8 March 2009
The scop finishes up the song about Hnæf, Hengist, and Finn. Hengist and the Danes lived with Finn and the Frisians for the winter, unable to sail home due to weather. But they did not forget the wrong done to them, and come spring they struck back in revenge, killing Finn and looting his treasury. Then they sailed home, taking Finn’s wife, Hildeburh back to her Danish homeland.
When the song ends, we get another mention of Unferth, and then Wealhtheow performs another cup ceremony and makes a plea that Beowulf watch out and be a benefactor to her two young sons. She also reminds Hrothulf, Hrothgar’s nephew and likely heir, of the kindness and wealth that she and her husband have given him, and that he has an obligation to care for her sons when Hrothgar eventually passes. There is a strong implication in the poem that Hrothulf will dispatch the two young boys as soon as he can get away with it to secure his place on the throne, a bit of political intrigue to spice up the main plot of monster-killing.
We learn a bit more about Unferth, the counselor who challenged Beowulf before the fight with Grendel, accusing the hero of being less than he maintained. In line 1165 he is called a þyle, an orator or spokesman. Some have maintained that this actually means that he is a court jester of sorts, also pointing out that he is referred to as being drunk when he makes his earlier challenge. But he seems to be more than an entertainer. He is also described here as, lines 1165-68a (this section is hypermetrical):
Swylċe þær Ūnferþ þyle
æt fotum sæt frēan Scyldinga; ġehwylċ hiora his ferhþe trēowde,
þæt hē hæfde mōd miċel, þēah þe hē his magum nære
ārfæst æt ecga ġelacum.( Likewise, there Unferth the spokesman
sat at the foot of the king of the Scyldings; each of them trusted his spirit,
that he had great courage, though he was not with his kinsman
honorable in the play of edges.)
The ecga ġelacum, or play of edges, is swordplay, a reference to Unferth having killed his brothers. Here, that act is described as something less than completely honorable, but probably short of criminal—as he still maintains an honorable position at the king’s side. Ārfæst can be translated as merciful, as well as honorable, so the translator can spin how the modern audience reacts to the character. The poet tantalizes us with snippets of Unferth’s backstory, but never gives us the complete low-down on him. Whether the Anglo-Saxon audience would be familiar with the character from other tales, or if they would be similarly tantalized is not known.
We are similarly tantalized by the subtextual story of Hrothgar’s succession. Hrothgar earlier leaned toward adopting Beowulf—to what degree is open to interpretation. Here Wealhtheow puts the kibosh on that in lines 1175-76a:
Mē man sæġde þæt þū ðē for sunu wolde
hereri[n]ċ habban. Heorot is ġefælsod,
bēahsele beorhta; brūc þenden þū mōte
maniġra mēdo, ond þīnum māgum læf
folc ond rīċe, þonne ðū forð scyle,
metodsceaft seon.(I have been told that you would for a son
have this warrior. Heorot is cleansed,
the bright ring-hall; enjoy while you can
your many rewards, and leave to your kinsmen
your people and kingdom, when you must go forth
to see the decree of fate.)
She goes on to attempt to enlist Beowulf and Hrothulf in the guardianship of her sons. There is a lot of political intrigue just below the surface of Hrothgar’s court. And from this intrigue, which we never learn the full details of—it is a minor subplot, almost subtext—Wealhtheow emerges as one of the most fully rounded characters in the poem. While she is certainly not a focus of the poem, she is something more than just a minor character—I haven’t counted, but I suspect she has more speaking lines than anyone except Beowulf, Hrothgar, and Wiglaf (who appears in the final part of the poem.) She has depth and her own purposes and ambitions. She is more than just a trophy wife to an aged king, but something of a power in the court. No mean feat for a woman in the warrior society of Germanic tribes.
She is also portrayed as a skilled political maneuverer. Her wording in the above-cited passage indicates this. She was present when Hrothgar “adopted” Beowulf, but here she gives herself plausible deniability by invoking the omnipresent and impersonal man, or they, as reporter of the fact.
We’re shortly going to be introduced to the other major female character in the piece, Grendel’s mother.
