During the Middle Ages, famous kings built great mead halls, which served as the location of the king’s authority where he provided his warriors with food and drink, bestowed various gifts upon them, and administrated justice. The good king’s bestowal of gifts on his warriors and his feasting with them recognizes their worth and his own generosity (504-506). “The relationship between the warrior and his king is based less on subordination of one man’s will to another’s will than on mutual trust and respect” (Greenblatt 27). Good kings indulge warriors with great respect and keep their promises, which help the kings inspire their warriors and make loyal followers (Napierkowski 506).
In Beowulf, the concept of kingship is addressed in the persons of Hrothgar, Hygelac, and Beowulf. Hrothgar is the good but useless elderly king of the Danes who cannot protect his kingdom from the outrageous Grendel, Hygelac is the king of the Geats and Beowulf’s lord, and Beowulf is the king of the Geats and Hygelac’s successor (Napierkowski 506). The Beowulf poet describes how Hrothgar, like numerous other kings of the time, ordered his followers to build the great mead hall, Heorot, where he feasts with his warriors and rewards them:
So his mind turned
To hall-building: he handed down orders
For men to work on a great mead-hall
Meant to be a wonder of the world forever;
It would be his throne-room and there he would dispense
His God-given goods to young and old-
But not the common land or people’s lives. (67-73)
Hrothgar and other kings during the Middles Ages would present warriors with rewards such as gold and armor for their bravery (Napierkowski 504). The Beowulf poet illustrates how Hrothgar, king of the Danes, rewards his warrior, Beowulf, for his success over the death of the “powerful demon” (86):
Then Halfdane’s son presented Beowulf
With a gold standard as a victory gift,
An embroidered banner; also breast-mail
And a helmet; and a sword carried high,
That was both precious object and token of honor. (1019-1023)
To become excellent leaders, good kings encourage warriors by presenting them with rewards, feasting with them, respecting them, and keeping promises unbroken (Napierkowski 504-506).
During the Middle Ages, when a warrior vowed loyalty to his king, he did not become his servant; instead, he became his voluntary companion. A good warrior would take pride in defending his king and fighting in his wars (Greenblatt 27-28) and undertakes a challenge not for his own glory but to enhance his king’s glory (Napierkowski 507). In the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf, the truly noble Beowulf fights the “God-cursed brute” (121) Grendel not for his own glory but “to heighten Hylgelac’s fame” (435). Good warriors are rewarded with God-given goods by their kings for their merit and worthiness. Good warriors are greatly respected by the kingdom and the warrior society (Napierkowski 506).
In a warrior society, the relationship between good warriors is of deep significance (Greenblatt 27-28). A good warrior would not engage in thoughtless bloodshed because the meaningless killing of one’s own blood is the ultimate unthinkable with the warrior (Napierkowski 507). “If one of his kinsmen had been slain, a warrior had a moral responsibility either to kill the slayer or to exact the payment of man-price in compensation. The failure to take revenge or to exact compensation is considered disgraceful.” In the Old English epic poem Beowulf, “Hrothgar’s torture over the murders committed by the ‘greedy and grim’ (122) Grendel is not only for the loss of his good warriors but also for the shame of his inability either to kill Grendel or to exact a ‘death-price’ from the killer.” When the “monstrous hell-bride” (1259), Grendel’s mother, beheads Hrothgar’s highest placed advisor, Aeschere, Hrothgar is terrified by the revenge killing of his old friend (Greenblatt 28). The “powerful and highborn” (198) Beowulf mentions the warrior code to Hrothgar during the gloomy scene of Aeschere’s death:
Wise sir, do not grieve. It is always better
To avenge dear ones that to indulge in mourning.
For every one of us, living in this world
Means waiting for our end. (1384-1387)
The Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf portrays the identity and duties of the good warrior and the good king (Napierkowski 506). The protagonist, Beowulf, portrays an excellent youthful warrior and an outstanding aged king. During the beginning of the poem, Beowulf is the truly noble warrior, while in the end he is the wise mature king. Overall, Beowulf is a better warrior than a king. Like a good warrior, he is devoted to his king, Hylgelac, and his fellow Geat warriors. He follows the complicated orders given by his king and takes pride in fighting his king’s battles; therefore, Beowulf is Hylgelac’s voluntary companion. When the king orders Beowulf to sail to the Bright-Danes and defend Hrothgar’s great mead hall, Beowulf, like a brilliant warrior, agrees immediately. The Beowulf poet explains that Beowulf is a loyal warrior when Beowulf elucidates: “We belong by birth to the Geat people/ and owe allegiance to Lord Hyleglac” (260-261). A good warrior always pursues a fight “for the glory of winning” (2514). The superior warrior, Beowulf, tries to win his battles not for his own glory but for his king’s glory. The young warrior fights the harsh Grendel to defend Hrothgar’s mead hall and to intensify his king’s glory.
Fifty years later, Beowulf, the old king of the Geats, still has a warrior mentality instead of a king state of mind. He believes he can fight the dragon even though he is older:
“I risked my life
Often when I was young. Now I am old,
But as king of the people I shall pursue this fight
For the glory of winning, if the evil one will only
Abandon his earth-fort and face me in the open.” (2511-2515)
Beowulf overlooks the fact that kings should never directly engage into battles. He forgets that his warriors are responsible to fight his battles and win the battles for his glory. However, at the end of the Old-English epic poem when Beowulf is the king of the Geats, the Beowulf poet describes him as “Beowulf the warrior” (2559) because he fights the battle with the dragon “for the glory of winning” (2514).
Robert Zemeckis’ film, Beowulf, differs from the original Old-English epic poem, Beowulf, in numerous angles. The hero, Beowulf, plays a convoluted role as the brave Geat warrior and the powerful king of the Danes. Beowulf is a better warrior than a king due to the commitment he made to his king and Hrothgar regarding the slaying of the fiend that agonizes the Danes. Like a good warrior, he is loyal to his king and takes pride in heightening his king’s glory. When he is cautioned about Grendel and is informed that he will obtain gold for his victory, he replies, “If we die it will be for glory, not for gold.”
As described in the poem, there is “no one else like him alive” (196), and he is the “mightiest man on earth” (197). Beowulf represents the ideal warrior during the Anglo-Saxon period (Napierkowski 507). Resembling a superior warrior in Zemeckis’ film, Beowulf is proud of his ancestors when he introduces himself as “Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow.” However, in the poem, he introduces himself by giving importance to both his king and his father:
“We belong by birth to the Geat people
And owe allegiance to Lord Hygelac.
In his day, my father was a famous man,
A noble warrior-lord named Ecgtheow.” (260-263)
Beowulf and fourteen other brave Geat warriors sail across the sea from Sweden to Denmark to eliminate the evil that has tormented the Bright-Danes for twelve years. They remain in Herot to fight the monster and win freedom for the Danes. After Beowulf destroys Grendel, Grendel’s mother attacks the kingdom to take revenge for her son’s death. Soon Beowulf hunts Grendel’s mother, and she traps the exceptional warrior by her beauty and her choice of magnificent words. She informs him that she can distinguish his true self: “Underneath your glamour, you are as much as a monster as my son, Grendel.” By enlightening him with the sharp words, Grendel’s mother promises Beowulf that he will be the greatest king alive as long as she has the gold dragon goblet in her custody. She tells him that he is “Such a strong man with the strength of a king, the king you will one day become.” Soon Beowulf’s arrogance and bravery compels him to generate erroneous decisions. Subsequent to Beowulf lies about Grendel’s mother’s death, Hrothgar declares Beowulf his successor and commits suicide, leaving his kingdom and his young beautiful queen as Beowulf’s reward and responsibility (Zemeckis).
Several years later, even though he became the king by wicked motivation, the aged Beowulf still has the good warrior attitude searching for a line of attacks to be a hero again. When the dragon, his sinful son, attacks his kingdom, Beowulf prepares to fight the battle, showing that he, in spite of everything, has the good warrior manner. He ignores the fact that a king should by no means openly fight in a battle and tries to kill the dragon and succeeds; however, he dies by his corrupt son. Beowulf’s death is mourned like every good king’s and good warrior’s. Both in the poem and the film, Beowulf portrays a better warrior than a king due to his faithful warrior characteristics (Zemeckis).
Works Cited
Beowulf. Dir. Robert Zemeckis. Perf. Angelina Jolie, Ray Winstone, John Malkovich, Crispin Glover, Anthony Hopkins, Brendan Gleeson, and Alison Lohman. Paramount, 2007.
Greenblatt, Stephen, ed. “Beowulf.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors. Vol. A., 8th Ed. New York: Norton, 2006. 1-99.
Hanning, Robert. “Beowulf and Anglo-Saxon Poetry.” European Writers: The Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Ed. George Stade. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1983. Literature Resources from Gale. Gale. Lauleen B Wallace Community College AVL. 4 June 2008 <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=LitRG&u=abl_lbwcc>.
Napierkowski, Thomas J. “Beowulf: The Heroic, The Monstrous, and Anglo-Saxon Concepts of Leadership.” International Journal of Public Administration 28.5/6 (May 2005): 503-516. Business Source Premier. EBSCO. Lauleen B Wallace Community College AVL, Andalusia, AL. 3 June 2008 <http://search.ebscohost.com/
login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=17321789&site=ehost-live>.
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