily concedes. A heathen curse thatconsigns its righteous violator to hell is demonstrably not an option, as theactions of men were (and are) decreed by the Ruler.

    The Christian poet's considered approach to traditional themes seemsnowhere more overt than m the seemingly awkward, long-disputed, matterof the curse on buned treasure (3051-75). Unlike the Grendel stories, wherethe Chnstian/folkloric connection is central, it takes the form of a briefphilosophical aside, subsequent to and mdependent of the action. As thegolden heritage of long-ago men is examined after the event, the narratornotes that it was bound at that time by a very powerful incantation{eacenaceftig, I iumonna gold, galdre bewunden) to the effect diat only a mandeemed to be suitable by God himself (the true King of victories andprotection of men) would be permitted to open it (cf. 685b-87). He alsoadvises that the traditional guardian (of a heathen hoard, 2216a; heathen gold,2276b) was perceived unjusdy to have held the barrow (3059). Recalling thatno man is able to determine the time or the manner of his passing, heobserves that this was how it was for Beowulf when he set out to fight thedragon, and this was the way it happened. The tentative interpretation below(a variation of earlier readings favourable to Beowulf)46 simply rounds outthe earher observation: the glorious pnnces who placed it diere had solemnlystipulated (diope benemdon) that the man would be guilty with sin, effectivelyan idolator to be punished in hell until judgment, ' ... unless die one whoplundered die place, eager for gold, had before that time manifesdy experi-enced the favour of God [perceived here to be owner and distributor]'.

  • 338 CHRISTIAN AND FOLKLORIC TRADITION IN BEOWULF(3074-5, . . . se done wong str(u)de,/ ncefhegoldhivcete, gearwor hcefde/ Agendes estcer gesceawod). The poet does not suggest that Beowulf acts on God's behalfin the dragon episode. He is reiterating Hrothgar's unequivocal observation(below) that prosperity (wealth, treasure in the ground) is God's alone tobestow, and that his God-feanng hero was demonstrably the man for thetask. Although wise Beowulf earlier feared that he may unwittingly haveoffended the eternal Lord by contravening some anaent law (232off.), Wiglafacknowledges that the Ruler of glory permitted the old king to avengehimself alone with courage (2874^-6) and Beowulf thanks the eternal Lord,King of glory, that he was able to obtain such wealth for his people (2794ff.).

    Only in Part II does the logic of peerless Hrothgar's address to the younghero become apparent, as the last survivor of some vanished race mournsdeparted companions and lost joys in the hall while consigning his nation'streasury to the earth, foreshadowing impending death. Speaking as a wiseruler who advances truth and right among his people (i7oobff.), Hrothgarfirst isolated wicked King Heremod, before elaborating the divine gifts thatwere enjoyed and then forgotten as his infamous example succumbs to thedevil's wiles. His beloved protege was then reminded that, as this arrogantman forgets and ignores his predestined lot, his transitory flesh will inevitablyfall doomed and some other man, less intent on terrorism, will seize andfearlessly distribute his former wealth (1750b). Brutal Heremod is condemnednot only as a hoarder of divine bounty butlike the anecdotal Hrothulf,Unferth, Haethcyn, Othere, Onela and Eadgils, and explicitly unlike fictional,God-feanng Beowulf-for acts of criminal homicide (1709b). The warningto Beowulf from 1758 is explicit, and it is plainly relevant to the old king'ssituation in Part II. He must guard against the aforementioned wickedness;he is reminded that his glorious strength will persist for a time but death willsoon follow in one of a number of common forms, including terrible oldage, and he is urged to make the better choice, eternal counsel.

    In promoting aspects that relate to the hero's spiritual well-being, Hrothgaris reiterating two primary Sapiential injunctions. The first warns againstinviting death and destruction by one's own works or erroneous ways, becauseman was created immortal, in the image of God, but the envy of the devilintroduced death into the world (Sap. 1:12). The second (n. 2 above) dictatesthat prosperity and power, being endowments of a benevolent God, must beproperly administered by the king. The resolution of several apparentlycontroversial issues may therefore be foreshadowed in the elegiac digressionat the beginning of Part II, which concerns the disintegration of an heroic-age community in consequence of war and in spite of its possession ofprodigious wealth, arguably foreshadowing the fate of the feuding Geats.47This seemingly coincidental interlude certainly suggests the improper disposi-tion of divinely endowed benefits that were again unjustly withheld by the

  • JUDITH GARDE 339dragon. In context, it may also imply heathen ignorance of divinely impartedwisdom that, according to Sapiential precedent, is the preserve of righteousmen, arguably inviting informed contemplation of the liturgical Ubi sunt.

    With death now imminent (an event clearly understood by die poet to bepreordained), the hero is described as cepeling cergod (2342, effectively, 'theformerly excellent pnnce') who was about to end his life in the world. OldBeowulf is sad and restless in spirit, prepared for death, as the narrator announcesthat fate, now immeasurably near, must approach the old man, seek out thetreasure-chest of the soul (sawle hord, 2422a),48 separate life from flesh. SimilarChristian sentiments underlie his observation that it was no easy undertaking,as the kinsman of Ecgtheow did not wish to abandon (earth's) green plain;against his will to occupy a dwelling-place somewhere else ... swa scealceghwylc monl alcetan Icendagas (2586b91a, ... just as every man must [eventu-ally] give up loan-days. Cp. i76ibff.). Beowulf understands from the first thathis gift of strength will not prevail against this particular assailant, necessitating(m spite of his best practical endeavours) both urgent exhortation to persistand the timely intervention of his young kinsman. Highlighting his traditional'helper' status, Wiglaf expresses outrage and dismay as he castigates thecowardly companions, but he will regret the old king's perceived wilfulrefusal to heed advice, bringing misery to so many (286off. The messenger,of course, unambiguously blames the historically aggressive Geats for thepresent peril.) The narrator will again subdy expose the poetic fiction byobserving diat he has not heard of any man, however brave, who benefitedfrom standing in the path of a dragon's poisonous breath, or from interferingwith a ring-hall while its guardian was awake (2836433). He neverthelessapplauds the courage of the kinsmen before God favours his erstwhile cham-pion with an honourable (if less than glorious) death.

    If, as Barnes suggests, the role and function of the hero passed automaticallyat death to his helper (the hero's folkloric worth resting solely m gloriousdeeds), the memorial barrow commissioned by the dying Beowulf to ensureeverlasting fame must be understood to be significant, if not remarkable, inthe context of this poem. Indeed, Beowulf may well have been regarded as asupremely satisfying, self-fulfilling epic in terms both of die unqualifiedtriumph that is conceived for its mythic hero and the indisputable Christianvalues that it upholds. As the dragon is cut down, the narrator observes that,for the prince, that was the final occasion of victory brought about by hisown deeds (270ob-io). At 2747ff., Beowulf wishes to examine die fabulousgold and jewellery ... poet ic 5y seft mcegel after maddumwelan min alcetan/ lifond leodsripe, pone ic longe heold (' ... so that, on account of that abundanceof treasure, I may die more readily relinquish my life and country, that Ihave held for so long'). Early in the work, he remarks that fate will oftenspare an undoomed man if his courage is good, but bodi stones convincingly

  • 340 CHRISTIAN AND FOLKLORIC TRADITION IN BEOWULFdemonstrate that God determines the fates and fortunes of men.49 His self-conscious spiritual and moral conviction (23296*". and below), evidently merit-ing divine approval,50 affirm a far more significant Sapiential truth, that Godassuredly favours the nght-thinking doomed man:

    Ic 3as leode heoldfiftig wintra; naes se folccymng,ymbesittendra aerug 3ara,|)e mec guflwinum gretan dorste,egesan 3eon. Ic on earde badmaelgesceafta, heold nun tela,ne sohte searonidas, ne me swor felaa

  • JUDITH GARDE 341

    to men as it was before (3166-8). They then ritually celebrate the worth andcourage of their dead leader, and the narrator affirms that it is fitting tohonour a man in this way as life passes from his body. The fiction is againrecalled as the old king is remembered for posterity ('men said that he was')as the most mild-mannered, courteous and gracious of worldly kings whowas also lofgeornostthe most eager for praise.

    The medieval Christian point of view proposed in my earlier paper andexpanded above may encourage readers to examine the two aspects of thework concerning which the text is absolutely clear. The first is the folk, orfabulous, element that pervades the composite story, that includes the seamlessintegration in Part II of Beowulf's dual persona of resurgent folk hero anddevoted king, which performs predictably throughout. The second involvesthe unreservedly Christian orientation of the work, wherein the persistentvirtue of the right-thinking hero in the course of two hugely entertainingheroic adventures warrants divine approval and justifies a spiritual reward.For this hero, as mdeed for God-fearing personae of any persuasion widegeond eordan, death does not represent that distressingly final act (bealocwealm,2265b) that confronted the heathen last survivor, as he regretfully consignedworldly goods to the earth. The triumph of Beowulfsuperficially, victoryover the dragon and the useful acquisition of hoarded gold, ensuring everlast-ing fameis absolute from every point of view. As m the earlier story, itoccurs in consequence of heroic aspiration and extraordinary deeds of courage,bolstered by persistent virtue and unprecedented divine decree, and it tran-scends not only fate (that traditional scourge of the Germanic hero) but alsodeath, legacy of Satan and Adam's sin, persistent bane of Christian andfolklonst alike.51 The work may or may not exemplify conscious, eventypical, English exploitation of folklonc convention. What is unmistakable isthis Christian poet's umque appropriation of the medium to convey his ownexemplary stories, and the evident suitability of his work for a Anglo-DanishChristian court. A context that is historically relevant challenges a modernreadership to consider the poem on its merits as a medieval fairy story,relieved in the first instance of the burden of conflicting opinion that hasdiminished this most famous of English folk heroes for decades.

    University of Melbourne, Parkinlle, Victoria 3052, Australia

    REFERENCES1 The text used is that of Fr. Klaeber, Beowulf source of Sapientia, where wisdom, strengthand the Fight at Finnsburg, 3rd edn, (Boston. and understanding are to be found (Bar.1950), with punctuation altered. 3 14). Rulers ignorant of Wisdom's teach-

    2 The Easter Saturday prophecy, Barudi ing (renowned instead for the gold and3:~38, exhorts the listener (historically, silver upon which mankind relies) and thesuffering Israel) to recognize the divine generations that came after them did not

  • 342 CHRISTIAN AND FOLKLORIC T R A D I T I O N IN BEOWULFlearn the way of knowledge, and so werebanished to the underworld (Ubi sunt pnn-dpes gentium'' . . Exterminah sunt, tt adtnferos descenderunt. Bar. 3:1621) Wamnggiants also inhabited God's lofty house inancient days, but were neither chosen byGod nor had the way of knowledgerevealed to them, and they, too, perishedin ignorance (Bar 3-268). Sap. 6 4fF.advises that, because die power and sover-eignty of kings are endowments of theMost High, their actions and intentions willbe closely scrutinized, and ruthless judg-ment will befall rulers who fail to governjustly, observe the law, and act in accord-ance with the will of God. Judith Garde,'Sapientia, ubi sunt, and the Heroic Ideal mBeowulf, Studia Neophil, 66 No. 2 (1994),15973 (see notes 16 and 29 below). Thesequence of events m each story is discussedin this paper.

    3 See 'Beowulf: an Epic Fairy-Tale', in Poetsand Prophets. Essays in Medieval Studies byG.T. Shepherd, eds, T. A Shippey andJohn Pickles (Cambridge D. S Brewer,1990), p 54 Roberta Frank locatesGermanic legend 'somewhere between his-tory and fairy tale [telling] of a distant,largely imaginary past' She suggests thatBeowulf, like Widsith, Deor and a rangeof literary figures from Aeneas to RobinHood, is 'a new hero in legend-land' whocan look back two generations to the on-gins of the GeaOshSwedish feuds, and for-ward to the next to prophesy the treacheryof Ingeld; that legendary heroes from Scyldto Hama are 'set m a distant mirror con-veying the illusion of a many-stoned longago' 'Germanic Legend in Old EnglishLiterature', in The Cambridge Companion toOld English Literature, eds, MalcolmGodden and Michael Lapidge (CambridgeUP, 1991, rep. 1992), pp. 100, 89, 98. ALeslie Harris recalls that poets since Homerhave reshaped their material to suit dieirparticular demands ['The Vatic Mode inBeowulf, Neophil., 74 (1990), 592], and itis noted that this exotic vernacular productof a formidible Christian literary imagina-tion amply warrants its preservation amongthe Laon-denved prose exotica in theBeouT

  • JUDITH GARDEconventional narrative in die openingsequences to suggest die magical trans-formation of an aggressive man-dragon(evil King Heremod, anonymously conce-aled in the form of an angry last survivor).Tnpp proposes diat this (invisible) 'man'violates die sleeping king's gift-throne andsteals a ceremonial cup, which Beowulfmust retrieve or cease to rule (pp. 43, 115)Wigkf later returns this cup to die dyingking (pp 97ff). His justification ofBeowulf's revenge on the man-dragonwho has bitterly offended God (2327bff)and God's ready response (pp 123, 126,100) is simply fanciful

    8 A wretched diief's random act is regardedas inappropriate to die high literary andmoral tone of me work, too insignificantto upset a conventional dragon, and morallyunlikely to 'command' die protection ofGod (229i-3a Gehealdep refers to a manwho is unfage, 'not destined to die', whoholds, or retains Waldendes hyldo Tnpp,pp 46ff., iooff) The conjunction ofhabnum horde and hond m the damaged linesat 2216 suggests manual removal from, notoccupation of, die heathen hoard, and adefinitive precious vessel, sincfat (2231a),opens die narrated history of die dragon'shoard in die (substantially erased) passagewhere Tnpp's magical transformation andseizure supposedly occur, where it is trans-lated (p 54) 'Treasure gold ([the man-dragon] sought diere*) A gilded cup, cosdydrinking vessel {fated wage, dryrufat deore,2253b4a) is prommendy recalled by dielast survivor and a fated wage is duly handedto some pnnce at 2282a. Tnpp's agitatedseeker of die precious sxrufxt at die barrow(angry Beowulf, 2300a) is also the hostilecreature diat plans repayment widi fire forits cosdy drinking vessel (230568, .. woldese lapa lige forgyldan/ dritufat dyre).Significandy, Beowulf learns die ongm ofdie feud while proceeding as one of twelveto confront die dragon (24Oiff.), when hereceives the precious vessel (maSpumfai)from an informer, and die unfortunate thir-teenth man who initiated that strife had toreturn against his will to diat earthen halldiat he alone knew about (He ofer willangxongl to pees pe he eordsele anne unsse,

    343

    2409b10). The cup is again dismissed asemblematic of die hoard (pp. 979). SeeTheodore M Andersson, 'The Thief mBeowulf1, Speculum, 59.3 (1984), 493-508

    9 T. A. Shippey offers the paradoxical notionthat, while fairy tales arc traditionally 'stor-ies about magic', as far as possible, all diemagic has been removed from Beowulf bythe Christian poet The Fairy-TaleStructure of Beowulf, N&Q, 16 (Jan.1969), I O - I I

    10 At 2236b7a. The last survivor advises at2249b that 'deadi in war earned off .every man of my people' (guddeadformm .fyra gchwylcne,/ leoda minra), not magic.

    11 Tnpp, pp. 95, 304. Some sixty referencesand over thirty different descriptions of diehostile, people-harmer fail to suggest man-dragon. Wyrm appears some eighteen times,and die creature diat is unceremoniouslyshoved over die cliff is dismissed as draca,wyrm, fratwa hyrdc (3i3ibff, 'dragon, ser-pent, guardian of die ornaments'). KennediSisam desenbes die dragon's serpentineform and die geography of its cave in'Beowulf's Fight with die Dragon', RES,n.s. 9 No 38 (1958), 129-40.

    12 Clare Kinney offers a useful account ofconstruction techniques within die narrat-ive in 'The Needs of die Moment PoeticForegrounding as a Narrative Device mBeowulf, SP, 82 (1985), 295-314.

    13 Klaeber long ago noted die complete dom-ination of contemporary English life byChristian ideas ('God's governance of dieworld and of every human being, the evilof sin, die doings of die devil, die lastjudgment, heaven and hell . '), dieBeowulf poet's evident familiarity withChristian terminology, die Bible, die lit-urgy and ecclesiastical literature, and diepredominandy Christian tone and ediicalviewpoint of die work. Beowulf, p. xlix

    14 Frank, 'Germanic Legend', p 101.

    15 Wa bid pcem 5e steal/ purh slidne mi sawlebescufan/ infyresfadm,frofre ne wenan, / wihtegewendan Wei b\5 pom pe mot/ afterdeaidage Dnhten secean/ ond to Fader

    fapmum freodo wilntan. ('Woe will befall dieone who shall, dirough temble ill-will,dirust souls into die fire's embrace,* neverto expect consolation, any change at all. It

  • 344 C H R I S T I A N AND F O L K L O R I C T R A D I T I O N IN BEOWULF

    will be well for the one who after his death-day can approach the Lord and desire peaceat the bosom of the Father') *FollowingKaske. See text below at n. 25

    16 Levin L. SchUckuig applies the Augustinianand Gregorian model Christian kingpeaceable, just, benevolent, the shepherdof his people, completely and humblydevoted to the will of Godfirst toHrothgar but more particularly to the vir-tuous Beowulf 'The Ideal of Kingship mBeowulf, rep in An Anthology of BeowulfCritiasm, ed., Lewis E Nicholson (NotreDame UP, 1963), pp 35-49 See also MaryP. Richards, 'A Reexamination of Beowulf,11 3180-3182,' ELN, 10 No 3 (1973),163-7.

    17 Stanley, In the Foreground, pp. 230-43;Garde, 'Sapientia, ubt sunt,' (passim).

    18 Parallels w i th Beowulf'are self-evident. Like

    Grendel , Holofemes is a kind of devil (deof-ulcunda, 61b), hateful to the Saviour (nerg-mde lap, 45b), whi le Jud i th is his g lonousservant (netgendes peowen brymfui, 73b4a).God's champion in the Grendel story,Beowulf acknowledges divine omnipo-tence and aid, and is duly permitted toavenge himself alone with his sword,and to open the golden hoard Godgrants victory in battle to each nghteousprotagonist and each accompanying troopis preserved by the heroic actions of itsleader. Each fiendish, heathen villain isconsigned to hell (Holofernes into fearfultorment), while the soul of spiritually con-fident Beowulf seeks the judgment of thenghteous and Judith, having initiallyobtained Holofernes' great nches, andhaving been granted great personal wealthand esteem on account of her faith, ulti-mately achieves her anticipated heavenlyreward.

    " See Joseph P. Christopher, trans and annotSt Augustine- The First CatecheticalInstruction (Westminster Md.: Newman,1946, rep 1952), pp. 64-87.

    20 Martin Green, 'Man, Time, andApocalypse in The Wanderer, The Seafarer,and Beowulf', JEGP, 74 (1975), 504 Thetechnical concept, Heilsgesditchtehistoryof salvaaon/savmg historyis briefly con-

    sidered in relation to Old English verse mGarde, Old English Poetry, pp. 9ff.

    21 John M Hill, 'Beowulf Value, and theFrame of Tune', MLQ, 40 (1979), 5-7,note 8

    22 Manjane Osbome, 'The Great Feud:Scriptural History and Strife in Beowulf,PMLA, 93 (1978), 973-81. Fred CRobinson describes a double poetic per-spective involving the post-conversion pre-sent of narrator and audience and thecondemned (because pre-Chnstian) heroicpast Beowulf and the Appositive Style(Knoxville Tennessee U P , 1985).

    23 J o h n D . Niles, 'Pagan Survivals and PopularBelief' , in The Cambridge Companion,P 137

    24 Harris , "The Vaac M o d e ' , 593

    25 R. E. Kaske, 'Beowulf and the Book ofEnoch', Speculum, 46 No. 3 (1971), 421-31See David Williams' comprehensive accountof patristic and traditional perceptions ofCain as the originator both of worldlymurder and strife and of monstrous, post-diluvian progeny, in Cam and Beowulf AStudy in Secular Allegory (Toronto TorontoU P , 1982) C h . II, T h e Cain Tradit ion,pp . 1939, Orchard, Pnde and Prodigies,Chap. Ill , T h e Kin of Cain, pp . 5 8 - 8 3 . Seealso R u t h MeUinkoff, 'Cain's monstrousprogeny in Beowulf part I, Noachic tradi-t ion' , ASE, 8 (1979), 143-62; part II, post-diluvian survival, ASE, 9 (1980), 183-97Kaske finds the wel bid commendat ion ofthe nghteous to be irrelevant except in thecontext of / Enoch It is central to the p re -sent reading

    26 Stanley J. Kahrl, 'Feuds in Beowulf. ATragic Necessity?' MP, 69 N o . 3 (1972),190.

    27 The Exeter Anthology of Old English Poetry,Vol I Texts, ed , Bernard J Mui r (ExeterU P . 1994). P- 259. with alteredpunctuat ion

    28 E g Frank, 'Germanic Legend', in The

    Cambridge Companion, p 103.19

    Frank, p. 95. King Alfred's nostalgicreflection on the nghteous and heroic kingswho inhabited England's past might as wellhave been wntten to desenbe the Hrothgarfigure in this poem. He notes 'how thekings who had power over the people in

  • JUDITH GARDE 345those days obeyed God and his messengers,and they held peace, morality and powerwithin the country, and also extended theirterritory abroad, and how they succeededboth m war and in wisdom'. (Sweet,3.59), quoted Kathleen O"Bnen O'Keefe,'Heroic Values and Christian Ethics', m TheCambridge Companion, p 114.

    30 Shepherd, 'Beowulf, p . 55

    31 Sap s-jff. contrasts the fate of the godless

    at j u d g m e n t w h o have not k n o w n the waysof the Lord, whose arrogance, wealth andboasting speech disappear wi thout trace oradvantage to them, and the righteous, w h owill not only live forever, enjoying theirreward widi the Lord, but will receive theroyal coronet of beauty from the hand ofGod himself It is inconceivable in thisexemplary work that God would consignhis chosen champion to hell along widi thevillainous Grendel, while an heroic-age'good heathen ' seems equally unlikely.

    32 Grendel 's avenging mothe r recalls bod i

    pseudepigraphical and folklonc tradition33

    Edward I Condren regards the b u n e d goldas unusable, unavailing to men . 'UnnytGold m Beowulf 3168', PQ, 52 (1973),296-9

    34 E.g Rosemary Huisman, 'The ThreeTellings of Beowulf's Fight with Grendel'sM o t h e r ' , Leeds Studies in English, n s , 20(1989), 2 1 7 - 4 8 .

    35 Klaeber identifies ' t w o distinct parts j o i n e din a very loose manner and held togetheronly by the person of the hero' (Beowulf,p. h) Paull F Baum also recognizes anotherpoem in Part II with the same hero 'TheBeowulf Poet', rep in Nicholson, AnAnthology, pp 354-5. See Kevin SKiernan, Beowulf and the Beowulf Manuscript(New Brunswick, NJ Rutgers U P , 1981)Chapter III, notably pp. 256ff. Explainingminor inconsistencies, Sisam notes 'An oldand widespread story of a hero's battle witha dragon w h o guarded treasure has beenelaborated to make Beowulf 's last adven-ture ' 'Beowulf 's Fight', 132.

    34 I follow here, with reservations, Daniel RBarnes, 'Folktale Morphology and theStructure of Beowulf, Speculum, 45 (1970),41633. Propp notes that functions 'serveas stable, constant elements in folk-tales,

    independent of who performs them, andhow they are fulfilled by die dramatis per-sonae They constitute the components ofa folk-tale'. Vladimir Propp, Morphology ofthe Folktale, e d , with introduction bySvatava Pirkova-Jakobson, trans LaurenceScott (Bloomington Indiana U.P. , 1958)pp 2 0 - 1 ; Barnes, 'Folktale Morphology',418. No t all of Propp's sequential functionsare relevant in any story

    37 In "The Fairy-Tale Structure of Beowulf,

    n 9 above, Shippey discusses manyProppian functions in common wimBarnes, adding, m die introduction to theGrendel episode, the absence of a familymember (Scyld), and the arbitrary givingand carrying out of an order (die construc-tion of Heorot) , 5-6 .

    38 Barnes, 421-4

    39 Barnes, 425. As 'everything begins anew,'

    Propp notes 'diat many folktales are com-posed of two kinds of functions which maybe labelled "moves" A new villainous actcreates a new move, and, in this manner,sometimes a whole range of folktales'(Morphology, pp 52 -3 )

    40 Ci t ing Ol iver F. Emerson ' s 'Legends of

    Cain , Especially in O l d and MiddleEnglish ' , PMLA, 21 (1906), Kaske notesdiat ' the classic reference to die giants' lackof saptentia is Bar 3-268' 'Sapienttactforti-tudo as d ie Contro l l ing T h e m e ofBeowul f ' , in Nicho l son , An Anthology,p . 288, n 4 8 .

    41 P r o p p specifically mcludes fights w i th

    dragons in diis function (Barnes, 425).42

    Barnes, 4 2 8 - 3 2 , P ropp , Morphology,pp . 4 5 - 6 (Klaeber, Beowulf, p xiv.)

    43 Clark, Beowulf, p . 113.

    44 Harris, ' T h e Vane M o d e ' , 592

    45 The BeowulfyUnferth encounter concernsthe latter's jealous defence of his reputation(499606) The legendary giant-killer,Sigemund, having killed his dragon forhoarded gold widiout the help of Fitela,was designated after his deadi as mostfamous for deeds of courage (87409003).See briefly Garde , 'SapienUa, ubi sunt',164-5.

    46 E .g Klaeber, Beowulf, p p . 2 2 6 - 7 ; E. Talbot

    Dona ldson , A New Prose Translation ( N e wYork, 1966) p 58 (quoted by Doig),

  • 346 CHRISTIAN AND FOLKLORIC TRADITION IN BEOWULFJ F. Doig, 'Beowulf 3069b: Curse orConsequence'' ELN, 19 No. 1 (1981), 3-6;Bruce Mitchell, 'Beowulf Lines 3074-3075The Damnation of Beowulf?' Poetka,(Tokyo) 13 (1982), 15-26 (Rep On OldEnglish Selected Essays Oxford: Blackwell,1988, pp. 30-40). Goldsmith's preferredreading favoured Beowulf, conflicting withher understanding of the hero as sinner,and the (redundant) curse was dismissed asa literary blemish. The Mode and Meaning,p 95 Tnpp settled for ' less of paganmagic than of Christian piety and the earn-est wish [uttered by pious Geats] that Godexclude everyone from such dungs as treas-ure for his and everyone else's good' MoreAbout the Fight, p . 297 .

    47 Green suggests apocalyptic influence he re ,

    citing / / Barudt, 6:89. m the buna l of thetreasure and images o f loss and desolation,he identifies ' t he symbolic buna l of theGeats and the surrogate elegiac lament fortheir passing' Be ing cursed by hea thenprinces until doomsday, the treasure estab-lishes the requisite eschatological c o n n e c -tion. ' M a n , T i m e , Apocalypse ' , p 515

    48 Sawlhord similarly designates the body m

    The Fates of Mortals (34b), m this instance

    o f the hanged man . Mui r , The ExeterAnthology, p p . 2 4 7 - 5 0 .

    49 In Fates, above, the mighty Lord distributesvariously to all around die regions of theearth, decrees, assigns and determines theirdestinies (646, Swa missenlke meahtigdryhten/ geond corpan sceat cxillum dttlcd;/scyred and saifed ond gesceapo healdeS). God'sGifts to Humankind (Muir, The ExeterAnthology, p p . 2 2 3 - 7 ) catalogues m a n y andvaried h u m a n skdls and attributes as divineendowments .

    50 Niles notes: 'Despite all the p o m p of thepagan ceremonies that are portrayed somajestically at the close, w i th the bui ld ingof a pyre , the cons ignment o f grave-goodsto die earth, and the ntual circling of thedead king's barrow, the ntes are appro-priately empty . Long before his pyre islit, [Beowulf's] soul has left his corpse toseek out 'the judgment of the righteous'(2820), which one likes to think it finds'.'Pagan Survivals', in The CambridgeCompanion, pp. 138-9

    51 Shippey ponders that the folk-tale, with itscommon magical and 'lived happily everafter' formulae, may be 'a story about theattack and defeat of death'. 'The Fairy-TaleStructure', p. 11.