RHETORICAL STRUCTURE IN THE BEOWULF

A THESIS

IN ENGLISH

by

Weta Spykes Wy^ie

Approved

Accepted

Texas Technological College

August, 1954

P^T'^'i

RHETORICAL STRUCTURE IN THE BEOWULF

A THESIS

IN ENGLISH

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Technological College

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

by

Weta Spykes Wylie It

Lubbock, Texas

August, 1954

ACKNOWLEDGEMINTS

I wish to express my sincere appreciation to my

thesis committee. Dr. Alan M. F. Girnn, Dr. Everett A.

Gillis, and Dr. Ted E. Edwards. I am especially indebted

to Dr. Gunn, chairman of my committee, whose scholarship

and interest in Old English have proved an inspiration

during this study.

iii

CONTENTS

Chapter Page

I. Introduction: Review of Relevant Stylistic Analyses; Purpose and Scope of the Study. . 1

II. Parallelism B

III. Balance and Contrast. 26

IV. Climax 39

V. Repetition: Echo and Envelope 62

VI. Relation of Rhetorical Devices to Larger

Structural Elements 72

BIBLIOGRAPHY 77

INDEX Si

iv

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTICN: RELEVANT STYLISTIC ANALYSES;

PURPOSE AND SCOPE OP THE STUDY

Today in the British Museum in London the interested

student may observe a unique manuscript. Known as "Cotton i

Vitellius A XV," this manuscript contains—in addition to

jeight other Old English texts--the Beowulf poem of 31d2 1 I

verses. The Beowulf has been variously described by modern!

critics as: "the oldest epic narrative in any modem Europeai^ 2 \

tongue"; "the chief literary monument of the Old English ' 3

period"; "the earliest extended vernacular poem of the

j-liddle Age." From a distant and obscure past this poem has

emerged to occupy a renowned place in literary annals. 5

. W. Chambers has told the familiar story of how three

fenerations of scholars, distributed among the ten nations

bf Germanic speech, by fitting together fragments of infor- \

1 Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg. ed. Fr. Klaeber, third edition TSoston, l"55lJ, pp. xcv ff.

2 Charls W. Kennedy, Beowulf (New York, 1940), p. ix. 3 Kemp Malone in A Literary Histoi*y of England,

ed. A. C. Baugh et al (New~York, 194^), p. y2. 4 Charles ST Baldwin, Three Medieval Centuries in

England (Boston, 1932), p. 18. 5 Beowulf: An Introduction (Cambridge, 1932), p. 1.

mation and using imagination to bridge the gaps have to

some degree penetrated the darkness of five centuries which

lies behind the MS. Out of this rich scholarship, contro­

versial on some points but in general agreement on many,

has come the accepted assumption that the unknown author of

the Beowulf was a contemporary of the Venerable Bede, who

died in 735. The Beowulf poet was a Christian writing at

the time of the merging in England of the two great cultures

—pagan and Christian. The historical characters of the

poem belong to a period much earlier than that of the poet.

William W. Lawrence has described the poem as a highly

sophisticated and essentially courtly epic; it approaches

"a mirror for aristocratic princes," giving instruction in

the virtues that should distinguish royalty.

Earlier studies, concerned with problems of author- j

ship and inherent imaginative and historical traditions,

have pointed the way toward research on matters of structurej

and meter and style. Such scholars as R. W. Chambers, Fr. i

Klaeber, William W. Lawrence, and Kemp Malone have gone far !

in making available to the general reader the artistry and

beauty of the Beowulf.

6 Beowulf and Epic Tradition (Cambridge, 1928,

1930), pp. TTT:

Proceeding from the background provided by the com­

prehensive analyses of Professors Chambers, Lawrence, and

Klaeber, many scholars have made valuable contributions to

the understanding of the structure and style of the Beowulf.j

These studies have developed a climate of opinion wherein

the poem is regarded as artistically unified and well-wrought.

J. R. R. Tolkien in "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics,"

has attacked the criticism which maintains that the poem is ' 7 !

structurally weak. Emphasizing the high esteem which he

feels for the scholarship of both Ker and Chambers, Tolkien

finds, nevei*theless, that he must take issue with their view

that the poem is feeble in construction. On the contrary,

he declares the structure of the poem to be solid and jstrong.

He regards the Beowulf as the most successful poem in Old

English because its language, meter, theme, and structure are

most nearly in harmony.

A' In The Digressions in Beowul f, Adrien Bon jour

considers the Scyld Episode, Digressions Concerning Geatish

History, Digressions of Biblical Character, and the Elegy

of the Lone Survivor. He offers this justification for

I 7 Proceedings of the British Academy. XXII I (London, 1936), pp. 245*^95. Professor Tolkien cites iW. P. Ker, Dark Ages and R. W. Chambers, "Beowulf and the 'Heroic Age, "

8 Oxford, 1950.

thesenapparehtly unrelated"^^isodes and passages: they

provide an impression of depth; they provoke constant c u r i ­

o s i t y i n t he h i s t o r i c a l background; they a r e symbolically i

valuable in the a r t i s t i c design of the poem; and, above a l l ,

they underscore, balance, or provide contras t t o t he major '

themes and s t r u c t u r a l elements of t h e poem.

Showing the same t rend toward a higher evaluat ion of

the Beowulf poet as a conscious and subt le a r t i s t a s t he

t reatments by Tolkien and Bonjour are t he s tudies by James

R. Hulbert ,^ Joan Bloomfield, l° Arthur E. Du Bois , James

R. Gaskin,!^ and Edward Francis Nolan. ^ All of these

s tud ies a re va luable ; however, most of them a r e shor t and

none a r e concerned with a subject the exact na ture of the

one I s h a l l undertake in my considerat ion of Beowulf.

Two treatments upon which I shal l espec ia l ly r e l y

iLn my own study require f u l l e r review a t t h i s po in t ,

jddeline C. B a r t l e t t has examined t h e whole body of Anglo-

Saxon poetry with a view to determining t h e degree of

9 "Beowulf and the Class ica l Epic ," Modem Philology. XLIV U946-47), pp. 65-75.

B Q „^^^ Style and Structure of t he Beowulf." RES. XIV (1938), pp. 393-403. ^ 11 "The Unity of the Beowulf," PMLA. XLIX (1934), pp. 374-405. i 12 "Structural Principle and Device in Beowulf." ]S)octoral Dissertation (North Carolina, 1952).

13 "Organic Repetition in the Structure of Beowulf," Doctoral Dissertation (Princeton, 1941).

5

unified rhetorical structurelA- in major episodes and other

more extended passages. Her findings are presented under

these headings: envelope pattern of verse paragraphs;

parallel arrangement of long elaborate passagesj incremental

pattern in long parallel passages; rhythmical groups of

expanded lines; ornamental digressions; introductory and

concluding formulas. Such patterns and devices, she observes,

15 appear in all kinds of Anglo-Saxon poetry. With Bartlett*s

study as my point of inception, I propose to exhibit rhetori­

cal structure important in the design of sentences and

aragraphs in the Beowulf. I shall bring together under the

appropriate headings illustrative passages from the Beowulf

cited by Bartlett in her discussion of envelope pattern,

parallel arrangement, and incremental pattern. I shall

{analyze many passages which Bartlett has passed over as a

natural consequence of the wore extended scope of her study.

The enphasis in my own study will be chiefly upon the

rhetorical devices of sentence design—parallelism, balance

and contrast, and climax—as these devices of structure

appear in the Beo%mlf. In the chapter devoted to climax,

I shall consider climactic arrangement in verse paragraphs

in much the order that Bartlett has reviewed the topic; the

i.

14 The Larger Rhetorical Patterns in Anglo-Saxon Poetry (New York, 1935).

15 Ibid., p. 107.

passages illustrating climactic order of words, phrases, and

Iclauses within sentences are entirely my own selection.

i In a survey published a year before the Bartlett

study, John 0. Beaty listed sixty illustrations of echo

word as a rhetorical device. I am indebted to Beaty in

Chapter V of my study for the passages representing the echo

arrangement and also for the plan of the groupings.

It is not within the scope and purpose of this study

to devote more than incidental attention to figures of speech

and figures of thought in the rhetorical structure of the

17

Beowulf. I shall refer upon occasion in my analyses of

jstructural devices and schemes to such figures as allitera­

tion, the familiar kenning, and litotes or understatements;

but I shall not attempt to analyze or evaluate these devices.

Nor do I intend to look for, much less to establish, the

sources of the rhetorical schemes of the Beowulf poet. Many

commentators have observed, to be s\ire, that classical,

iTeutonic, and Biblical influences are reflected in the

rhetorical patterns and structural designs of the poem.

Tom Burns Haber^s A Comparative Study of the Beowulf and the Id

Aeneid reveals striking parallels between the rhetoric

16 "The Echo Word in Beowulf with a Note on the iFinnsburg Fragment." PMLA. XLIX (1934), PP. 365-374.

17 See below, p. 12, note 6. , IB Princeton, 1931.

of the Beowulf poem and the classical rhetoric of Vergil. 19

Klaeber describes the Beowulfian stylistic apparatus as

traditional, deeply rooted in time-honored West Germanic

practice. Bartlett has suggested that the Envelope Pattern

20 may have been modeled after the Psalms. Clearly there is

a marked resemblance.

Cer ta in ly , a t the time the Beowulf poet l ived and

wrote, England was undergoing remarkable change, a change

brought about by C h r i s t i a n i t y . The I r i s h monks whor were

scholars as well a s miss ionar ies were famous t eache r s .

They taught t h e i r converts the best that had remained of

c l a s s i c a l l e t t e r s . Roman churchmen brought with them a

knowledge of Latin and Greek, a love of books and leamin |g .

I t seems un l ike ly t h a t the Beowulf poet was unaffected by

the c l a s s i c a l and Chr is t ian influences a l l about him. 1

Yet, whatever t r a d i t i o n s and schools of rhe to r i c and poet ic

exerted t h e i r influence upon him, the r h e t o r i c a l s t ruc ture

of the poem, e laborate and well-designed, reveals t he

Beowulf poet not only as the recorder of grea t deeds of a

great hero, but a lso as a genuine a r t i s t i n the process .

19 Beowulf and t h e Fight at Finnsburg. p . I x v i . 20 The Larger Rhetorical Pa t te rns in Anglo-Saxon

Poetry. p . 108. 21 Beowulf and Epic Trad i t ion , pp. 7-8.

CHAPTER II

PARALLELISM

Parallelism is a time-honored rhetorical device.

Cicero in his Orator speaks of avoiding awkwardness of

combination by the use of balance, symmetry, the rounding

out of phrase by correspondence. Modem rthetoricians

variously describe parallelism as "the adjustment of gram­

matical pattern to rhetorical pattern" or declare that "in

its simplest terms parallelism means no more than like

meaning should be put in like constructions." Literally,

parallelism means "beside one another." Although agreement

in content may be present in the like members, it is not

essential. Agreement in content may be so close as to be

virtual repetition. David the Psalmist uses such close

parallels as: "I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber

to mine eyelids," Psalm 132:4; "The heavens declare the

glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork,"

1 Charles Sears Baldwin, Ancient Rhetoric and Poetic (New York, 1924), p. 5^.

2 Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren, Funda­mentals of Good Writing; A Handbook of Modem Rhetoric (New York, 195^), pp. 3l8-3l^

B

Psalm 19:1. Here the psalmist has expressed the same

thought in both parts, but he has proclaimed it in,a dif­

ferent manner; thus he adds to and also emphasizes his 3

sublime insight.

Keeping in mind the general description of paral­

lelism as a sustained pairing and balancing of thought

elements in identical or comparable constructions, I

propose to assemble and exhibit in this chapter lucid

examples of this structure in the Beowulf, indicating the

like members in both the Old English and Modern English

translation by underscoring. In order to emphasize the

like members of the Old English, I have sought in my trans­

lation a very literal rendering in respect to both word

choice and syntactical form.^ I have grouped the passages

analyzed thus: first, parallel constructions; second,

parallels introduced by anaphoral words (hwllum. o|fer.

3 Bartlett, The Larger Rhetorical Patterns in Anglo-Saxon Poetry, pp. 30-31.

Ti. Although the translations are my own, I have consulted freely R. K, Gordon, Anglo-Saxon Poetry (London, 1950), Charles W. Kennedy, Beowulf (New York. 1940); and Mary E, Waterhouse, Beowulf in Modern English (Cambridge, 1949). For the Old English citations I have drawn from the Fr. Klaeber edition, Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg 3rd ed. with supplements: Boston, D. C. HeatE and Company, 1941).

5 After much reading and re-reading I f ind a very l i t e r a l t r a n s l a t i o n highly s a t i s f a c t o r y , even though the l i t e r a l render ing i s of necess i ty often most awkward when judged by standards of modem syntax and idiom.

10

n? , o'SSe). In each group I present the most s t r i k i n g

examples f i r s t ; other examples follow i n order of l i n e

number.

Grendel i s angered by the sound of t h e harp, the

c l ea r song of the mins t r e l , a s the Ring-Danes enjoy in

Heorot the beer-banquet prepared for them by Hrothgar. He

waits u n t i l a f t e r n i g h t f a l l when the thanes are s leeping to

enter and seize t h i r t y of them, and depar t to h i s fen-home

exul t ing with h i s s laughter . Then the poet t e l l s us of the

great d i s t r e s s among the Danes when they discover a t dawn

the r e s u l t of t he marauder's night ravaging:

Da wass uhtan mid serdaege Tirendles gu5"craBft guman undyme; ^ 5 wsBs aafter wiste wop up ahafen, mTcel morgensweg.

(126-129)

Then was at dawn with the breaking of day Grendel 's war-might manifest t o men; then was a f t e r the feas t ing weeping ra i sed up , a great morning c ry .

The r e p e t i t i o n of "§£ waes manifests the s impl ic i ty in par­

a l l e l cons t ruc t ion; i t enhances the p a r a l l e l form and i s

emphatically valuable . I t i s evidence a l so of de l i be ra t e

design on the p o e t ' s p a r t ; one cannot bel ieve t h a t t h i s

arrangement was inadver ten t .

One of the most a t t r a c t i v e episodes in the e n t i r e

jpo&nL±S- recovn^-ft'^ i " vara&a_X94-3l8. -Beowulf, Hygelac^'s -

11

thane, hears of Grendel 's deeds against the~ Danes." Ordering

ja good ship made ready, he s e l e c t s fourteen brave men and

they set fo r th upon t h e i r jcurney:

Fyrst f o r^ gewat; f l o t a waes on yditm. bat under beorge. Beomas gearwe on stefn. s t igon.— str^amas wundon, sund wi9 sande; secgas baeron on bearm nacan beorhte fraetwe guosearo g e a t o l i c ; guman ut scufon, weras on w i l s l a _ wudu bundenne. Gewat ©a ofer waegholm winde gefysed f l o t a xlmlheals fugle g e l l c o s t , o'5 ^aet ymb antld S t r e s dogores

« wundunstefM gewaden haefde, paet ba llS'ende land gesawon, brimciifu b l l can , beorgas stSape,

. ., side slenae s sa s ; ^ waes sund l i d e n , ^ '- eo le t e s aet ende. panon up hra'^e

Wedera ISode on wang s t igon . saewudu_ saeldon,— syrcan hrysedon, gudgewaedo Code jjancedon Eaes be him yblade Sa^e wurdon.

^ (210-228)

Time fo r th went; the ship was on the waves, the boat under the c l i f f . The warr iors eagerly on the prow mount ed up,—the currents eddied tHe sea water against the sand; the men bore in to t h e bosom of the ship b r i ^ i t t r app ings , armor splendid; the men out shoved, the men on t h e i r wished-for journey the we l l

timbered sh ip . Then went over the billowy sea by the wind pushed the ship foamy-necked l i k e a Bira, u n t i l a f t e r a time on t h e next day the boat with curved prow had advanced, so t h a t the voyagers land saw, the sea c l i f f sh in ing , t he h i l l s s t eep , | the wide headlands; then was the sea crossed, ' the journey a t end. Thence up quickly the Weder men on the land mounted up. the ship they moored,—the armor r a t t l e d , the ba t t l e garments; God they thanked tha t for them t h e sea paths had proved p leasan t .

12

The passage i s characterrzed by p a r a l l e l c r a u s e s throughout.

The underlined p a r t s a r e e spec ia l ly notable for t h e i r sym­

metry. The underlined p a r a l l e l sentences mark t h e s tages

of t h e journey: they se t out ; they s a i l e d ; they a r r ived .

Para l le l i sm conforms t o t he thought pa t tern and thus provides

uni ty and coherence i n presenta t ion of h i s theme.

The essence of pa ra l l e l i sm i s always s i m i l a r i t y , i f

not i d e n t i t y , in s t r u c t u r e ; but in i t s content the p a r a l l e l

passage may present an enumeration of d i f ferent f a c e t s of a

s i t ua t i on or successive p ic tu res in a s e r i e s . Such a paral-l

le l i sm i s evident in the exchange of speeches between >

Wulfgar, Hrothgar 's he ra ld , and Beowulf, t h e hero, a s the

Geats a r r i v e at the court of Hrothgar. Beowulf and h i s men

march through the s t r e e t up from t h e i r anchored boat , en ter

the h a l l of Hrothgar, deposit t h e i r arms against the wal l ,

and sink down upon the benches. Then Wulfgar speaks:

^a cTffir wlonc haele'^ Sretmecgas aefter aeiyelum freegn: »Hwanon fer igea^ g§ TiStte scyldas , grSge syrcan, ond grlmhelmas, heresceafta hSap? Ic eom HrS^gares ar ond ombiht. Ne seah i c el^Sodige i)us manige men mSdigllcran. Wen' i c ^aet g§ for wlenco, n a l l e s for wraecsloiim,

6 I t i s not intended in t h i s study t o emphasize t he constant use of a l l i t e r a t i o n or t he p o e t ' s mastery of the metaphoric kenning, but very p la in ly t h i s passage shows s t r ik ing r ichness in both.

13

'p,yr,; ac for hige^ymmum HroSgar sohton . ' Him ipS e l lenrof andswarode_.

A;>,v wlancWedera Igod. word aef ter spraec heard under helme; *We synt Higelaces blTodgeneatas; Beowulf i s min nama. Wille ic asecgan sunu Healfdenes, mierum ^eodne mln £ r e n d e , a ldre glnum, gif h? us geunnan wi le , baet we hine swa godne gretan moton. '

(331b-347)

Then a proud warr ior thg men. of b a t t l e about theTr l ineage ask'Sdt •Whence bear ye plated s h i e l d s , grey c o r s l e t s and masking helmets , your heap of spears? I am Hrothgar ' s herald and servant . I have not seen s t r ange r s , so many men more brave. I suppose t h a t ye from pr ide , not a t a l l from e x i l e , but from greatness of heart have sought Hrofehgar.' Him the bold one answered. proud warr ior of the Weders. spoke a word in reply s t e m under h i s helmet: We are Hygelac's t a F l e -companions; Beowulf i s my name. I wish t o t e l l the son of Healfdane, the great prince my errand, thy lord , i f he wi l l grant us t h a t we him who is so graciousimay g r e e t . '

One w i l l note the s imi la r cons t ruct ions and p o s i ­

t i o n s of t h e underlined phrases; one may observe a l so the

s i m i l a r i t y in enumeration of d e t a i l s in Beowulf's reply—

"We a r e Geats. I am Beowulf. I want to t e l l the king my

er rand ."—to Wulfgar's questions—"Who are you? I am 7

Hrfetllgar's servant . What do you want?"

In order to ce lebra te Beowulf's a r r i v a l a t the

Danish c o u r t , Hrothgar commands t h a t a feas t be provided

I in Heorot. During the f eas t Unferth at tempts t o b e l i t t l e

7 B a r t l e t t , p . 35.

14

Beowulf's prowess. Beowulf s trongly affirms he i s able and

determined t o k i l l the monster:

Da waes on salum sinces b ry t t a gamolfeax ond gtldrof; ggoce gelyfde brego Beorht-Dena; geh^rde on Beowulfe folces~Hyrde Taest rSdne ge j sh t .

— r^w-6i5) Then was happy the treasure giver, grey-haired and war-famed; iriVieip trusted the lord of the Bright-Danes; heardTn Beowulf the protector of the people resolute purpose.

The parallel clauses express the one general thought:

Hrothgar was well pleased. Each clause states a distinct

and valuable aspect of the king's satisfaction. The par­

allel form emphasizes the similarity of the parts of the

topic. As a result, the reader receives a clear and

complete impression.

Three passages with parallel structure appear in

the form of direct discourse. All three are imperatives.

In the first example, Hrothgar is speaking to Beowulf. In

the second, Wealhtheow is speaking to Hrothgar; and in the

third, Wealhtheow to Beowulf.

After the feast and prior to the contest with

Grendel, Hrothgar admonishes Beowulf to guard Heorot well;

then the king seeks his own house:

/~Ge /grette ba guma 0j>erne, Hr5^iar Beowulf, ond him hml abSad, winceme s geweald, ond paet word acwae o:

15

•Naefre ic SBnegum men sir a lyfde , si cTan i c bond ond rond hebban mihte,

•^ry^aem Dena buton i)e nu "^5. Hafa nu ond geheald husa s g l e s t . gemyne m^rbo. mae gene l ien cyd^

^ (652-660)

Greeted then one warrior the other, Hrothgar Beowulf, and him good luck wished, over the winehall power, and these words spoke: •Never I to any man before trusted, since I hand and shield could lift, the great hall of the Danes except to thee now. Have now and hold of houses the best, be min37ul of^fame. great courage show, watch against foes I

The imperatives are obviously and effectively parallel.

The translations and the literal rendering of this passage

8 9 vary. Gordon and Waterhouse arrange four imperatives

10 with verbs first and complements following. Kennedy uses

three imperatives; he omits altogether "Have now and hold

of houses the best." Observe that the literal rendering

above employs four imperatives but changes the order of

verb and complement in the third. This variation gives

greater force to the word maegenellan. "courage," which is

the word the king would emphasize.

During the joyous feasting over Grendel's death,

Wealtheow serves drink to the king and at the same time

offers him advice:

8 Anglo-Saxon Poetry, p. 17. 9 Beowulf.~pT 24. 10 Beowulf, p. 22.

16

SpraBc ^ ides Scyldinga: 'OnfOh i)i83um f u l l e . f reodrihten nfln. s inces ory-tta I ] ^ on s&lum wes. goldwine gumena. onc[ t^ Geiatum spraec mildum J?ordum." swa sceal man dSn ! B§o wid^ GSatas glaed. geofenda gemyndig, nSan ond feorran pG nd hafas t . M§ man saegde, ^aet ^u ^e for sunu_wolde herer i /~n /c habban. Heorot i s gefaelsod, beahsele IBeorhta; hrVic \^enden ^u_ mSte manigra medo, ond .^Inum magum iMf folc ond r i c e . x^onne du foriT scy le , metodsceaft se^n.

I l68b- l l80)

Spoke then t h e lady of t he | Scyldings:

'Receive t h i s goble t , great pr ince of mine, i t r easure -g ive r I Thou in j o y o e j gold-friend of war r io r s , and to t h e Geats speak . mild words, as man ought to do ! Be with t h e Geats gracious, of g i f t s mindful, near and far thou ^ow has t . They say t o me, tha t thou for son would ! the warrior have. Heorot i s c leansed, r i n g - h a l l b r igh t ; b£ generous while thou mayst be i

able with many rewards, and to thy kinsman leave people and reaJSTwhen tEou forth sha l l jfrom f a t e ' s decree.

Each of the t r a n s l a t i o n s arranges the p a r a l l e l s

with the verb followed by complements and/or modifiers .

Witness in the l i t e r a l render ing: "Thou in joy" precedes

the verb be and "to thy kinsmen" precedes leave . Again we

are reminded that t h e s e phrases would be the ones empha­

sized by t h e queen. In the other sentences t h e verbs

receive t h e main s t r e s s .

Pa ra l l e l imperatives mark Wealhtheow's admonition to

11 See a b o v e , p . 9 , no te 4 .

17

Beowulf. During the banquet she speaks as she bestows

t r e a s u r e s upon him:

Wealh'^eo ma|)elode, heo fore j^am werede spraec: 'Bruc t^isses beages. Beowulf Igofa . hyse. mid h S l e . ond p i s s e s hraegle s nSot. pSo£d_/gestrSona, ond gebJoh t e l a . cen bee mid eraefte. ond byssum cnyhtum wes l a ra ' H^'el Ic JJS* jpaes ISan geman. HaJastTEW gefered, ^aet "Se feor ond neah ealne wideferh^ weras eht iga^, efne swl s ide swa aSk bebtiige^, windgeard, weal las . Wes benden hu l i f i g e . ae)peling, Badig ! Ic pJS an t e l a s incgestreona. BSo i>u suna mlnum dSdum gedlffi, dresfiHealdende!

(1215-1227)

Wealhtheow spoke, she before the t roops sa id : Enjoy t h i s necklace. Beowulf beloved. young man, with joy, and t h i s co r s l e t use , t r easure of our people, and prosper wel l . make thyse l f known by might. and t o these yoimg men be Trieounsel kinSIyl I thee in t h i s reward s h a l l . 1 Hast thou brought t o pass , t h a t thee far and near only forever men p r a i s e , even as far as the sea hems, home of t he winds, the headlands. Be while thou

l i v e S t . p r ince , blessed. I thee w i l l grant many t r e a s u r e s . B^ thou t o my son in deeds gracious , who a r t happy.

The p a r a l l e l s follow an in te res t ing grouping: the

f i r s t two imperatives advise Beowulf concerning the t r e a s u r e ;

the next three r e l a t e to h is future l eade r sh ip ; the l a s t two

express personal hopes of t h e queen. This arrangement i s

suggestive of foreshadowing. The queen an t i c ipa t e s a g rea t

future for the brave Geat warr ior ; a t the same time she

shows forebodings concerning the future of her own son.

18

I Within ten days a f t e r the funera l of Beowulf, t he i : j

Ipeople of t h e Weders f i n i s h t h e great mound on t h e headlandsi i I jTwelve young men, sons of ch i e f t a i n s , r ide about the mound i

lamenting and p ra i s ing :

—8w5 h i t gede(fe) bi8f ^aet mon h i s winedryhten wordum herge, ferhdum frSoge, j)onne he fort{ s c i l e of_lIchaman (ISded) weor^an. Swa begnornodon Geata leode hlafordes (hry) re , heorfigeneatas; cwaSdon baet he waere wyruldcyning/"a_J7 manna mil dust one mon(^w)grus t . ;; leodum~lliyost ond lofgeornost .

(3i74b-^l82)

Thus it i£ fitting, that a man his friendly lord, with words should

pra i s e, i h e a r t i l y him love, when he for th sha l l

from h i s l i v ing body pass away. Thus lamented the Geat people t h e i r l o rd , h i s hearth-companions; they said t ha t he was of the kings of the world of men t h e mildest and k indes t . t o his people most gentle sad mo^t e^ger fo r p r a i s e .

P a r a l l e l form for p a r a l l e l ideas i s well demonstrated h e r e .

The balance of the idea l and of t he ceremony which f u l f i l l s

i t g ives depth and vividness t o the scene. The p a r a l l e l

super la t ives emphasize the nob i l i t y of the beloved leader .

Quoting from Henry Peacham, Herbert D. Rix offers

t h i s de f in i t ion of anaphora: "Epanaphora, when a word i s i

{repeated in the beginning of d ive r s c lauses , or t h u s , vrtien

19

ure begin many members still with one and the same words."-^^

ioskins: "Anaphora is vdien many clauses have the like begin­

ning. This figure beats upon one thing to cause the quicker

:reeling in the audience, and to awake a sleepy or dull

13 ;)erson." The Beowulf poet uses anaphora with great skill.

Hany times the word marking the anaphora also marks a series

of clauses or lines of parallel structure. The poet gives

an account of the coming of the Danish warriors from far and

near. As they ride back from the mere after viewing the

tracks of the monster, they alternately race their horses

4nd sing praises to Beowulf. Sufficient for citation here

^re the lines introduced by hwilum:

I

Hwllum hea^orSfe hlSapan leton, on geflit faran fealwe mearas, ^£r him foldwegas fasgere flhton, cystum cu9e Hwll\zm cyninges J>egn, guma gilphlaeden, gidda gemyndig, s§ tPe ealfela ealdgesegena worn gemunde, word Gper fand

j aSoe gebunden; i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Hwllum flitende fealwe strSte mSarum mSton

(864-871; 9l6-917a)

At times the brave ones in ba t t l e gallop allowed, Tn r i v a l r y racing t h e i r bay horses where t o them the t racks seemed f a i r .

12 Rhetori c in Spenser * s Poetry. The Pennsylvania S ta te College Bu l l e t i n , XXXIV, p . 2in Rix i s quoting from Feacham's The Garden of Eloquence. V (1577, revised 1593).

13"TJoyt H. Hudson, Direct ions for Speech and Sty le t i John Hoskins. 1599 or 1600 (Princeton. 1935), p 7 T 3 .

20

known for their excellence. At times the king's thane,

a man with great glory, mindful of his measures, he who a great many of their old songs large number remembered, found other words truly linked together^

At times in rivalry the yellow sandy street with their horses they measured.

A very pleasing effect results from the repetition of

hwllum. There is a suggestion in the arrangement of the

lines that the warriors alternated in racing their horses

and singing: (1) The warriors went riding; (2) The minstrel

praised Beowulf, telling the Sigemund lay; (3) The warriors

14 went riding.

A brief review of the content of the section of the

poem entitled "Beowulf's Return" reveals that he is infor­

mally greeted by Hygelac, who is eager for a report of the

hero's adventures among the Danes. Beowulf first speaks of

his successful victory over Grendel in Heorot. Then he

recounts his reception by Hrothgar, who had greeted him with

great joy upon his arrival at the Danish court. In his

description of the welcome scene, Beowulf mentions Wealhtheow

and Freawaru, wife and daughter of the king, in these lines::

Hwilum mabru cwen, friSusibb folca flet eall geondhwearf,

•i'ii'ri' 'ni

14 Bartlett, p. 21. On repetition or anaphora, see also below, Chapter V.

21

bSdde byre geonge^^ oft hlo bSahwri^fan secge (sealde), aer hie t5 setle gSong. Hwilum for (d)ugu"2re dohtor Hr63g5res eorlum on ende ealuwsege baer, p& ic FrSaware fletsittende nemnan hyrde, j»«r hlo {naB)gled sine haeleSum sealde.

(20l6b-2024a) Sometimes the famous queen

peace-pledge of the peoplesj through the h a l l moved about, I

urged on the young men; often she r ings to the young warr iors gave ere she t o her seat went.! Sometimes in t he presence of the old r e t a i n e r s | Hrothgar 's daughter I to the e a r l s in turn the a le cup bore, : her I Freawaru the s i t t e r s in the h a l l to name heard, where she the nai l -s tudded t r e a s u r e s | to the heroe s gave. |

F i r s t of a l l , one may note t he members marked by Hwilum.

In the f i r s t member, Wealhtheow, mlbru cw|n, cheers the

young men and gives r i n g s , beahwri'San. to t he young

war r io r s . In the second, Freawaru, dohtor Hroggares, bears

the a l e cups to the e a r l s and gives r i c h treasxires, naegled

s i n e , t.o the heroes . There i s va r ia t ion in enumeration of

d e t a i l s r e l a t i n g t o the queen and the p r incess ; t h i s va r i a - i

t ion follows the cont ras t that would be normal in the age

and pos i t ion of the two. The balanced p a r a l l e l s t ruc tu re i •

heightens the contras t and makes the scene very v iv id .

Another s t r i k ing example of p a r a l l e l s t ruc ture with \

anaphora achieved through use of hwllum i s found in Beowulf's

speech when he i s repor t ing t o Hygelac his experience a t

Jiearot-the^^day-aufter-Grendelis deaths

22

jPfi§rwaes gidd ond gl§o; gomela Scilding, felafricgende feorran rehte; hwllum hildedSor hearpan wynne, gomenwudu grette, hwllum gyd Sitfraec sS"? and sir lie hwllum sylllc spell rehte aefter rihte rumheort cyning; j hwllum eft ongan eldo gebunden. '

fomel gggWiga giogutge cwIgTan. " ildestrengo; hreaer inne wSoll^

^onne h5 wintrum frod worn gemunde. (2105-2114)

There was song and glee. A greyhaired Scylding, well informed of long ago told I At times one brave in battle from his harp sweetness, glee-wood drew, at FLies ojT'tales recited true and sad; at times a wonderful tale told what is right the noble spirited king. At times again began an old bent man an ancient warrior to the young ones lamented o7 battle strength;"Tiis heart within welled when old and wise many things he remembered.

Here the parallels appear within a brief passage:

the first and last corresponding constructions are placed

;at the beginning of the line; the second and third cor­

responding constructions are placed at the caesura. The | I

r e p e t i t i o n of hwlltun and the arrangement of the p a r a l l e l s |

suggest the reason for the order of the r e c i t a t i o n : the I

m i n s t r e l ' s song evoked memories for the king whose t a l e in

tu rn aroused the aged war r io r .

Hrothgar i s grieved over Jfeschere's death. He

suspects the s layer i s the she-monster whom h i s people have

seen.

flaera jy6er waes, ^aes |>e hie gewisl lcost gewitan meahton.

23 idese onlicnesi g ^ r earmsceapen on weres waestum wraeclastas traed, naelhe he waes mSra jponne Sfenig man o^er; ^one on gffardagum Grendel nemdon foldbuende;

(1349b-1355a)

One of them as fa r as they ce r t a in ly know could, in l ikeness of a woman; the o ther wretched one in man's form the paths of ex i l e t r o d , except he was l a rge r than any man o ther ; him in days past Grendel named the people of t h e land.

The p a r a l l e l ideas of the passage a r e : one was in man's

shape—one was in woman's shape; Stfer marks the pa ra l l e l i sm.

Here again the r e p e t i t i o n occurs a t the caesura.

When Beowulf r e tu rns t o Heorot, v ic to r ious from h i s

f ight with Grendel 's dam, he presents t o Hrothgar the h i l t

of the g i a n t ' s sword he had used in k i l l i n g the she-monster.

After examining the curious runic i n sc r ip t i on on the h i l t of

the sword, Hrothgar i s moved t o speak. He p r a i s e s Beowulf | I I

and urges him to beware of certain evils of pride. Within }

this long speech are two passages remarkable for their

beauty and force, a beauty and force underscored by their

parallel form. The patterns do not exhibit anaphora but

rather what Rix has—after Peacham—called polysyndeton,

"when a sentence is knit together with many conjunctions .

nl5

15 Rhetoric in Spenser's Poetry, p. 31 (quoted from Henry Peacham. Tlie Garden of Eloquence, first ed.).

24

In his account of the folly of Heremod, Hrothgar

advises Beowulf that evil can come to any man living in a

time of prosperity, unless the fortunate one is wise and

watchful of his own actions. The negative correlatives

establish and punctuate the pattern:

Wunacf he on wiste; n5 hine wiht dweled* adl nS yldo, n^ himTnwitsorh on sefa(n) sweorce^, n£ gesacu ohwier ecghete eowe^, ac him all worold wendeSf on willan; hS aet wyrse ne con—, dfS paet him on innan ofergyda d ^ weaxe^ ond wrldaS;

(1735-1741)

He l i v e s in p lenty; not a t a l l with him dwells sickness or age, nor to Kha sorrow in mind become grievous, nor s t r i f e anyirfiere sword-hatred manifest , but t o him a l l the world tu rns t o his d e s i r e ; he the worse never knows— Unti l within him great arrogance waxes and grows;

At another time Hrothgar advises Beowulf about the

ev i l s of pr ide and arrogance:

oferhyda ne gym, miere cempa I Nu i s ^Ines maegnes b l£d ane hwlle; eft s6na b iS , past pec ML-o^oe ecg eafo^es getweefeo, o^Be fyres feng. o^^e flSdes wylm ogge gripe mSces, oQidfe gares f l i h t . o5Qe a t o l yldo; oSQe Sagena bearhtm forsitetir ond forsworcej; semninga b i ^ , baet ^ec , dryhtguma, deaiSf oferswyd'eo. '^^ (1760-1768)

Arrogance shun, great w a r r i o r ! Now is t h y might g lory for a whi le ; soon in turn w i l l i t be , t ha t thee sickness or swordedge from thy might w i l l

separa te .

25

or embrace of fire, or surge of flood, or grip of tKe swords, or flight of the spear. or hateful old age; or gleam of~eves shall pass and darken; suddenly it shall be that thee, noble warrior, death shall vanquish.

i <

In this passage parallelism marked by o c e provides dramatic

iintensity to the expression of idea. Tom Burns Haber has

observed of these passages: "The rhetorical effect of these |

passages marked by hwllum . . . hwllum; otTer . . . g^er;

ne" . . . n5; o^^e . . . o^^e is very strongly suggestive of

Latin influence. These figures are favorites of Vergil, and

bay be found on nearly every page of the ^neld. " 1"

! Further examples of parallelism may be observed in i

[the passages illustrative of balance, contrast, and climax,

presented in Chapter III and IV, below.

16 A Comparative Study of the Beowulf and the Aeneid. p. 16.

CHAPTER III

BALANCE AND CONTRAST

Rhetorical balance is manifested in a two-by-two

correspondence in form of words, phrases or clauses within

a sentence. The thoughts expressed in the balanced parts

may be similar or they may be contrasting. A surpassing

example of balance of similar thoughts is found in Psalm

19:7: "The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;

the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple."

The contrast of thought in a balanced scheme may be mild and

slightly developed or it may be sharply opposed. Distinct

opposition of thought in corresponding sentence parts is to

be described as antithesis. Antithesis in thought is set

in the sharpest relief by balanced and antithetical form as

in formal clauses of comparison. Often balance and contrast

are achieved by a pair of words or phrases used as the core

of the scheme. Witness Psalm 19:2: "Day unto day uttereth

speech and night unto night sheweth knowledge," vdiich

exhibits perfect balance with mild contrast in thought. In

Proverbs 14:20: "The poor is hated even of his own neighbotu?:

but the rich hath many friends," the words poor and rich are

26

27

basic in the sharp and fully developed contrast. In the

following instance of antithesis one may observe the perfect

balance of both word and phrasing in the chiastic^ arrange-j

ment: Proverbs 27:6: "Faithful are the wounds of a friend;

but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful."

Faithful the kisses

areL \ / of an enemy

the wounds^ y^ \^^are

of a friend^ Meceitful

A complete survey of the Beowulf reveals that the

poet uses balanced schemes with discernment and precision.

I have selected fifteen passages for close analysis. The

first three illustrate the most striking examples of balance

and contrast. The ten passages which follow, cited in order

of their appearance in the poem, demonstrate the poet's

fondness for negative constructions which are the contradic­

tories of the corresponding positive members. The last two

passages (introduced by rather--than and %t_—^or) show a

contrast in choice between two situations.

In section II (lines 115-188) the poet describes the

long-suffering of the Danes. He describes how in their

1 Contrast by parallelism in reverse order.

28

misery and desperation they had sought r e l i e f from the mo^stler

Grendel by offering s a c r i f i c e s at pagan s h r i n e s . Following

t h i s account i s a homilectic passage concluded by these

verses :

Wa bitTbaBm ^ e sceal burh s l iohe nid sawle besctlfan in fyres fa^m, frofre ne wenan, wihte gewendan .' Wei bi'^' pmm ^ mot aefter deaStiaege Drihten seceam ond to Faeder faebmon fredS'o w i ln i an !

1 (183-188)

Woe sha l l bje to. him vfao must on account of d i r e a f f l i c t i on the soulTHrust into the embrace of f i r e , solace never to expect, in any way t o change I Well sha l l be t o him who may a f t e r the day of death, the Lord seek and i n the embrace of the Father for she l t e r t o

plead I

Every h a l f - l i n e (except l86a) in the^ f i r s t member of t h i s

cont ras t corresponds t o a h a l f - l i n e in the second member.

Of a l l t h e examples here considered, t h i s passage shows the \

most near ly perfect balance of phrase against phrase .

The apothegmatic remark properly rece ives a n t i t h e t i c

form. I t i s the f r u i t of meditat ion and i s designed to be

engraved on the memory, vAiich r e c a l l s more eas i ly by the aid

of the contras t in expression. After iSschere i s k i l l e d ,

iHrothgar speaks to Beowulf about the home of the monsters.

Beowulf's reply i s i n t he nature of a maxim or moral saying:

Beowulf mabelode, beam Ecgbeowes: 'Ne sorga, sno fc oy guma.' Selre b io aeghwaem, baet h5 h i s freond wrece, bonne he fe la murne I

29

Beowulf spoke, son of Ecgtheow: •Sorrow not, wise warrior I Better it is for each one that he his friend avenge. than he greatly mourn I

Beowulf's gnomic counsel exhibits perfect balancing of word

against word:

taet ^nne

he he

his freond fela

wrece murne

Wrece and murne are the key words of the antithesis.

During the feasting in Heorot after Beowulf's

victory over Grendel, the minstrel recites the Finn lay

(lines 1063-1159b). The lay recounts certain details of a

fight between Finn the Frisian and Hnaef the Dane. After

a truce with Finn, Hengest spends a long winter brooding.

When spring comes, he decides to avenge his leader by

killing Finn:

Ba waes winter scacen. faeger foldan bearm; "Tundode wrecca, gist of geardum; h? t£ gyrnwraece swlS or foohte bonne to sslsde.

r ^ rii36b-ll39) Then was winter past.

fair was earth's bosom; longed to go the exile, guest of the dwelling-; he of revenge more thought than of the sea .journey.

30

Two instances of contrasting balance appear in this

passage. By supplying was as the verb in the second clause,

one senses the poet's pleasing chiastic scheme. Mary E.

Waterhouse has employed was: Winter was gone; fair was 3

earth's bosom. Professor Gordon translates thus: Then

winter was past; the bosom of earth was fair.^ This version

omits the chiasmus, but provides nice balance in the

contrast. Professor Kennedy's The Winter was banished afar.

and fair the bosom of the earth retains the balanced chiasmujs

since the reader mentally supplies elliptical was.^ The

balanced phrases to gyrnwraece and to s&l^dgv score the

antithetic thought in the last clause.

At the time Hrothgar decided to build Heorot, he

was a great ruler known far and wide for wisdom and gener­

osity:

HS beot ne Sleh, beagas daelde, SlnTWt " yil?:

(80-81)

His promise he broke not, rings he dealt out, treasure at the banquet.

In this characterizing line the poet avoids an appearance

2 See above, p. 27. 3 Beowulf in Modern English (Cambridge, 1949), p. 40. 4 Anglo-Saxon Poetry (New York. 1950), p. 27. 5 Beowulf, the Oldes't English Epic (New York, 1940),

p. 37.

31

of boast ing by using ~uird¥rsTSbement,^rTitote^5, in the

negative member of the con t ras t . The pos i t i ve member

affirms the generosi ty of t he king.

The feud with Grendel was long. The Danes suffered j

misery and despair: 1

forJam /~secgum_7 wear^, ! ylda bearnum undyme cud* gyddum geSmore, patte Grendel wan hwile wi^ HrSbgar, hetenlSas waeg. fryene ond fmhWe fela mlssSray slngale saece; sibbe ne woldiT wig manna hwone maegnes Deniga. feorhbealo feorran" fga b J gj- n, n5 par nffenig witena wSnan ! orfte ^orhtre bSte tg banan folmun;

uihT^Tm Therefore /"to men_7it became,

to the sons of men manifest well known in songs sadly, that Grendel strove long against Hrothgar; enmity he bore. violence and feud many a half year. continua'l strife; peace"^e desired not with any~man of the race of jDanfiS, deadly evil to remove with treasure to compound, nor did any o7 the wise men have cause to expeef^ .-scloiry o£ bright reparation from HM haMi ^ the slayer.

nor did r

he he any of the wise man

bore could not have cause to expect

enmity peace ^ glory

violence with any man of bright reparation

feud of the race from the hands

32

many a half year of Danes of the slayer

Three balanced sentence parts;, the last two con­

trasting in thought with the first, strongly emphasize "the

Danes suffered long and hopelessly." In their contrast the

negative parts strengthen the positive hetenioas waeg . . .

One appreciates also the cumulative force achieved by the

climactic arrangement of the three parts. The negative

sibbe ne wolde emphasizes the utter hopelessness of the

Danes.

The story of Grendel^s foul deeds reached the Geatish

folk. When Beowulf heard it, he eagerly made preparation

to visit the Danes and slay the monster:

Bone si'Sfaet him snot ere ceorlas lythwOn logon. p^aib. hS him 15oir"w&re; hwetton hige(r)ofne. Tasl scSawedon.

(^U2^204)

For that adventure him the wise men not at all blamed, though he t£ them dear was; they urged on the hero, the omens tfiiey watched.

The underscored constructions express what is basically the i

same sentiment: the Geat sages did not disapprove, but

rather encouraged the hero's venture. The balanced form

and contrasted thought give prominence and force to hwetton

on hige(r)6fne. h^l sceawedon which is the central thought.

Lythwgn suggests that the wise men realized the extreme

risk; however, they felt bound by honor to encourage the \

33

valiant thane.

After the fight with Grendel, Beowulf expresses

regret that he is able to present as a token of his victory

only the arm of the evil one. Yet, although Grendel was able

to wrench himself free, Beowulf is certain he has died from

the gaping shoulder wound:

No bi leng leofsL la^geteona synKum geswenced, ac hyne ear hafa'0' in nldgripe nearwe"Tefongen. balwon bendum;

(974-977)

No longer lives the evil-doer ^ sins harassed, but him pajn has

j in forceful grip closely enf&lded ! with baleful bonds;

i I The recurrent thought and contrasted form—the evil-doer

\ lives no longer, but he is dead—underscores the note of

triumph in Beowulf's assurance to Hrothgar and his people.

Down through the dark mere and past fierce sea

monsters, Grendel's dam drags Beowulf to her cavern-home.

A bright firelight within the cave enables the hero to see

the hag; he attacks her at once:

Ongeat pa se goda grundwyrgenne, merewif mihtig; maeganTr&s forgeaf hildebille, hqnd sweng ne oftSah, pset hire on hafelan hringmSl agol gridlg guSleo*. „„g.i522,

Made out then the hero the accursed hag, the mere-woman mighty; a mighty blow he gave

34

wi'fcb his battle sword, his hand from the stroke Ee drew not backT

so that on her head the ring-wrought blade sang a greedy war note.

The second member of the balanced construction repeats the

first by negative statement. The contrast in the balanced

parts effectively heightens the emphasis of the single idea:

Beowulf gave a strong blow.

Finding his sword of no avail in the fight, Beowulf

flings it aside and trusts in his own powerful strength:

Gefeng ba be eaxle —nalas for feeh e mearn— Gaef-GSata TioS. ffrendles mOdor;

(1537-153d)

Seized then by the shoulder —not at all for the Tight feared—

The War-Geats' prince Grendel's mother.

This passage is virtual repetition in form of lines 1519-20.

Both passages emphasize through negative understatement that

Beowulf is no coward.

After Beowulf kills Grendel's dam, he returns to

Heorot. Hrothgar urges him to preserve his strength with

wisdom:

Ic p^ sceal mine gelsstan frSode, swa witi fur um sppScon. > M scealt to

Trgfre weorEan eal langtwidig leodum .^Inum, Tialetftun tg helpe.

Ne wearo Heremod swa eaforum Ecgwelan, Ir^cyldingum; ne gewSbx he him t5 willan, ac to waelf ealle ond tg dSa cwalum Deniga leodum;

-"{1706=1712")""

35

—J—g^g^-j—^Q thee"show my friendship, as we a short while ago agreed.

Thou Shalt for solace prove a long time to thy people, to the heroes a help.

Not so did Heremod prove to the sons of Ecgwela. the honorable Scyldings; lie waxed not as they desired, but rather to the

slaughter and the butchery of the people of the Danes.

The prediction of Beowulf's renown, of his wisdom, and his

paternal care for his people in the future balances Hrothgaxf's

account of the tyrannical acts of Heremod in the past.

At the close of the epic Beowulf is lying dead from

a mortal wound suffered in his fight with the dragon.

Wiglaf, the faithful one, grieving for his master is com­

forted—for the dragon lies dead also:

Nalles aefter lyfte _ IScende hwearf middelnihtum, "rnlSmaetEa wlonc ansyn ywde, ac h§ eortfan gefebll for " aes hildfruman hondge weorce.

(2832-2835)

No more through the sky flying did he wheel a t midnight, in h i s t r ea su re s exu l t ing h i s form manifested, buj he t o ear th f e l l because of the wa r r i o r ' s liandTwork.

There i s great solace in the f i n a l i t y of "no more through

the sky did he wheel, but he f e l l to the e a r t h . "

As Wiglaf t r i e s in vain t o rouse h i s f a l l en l eader ,

the cowards come out of the wood:

Nas t/a lang tg ^on, baet ^a h i ld l a t an hol t ofgifan, tydre trsQMlfigan tfns fctsomne ,

36

oa ne dorston aer dareoum lacan jon nyra mandrvKtnes miclan pearf e; ac hy sc ami ende "scyldas baeran , guogweaedu par se gomelaTTiig wlitan on WilaTT

(2845-2852a)

Not a t a l l was i t very long u n t i l ,

the cowards the wood gave up, weak f a i l e r s in t r o t h ten a l t oge the r , who before had dared not t he spears wield in t h e i r l o r d ' s great need; but they shamefully t h e i r shields bore , the war gear where t h e old man lay ; they looked at WiglaTT

The s i t u a t i o n i s i r o n i c : the cowards w i l l not wield spears

against the foe—then they shamefully re*tim with sh ie lds

when the dragon i s dead. The balanced sentence pa r t s ex­

press ing the cowardly ac t ion project the irony with s t r i k i n g

e f f e c t .

The messenger who brings the news of Beowulf's

death t o the band of waiting war r io rs , expresses gloomy

forebodings for the fu tu re :

ForSon scea l l gar wesan monig morgenceald mundiua bewunden, haefen on handa, na l l es hearpan sweg wig end weccean, ac se^ wonna hr¥fn fgs ofer fggum Tela reordian . earne secgan, hti him aet £ t e spiow, benden hS wio wulf wael rSafode . ' ^ (3021-3027)

Wherefore s h a l l the spear be on many a morning very cold with the f ingers grasped ra ised up in the hands, not a t a l l the music of the

Harp the warriors sha l l awaken, but the black raven poIseS^above t h e f a l l e n many th ings^sha l lTpeak .

37

the eagle w i l l t e l l , how he a t the feas t sped, when he with the wolf the s l a in plundered.

Not good but e v i l , not joy but sorrow, not v ic tory but

defeat for the Geats i s suggested i n t h i s balanced opposi­

t i on of i d e a s .

The f i n a l c i t a t i o n s I s h a l l o f fe r exhib i t a n t i t h e s i s

Balanced forms in each quotation mairo v iv id t he con t ra r i e s

of thought. In the f i r s t passage, the balanced p a r t s begin

with gyf—o'S^e; and in the second, with ^ r — ^ r .

Beowulf t e l l s the coast guard t h a t he can give good

advice t o Hrothgar, who must l i s t e n , or suf fe r enduring

a f f l i c t i o n :

Ic ]paBS Hrg^gar maeg ^ r h rumne sefan riid gelaeran, TVS. h5 frod ond ggd f^ond oferswySeb— gyf him edwenden S f r e scolde pealuwa bis igu bgt ef t cuman--, ond ^S cearwylmas colran wur"Sa]p; o^i^e a sy^tian earfoa^rage. ^rganyd j o l a y . ^enden pgBr wuna^ on hgahstede hGsa sglest^. •

(277-285)

I for this to Hrothgar may with generous heart counsel give, how he wise and good the foe may overpower— if for him change ever of fortune Tor evil afflictions reITeT"again should come—, and seething of sorrow calmer grow; or ever afterwards great sorrow. BTstress he shall endure, whil'e there stands in its higE place,"the best of houses.

According to the poet, the land inhabited by the

monster Grendel and his dam is so desolate that the desperate

38

stag would ra ther die than venture i n t o the mere

•Seah vbe h i e ^ t a p a hundum geswenced, heorot hornum trum holtwudu sece, feorran geflymed, Sr h§ feorh se l eo . aldor on gf re , ^r H§ Tn w i l l e . hafelan / "beorgan^^

(1368-1372a)

Though the heathstepper by t h e hounds hard pressed, the har t s t rong in horns t h e forest should seek, from afar put t o f l i g h t , r a ther he would prefer h i s

l i f e t ^ yieldT h i s s p i r i t on t h e shore, before he w i l l enter i n , h i s head /~to save 7*

i

CHAPTER IV

CLIMAX

Climax, the Greek word for ladder, is rhetorically

he ordering of thought so that there will be a uniform and i Evident increase in signifance or importance or intensity.

The value of climax is that it lifts the interest "rung by

:rung" to the highest point at the close. The heightening

of interest by climactic arrangement of words or phrases or

clauses permits vivid and emphatic presentation of idea.

Although a climax usually ascends to a point of great inten­

sity, there may be a gradual increase in impressiveness

without intensity. The thou^t begins with statements,

either words or sentence parts, addressed to the understand­

ing; then it proceeds to an appeal to the emotions and

feelings; it finally culminates in the best and strongest I

expression >diich the language affords. Shurter has observed

jthat "In his oration to Verres, Cicero uses the following

climax:

To bind a Roman citizen is an outrage; to scourge him is an atrocious crime; to put

1 C. S. Baldwin, Composition Oral and Written , i(New York, 1923), p. 123.

39

40

him to death is a parricide; but to put him „ to death by cmcifixion—what shall I call it?"^

It may be observed somewhat more generally that climactic

arrangement stimulates attention and arouses curiosity and

interest.

Like many other great writers, the Beowulf poet

relies frequently upon climax. To recognize and appreciate

fully the rhetoric of the Beowulf, one must review the

Qumerous instances of climax that appear within the epic. I

have selected twenty-three quotations which provide good

examples of climactic order. The passages are arranged thust

climax through (1) word order, (2) phrases and clauses, (3)

jsentence arrangement within verse paragraphs. In each group

I exhibit the most striking example first and the others in

the order of their appearance in the poem.

After the feast in Heorot, Hrothgar and his retainers

depart to their hones for the night. Beowulf and his men

remain in the hall. Grendel enters the hall and seizesHone

bf the Geats:

Ne bast se aglSca yldan 9hte, ac he gefeng hraUe forman sl^e slSpendne rinc, slit unwearnum, bat banlocan, blgd Sdrum dranc. synsn®dum swealh; sona haefde unlyfigendes eal gefeormod.

2 Bdwin Du Bois Shurter, The Rhetoric of Oratory |(New York, 1923), p. U6.

41

f i t ond folma. " (739-745)

Nor did the monster to delay think, but he grasped the body of the firftt sleeping warrior, tore greedily, devoured his body, blood from his veins drank. in huge bites swallowed; straigihtway he had not living all consumed. feet and hands.

The monster•8 greedy assault is an Intensely drama­

tic part of the narrative. The six strong verbs, each action

more vicious than the preceding one, rise to the climax

"eal gefeormod, fet ond folma" and the reader feels intensely

the horror in the awful actions of Grendel. The parallel

sentence parts emphasize the climactic words.

Grendel was enraged by the revels of the Danes in

Heorot; he was angered most by the song of Creation which

the minstrel sometimes sang:

Saegde seJ^e cQbe frumsceaft flra feorran reccari, ^ cwsB? ^aet se ABlmihtlga eox Tan worhCte). wlitobeorhtne wang, swa waster bobClg^,

fesette sigehrS^i^ sunnan ond monan 9oman t5 Iffohte landbGendum, ond gefraetwade foldan scfatas leomun ond ISafum, llf eac zememSy cynna gehwylcum bara 9e cwice bwyrfap.—

^ (90a.9d)

He said who could the beginning of men froa afar tell, he said that the Almighty t^e world made the beautiful land, which the water encloses, set the Victorious one the sun and noon tHe brightness for a light to landdwcllers^ and adorned the earth's regions

42

'.•;ith branches and leaves, life He aXso gave to ever kind of race living that moves.5

In this passage climax is achieved through the increase in

importance in the verbs: worh(te). gesette. gefraetwade.

knd (verb and object) llf gescegp. In presenting the steps

in the Creation the verbs range from the general and prac­

tical in eoroan. worhte and gesette sunnan ond mohan to the

esthetic and spiritual in gefraetwade leomun ond l^afum and

llf gesceop. r

For twelve long years the Danes suffered from the

ravage of Grendel. Hrothgar, their great leader, was bowed

down with sorrow:

Swil "^S mg Ic e are maga Healf denes singala sea9 , ne mihte snotor haele^ wean onwendan; waes aet gewin tg swyoT 1S3> ond longsum. p9 on 9a leode becom, nydwracu nlj?grim. nihtbealwa mSst.

^ ^ — (189-195)

Thus the care of the time the son of Healf dane always grieved; nor could the wise hero his sorrow put aside; the struggle was too hard hateful and lasting, which on the people fell fierce oppression grim and cruel, night woe the

greatest.

Here are two s e r i e s of words arranged in ascending order ,

the l a s t word in each se r i e s having the g r ea t e s t value and

import. The nouns mSIceare , wean, gewin. nihtbealwa.

3 The closing part of the song which recounts Grendel '8 descent from Cain i s not included he re .

43

express especially iff their connotatrons, the depth of the I

king's sorrow. The adjectives swy^. la^, longsum. nlbgrim.

express the hopelessness of the situation. The balanced

construction of sentence parts effectively frames the ideas—

deep sorrow, everlasting sorrow.

When Beowulf returns to the Geat court after his

victories over the monsters, Hygelac welcomes him and urges

him to give a full report of his adventures. In his story

of the welcome given him by Hrothgar, he mentions the queen

ffeadtitheow and the princess Freawaru. Then he recalls that

Freawaru's betrothal to Ingeld has been arranged by Hrothgaif.

Beowulf feels that this marriage will not settle the blood

feud between the Danes and the Heathobards:

py ic Hea'yo-Bear/"dJJ5Mi hyldo ne telge, dryhtaibbe dSl Denum unfScne, frgondscipe faestne.

(2067-2069a)

Wherefore I to the Heathobards for good will look not. for peace a great portion to the Danes without

deceit, friendship firm. |

The climax in the almost ironically employed nouns, hyldo.

drvhtsibbe. freondscipe. faestne. subtly suggests time:

present—future—and remote future. In connotation each

word marks a periodic step toward the ideal which the

future was to ironically defeat. Beowulf looking out to

the far future time sees Hrothgar's plans fail.

44

Beowulf tells Hygelac about ¥is fight with Grendel.

Hondscio, a loyal retainer, is named as the man Grendel had

seized and devoured:

•D»r waes HondsciS hild ons&ge. feorhbealu faegxm he fyrmest lasg gyrded cempa; him Grendel wear ", marum magu|?egne tg miuSbonan, leofes mannes lie eall forswealg.

(2076-2080)

There was for Hondscio war fa ta l . violent death to the doomed one; he f i r s t f e l l . the girded warrior; him Grendel devoured. the famous liege-man with h i s mouth, the loved man h i s b'ody a l l swallowed.

Onsgge. feorhbealu. and fggum provide the tone of f ina l ty

in Beowulf's account of Hondscio's death. Gyrded. mgrum.

and leofes are adjectives naming in ascending order of

importance the virtues of the dead man. The verbs laeg.

iweax^, and forswealg increase in intensi ty; however, there I

i s suggestion that t h i s report i s removed in time and place

from the actual happening. In the f i r s t account^vthe s i x

verbs in climactic order give a more intense fee l ing of

violence and horror.

Continuing the rec i ta l of his adventures among the

Danes, Beowulf describes Hrothgar's sorrow after Grendel»s

mother k i l led iEschere. She has carried h i s body off to

her fen-home. Hrothgar i s overwhelmed with grief:

4 See above, p. 40 .

45

•fiS se cfeoden mec ^ I n e l i f e healsode hrSohmcd, baet ic on holma ge^bring eor l sc ipe efnde, ealdre genfgde. ^ maeitb fremede;

(2131-2134a)

Then the prince me by thy l i f e implored troubled in mind, t ha t I in the tumult of

the f loods a heroic deed should perform. my l i f e r i s k , fame achieve.

Efnde, gengBde. fremede a re in perfect harmony with Beowulf•u

heroic q u a l i t i e s . The arrangement i l l u s t r a t e s Hrothgar 's

complete t r u s t in t he he ro ' s prowess* The cl imact ic word

fremede i s the crowning r e su l t of the previous two.

After the dragon f i g h t , Beowulf l i e s mortal ly

•founded* He sends Wiglaf ins ide the barrow t o b r ing back

some of t h e t r e a s u r e :

Ar wae s on ofos te . e f t s l ^es georn, fraetwum-ieT^FSBFid: ^

(2783-2784) The messenger was in haste, for the return eager by the treasure urged on.

i

irhe words on ofos te . georn. gefyi^red c rea te f o r t he reader |

k v ivid p ic ture of Wiglaf 's pos i t ion . The f i r s t word conveys

to the reader the statement of Wiglaf 's nervous has t e ; the

Other two communicate the emotional i n t e n s i t y of h i s concern i

for Beowulf and at the same time his fasc ina t ion with the

^ reasure .

I Climax in phrase and clause sequence in the Beowulf

46

j f fec t ive ly imparts tempo (of a c t i o n ) , depth and sonor i ty

of emotion), or scope (of time and d i s t a n c e ) . Frequently

jlimax enables the poet to combine aspects of a l l three

Blements in one passage. In t h i s second grouping, I exhibi t

f i r s t three vivid examples of climax achieved through

ascending order of phrases or c lauses o r bo th . The th ree

examples r e l a t e to highly s ignif icant p a r t s of the n a r r a t i v e -

the dragon episode and Beowulf's funera l .

A gu i l t y slave f lee ing from h i s mas t e r ' s wrath d i s ­

covers the barrow of the dragon. He s t ea l s some of the

t reasure and with i t seeks h i s mas t e r ' s pardon. The dragon

discovers t h a t some of the t reasure i s missing:

-6a se wrm onwoe, wroht waes genlwad; stone (a aef ter sfSne.

(2287-2288)

Then the dragon awake, wrath was rekindled; he sprang along the rock.

Three cl imactic c lauses r i s i n g in tempo and i n t e n s i t y

impart t he f u l l force of the dragon ' s raging. The f i r s t two!

clauses balance almost word for word; the l a s t one i s longer .

This s t r u c t u r a l form perfec t ly i l l u s t r a t e s the ascending

idea: discovery-wrath—frantic ac t ion .

Beowulf e l e c t s to conquer the dragon a lone . In the

beginning of the b a t t l e he deals the foe a m i ^ t y blow with

h i s b a t t l e sword. The blow glances off the th ick s c a l e s :

47

©S" waes beorges weard aefter heaouswenge on hrS oum mode, wearp waelfyre; wide sprungon hildelgoman.

(2580-2583a)

Then was the guardian of the barrow

a f t e r the b a t t l e s t roke in a savage mood, he cast fo r th deadly f i r e ; far leaped the war flames.

One observes the balance of clauses which r e s u l t s in e f fec­

t i v e climax. Three p a r a l l e l phrases in the f i r s t par t a re

followed by two longer balanced c l auses . The increas ing

momentum achieves i t s climax with wide sprungon hildeleoman

The body of Beowulf, the great b a t t l e chief, with a

quant i ty of the t reasure i s borne t o Hronesness. The people:

prepare the funeral pyre and place in the midst t h e i r w e l l -

beloved lord:

Ongunnon j)a on beorge bffilfyre maest wigend weccan; wud(u)rec Sstah sweart ofer swioSole, swogende l eg wope bewunden —windblond ge laeg- - , c^ j^aBt he ^a banhus gebrocen haefde H^t on hreiire,

(3143-3148a)

Began then on the barrow the g rea te s t of funeral f i r e s

the warriors t o rouse; the woodsmoke rose dark over the flame, the crackl ing flame weeping intermingled—the roar of wind ceased— u n t i l i t the body had consumed hot t o the h e a r t .

In t h i s passage each h a l f - l i n e ba lances . From Ongunnon

there i s gradual r i s e which climaxes with hat on h r e ^ r e .

48

In summary t h e Idea i s : the great f i r e b lazes ; weeping mingles

with the smoke and flames; t he consuming f i r e burns the body.

The Beowulf begins with a b r i e f account of Scyld

Scefing. Scyld i s a wise and good r u l e r . When he d i e s ,

h i s people place him in a t reasure- laden sh ip and se t i t

a d r i f t upon the ocean:

•Ba gyt hie him aset ton segen g(yl)denne heah ofer heafod, ISton holm beran, geafon on garsecg; him waa s gegmor sefa;

(47-49)

Furthermore they set him a banner of gold high overhead, they let the ocean bear him, they gave him to the deep;

Together, the three clauses expand the image of the ship j

and its gradual moving out upon the bosom of the ocean.

The climactic phrase, ggafon on garsecg. suggests both

sorrow and the pious, dutiful performance of the last act

of the solemn ritual.

The fight between Beowulf and Grendel is a test of

physical strength and courage. After Grendel seizes the

first man and devours him, he reaches for the next. He

feels the mighty hand of Beowulf:

Gemunde S se goda. mffig^HigelSces, gefenspraece, upland Slstgd ond him fae ste wiOfShg; fingras burston; eoten wass Qtweard.eorl furbur stgp.

49 ^ co

Remembered then the brave one, kinsman of Hygelac, his evening speech, upright he stood and him firmly seized; the fingers burst; the monster moved outward. the earl stepped forward.

This series of "short, quick asyndetic clauses"--in Klaeber's

phrase—* reveals the increasing fierceness of the struggle.

The balanced contrast in eoten waes utweard. eorl furbur

stgp marks the high point, the climax, a simple but vivid

statement of Beowulf's courage.

Hrothgar describes the terrible dwelling place of

the monsters. He feels that no one except the mighty

Beowulf would dare venture into that place. He does not i

urge Beowulf, but he promises him great treasure if he

seeks out the monster and is victorious:

Nu is rsid gelang eft aet ^e anum. Eard git ne const, fr^cne sttiwe, tfer :|>u findan miht sinnigne secg: sic gif i>u dyrre I Ic pB ba faeWe "Tfo liahlge, ealdgestr^onum, swS ic Sr dyde, wundnum golde, gyf Jpil on weg cymest.

^(1376b-1383)

Now is help dependent on thee alone. The lair yet thou knowest not, the dangerous place, where thou mayest find the sinful creature; seek if thou darest I I thee for that onslaugHt with treasures will reward, with old precious things, as I before did, twisted gold, if thou comest away.

The climactic ordering of thoiaght effectively frames the

* Klaeber text, intro., p. Ixviii.

50

statement of danger. Hrothgar's words are challenging:

There is dangerous risk. Seek if thou darest I I will

greatly reward thee if thou succeed. A passage more sti­

mulating or one more surpassing in its heroic beauty is not

to be found within the poem.

Hrothgar is grieved for Aeschere. He describes the i

per i lous region of the f ens . Beowulf i s not unafraid:

Ar ls , r i c e s weard, uton hrai>e feran, Grendles magan gang sc^awigkn. Ic h i t ^B gehftte: no he on helm losa|>, ne on foldan faej»m ne on fyrgenholt , ri€ on gyfenes grund, gS Pmr he wi l l e I

(TJ90^39ZT " Rise up , guardian of the realm, l e t us quickly

go fo r th of Grendel'8 mother the t rack behold. I i t thee promise: that not she under cover escape, nor under the e a r t h ' s embrace, nor in the f o r e s t , nor in t he wa te r ' s depth, go. where she w i l l J

One immediately observes the s t r i k i n g para l le l i sm and c l i ­

mactic ordering in both sentences of t h i s memorable passage.

In the f i r s t sentence, the feel ing and thought expands and

grows i n meaning with each h a l f - l i n e u n t i l i t achieves

fu l lness and impressive s impl ic i ty i n Grendles mSgan gang

scg'awigan:.. In the second sentence, the sho r t p a r a l l e l

phrases express with moving power and beauty Beowulf's

heroic promise. The s e r i e s of c l imact ic phrases cliaminating

in £a hmr hg w i l l e . the utmost of h i s pledge, mir rors

e f fec t ive ly t h e great courage and i n t e g r i t y of the noble

51

thane.

The hoard of treasiore guarded by the dragon was

placed in the barrow by a lone survivor of a once noble and

powerful clan. The survivor feels that the earth is an

appropriate place for all the ornaments and war gear, since

no one remains to use then::

Naes heaman wyn. gomen glSobgames. n'6 ggd hafoc

feond sael swinged, ng se swif ta mearh urhstede b atedr. BeaTocwealm hafao fela feorhcynna forg* onsended I

(2262-2266)

There i s n£ joy of t h e ha rp . de l ight of the gleewood. nor the good Hawk through the ha l l sweeps, nor the swift s teed in the court stamps. Violent death has many generations forth s e n t !

Impressions of s i lence and gloom cumulate through three

p a r a l l e l negative c lauses . Each clause adds t o the p ic tu re

of desola t ion in the deserted cour t . The pictiure i s com­

pleted in the emphatic c l imact ic sentence, Bealocwealm

ihafa^ f e l a feorhcynna for^ onsended.

Beowulf approaches the barrow of the dragon. The

dragon 's f ie ry breath swir ls in flame from the en t ry .

Beowulf i s undaunted. He c a l l s out a chal lenge:

Let ^a of breostum^ dafjig gebolgen waes, Weder-Geata Igod word u t faran, s tearcheort styrmde; stefn_in becom hea^otorht hlynnan under h a r n e s t S n .

(2550-2553)

52

Let from h i s b r ea s t , when he angered was, the prince of the Weders a word go out, the s trong-hearted man stormed; h i s voice became c lear sounding i n b a t t l e resounded under the gray

stone

In t h i s passage t h e progression of emotion from clause to

clause i s especia l ly notable . In the f i r s t c lause , Beowulf

speaks an angry word; in the nex t , h i s anger i s s t ronger ;

in t he l a s t , i t echoes and reechoes. The cl imactic ordering

of form f o r the imaging of t h o u ^ t and fee l ing r equ i r e s

no underscoring:

Beowulf i s near death. He t h i n k s of his long l i f e .

He has no he i r to follow him, but he has l ived a good l i f e :

Ic on earde bad mffilcgesceafta, heold mln t e l a , ne sohte s e a r o n l ^ s , nS mg swor fe la a^a on u n r i h t .

(2736-2739)

I on earth have dwelt my appointed time, held my portion, nor sought by treacherous means , nor sworn many oaths unjustly.

A series of phrases are arranged so that the thought cumu­

lates in importance and achieves a high point in the last

phrase. Balance in all the phrases and contrast between

the first two and the last two, marked by n£ . . .. ne

. . ., achieves climactic emphasis in ne n^ swor . . . .

i

The Beowulf poet achieves climax not only through

p a t t e r n s of wordSL, phrases , and clauaes,^ but also through

53

the arrangement of~^ehtenc"es IrT a paragraph. ' Sentences" are •

so ordered t h a t t h e thought expands from t h e beginning of

the paragraph to a high point of importance or i n t e n s i t y in

the c lo se . I consider in the following pages six verse

jaragraphs from the Beowulf which i l l u s t r a t e climax a t t a ined

through sentences arranged in ascending order of importance.

These paragraphs recount s i t ua t i ons t h a t a re very s i gn i f i c an t

p a r t s of the na r r a t i ve development.

Beowulf and h i s men have disposed themselves for

s l eep . All i s dark and s i l e n t ins ide Heorot. Grendel comes

over the moors t o make his a t tack:

Cgm on wanre n lh t scrl^an sceadugenga. ~Sceotend swaefon, ba bfiet homreced healdan scoldon, fealle buton anum. ^aet waes yldum claj), bast hie ne mg'ste, ba Metod nolde, be f.sA"c_/Vnscaba under sceadu bregdan; — ac he waBCcende wrfibum on andan bad bolgenmgd beadwk gebinges. fifi com of more under mifethleo^um Mendel gongan. G o d e ^ ^ r e baer; mynte se manscatJa manna cynnes sumne besyrwan in se le ^5m hgan. Wod under wolcnum tg ^aes he he wlnreced, goldsele gumena gearwost wisse faettum fahne. Ne waes pset forma sloT bset he Hr5bgai-es ham gesohte^ naefre he oA aldordagum aer ne si^^^an heardran h a l e , healgegnas fand ! Com M to recede r inc slQian ^r5afium"Ted«l ed Duru sgna onarn , ^ -T ^ S u 5 ^ i i t ~ sybban hg h i r e folmum (ae thr )an; o S P I d V ^ e a i o h y d i l , M (he ge)bolgen waes recedes mul^an. (702b.724a)

54

Came in the dark night s t r i d ing the shadow-goer. fEe warr iors s l e p t , who the hom-feabled house hold should, a l l but one. That was t o man known, t ha t he might n o t , s ince God wi l led i t not , the h o s t i l e foe into the shadows f l ing them; — but he watching h o s t i l e in anger waited enraged the b a t t l e oiAcome, Then came from the moor under the mis t - s lopes Grendel walking. God's wrath he bore; intended the ev i l -doer some oT~mankinl many a one to entrap in the high h a l l . He went under the clouds u n t i l he the winehal l , the gold h a l l of warrior c l e a r l y knew, gold-plated shining. Now was t h a t t h e f i r s t t ime, t ha t he Hrothgar 's home had sought; never he in a l l h i s days before o r s ince bolder heroes ha l l - thanes found J Then came to t h e h a l l the creature a t once of joys be re f t . The door a t once sprang open j T i re hardened f a s t , when he with his hand s touched ijt; swung open h o s t i l e , s ince he was enraged, the ha l l mouth.

Each underlined sentence marks a s tep in the progression of

the ac t i on to i t s climax. The p a r a l l e l sentences flow

smoothly one i n t o t h e other achieving great i n t ens i t y in

Duru sona onarn . . . . Vi r tua l r e p e t i t i o n i n the p a r a l l e l

c lauses of the cl imact ic sentence emphasize Grendel 's t e r ­

r i b l e rage .

Beowulf se izes Grendel by t h e hand. As they

s t rugg le , a great wound becomes v i s i b l e on Grendel 's

shoulder. The sinews burs t and Grendel f l ees to t he fens:

Haefde pa gef^ lsod se i>e aer feorran com, snotor ond swygferh^*. seTe HrgggSres genered w'id' nltfeT Niht weorce gef eh, ellenmairbum. Haefde last-Denum Ggatmecga Igod g i lp g e l i i s t e d . ~

55

swylce oncybye ealle gebette. inwidsorge '|jiS hie ser drugon ond for breanydum ^olian scoldon, tornunlytel. aet waes tSeen sweotol. sybgan hildedeor hond Slegde. eairm ond eaxle —^aSr waes eal geador Grendles grgpe— under gSapne hr(gf).

(125-386)

He had then cleansed, who from afar had come. ^rewd and staunch, the hall of Hrothgar. freed it from evil. The night-work he rejoiced in, in the"Tieroic deed. Had to the East-Danes the prince of the Geat warriors his boast~fulfilled. likewise the grief all he cured. deep sorrow, which they before endured and in distress had to bear, affliction not a little. That was a token clear. when the brave hero the hand laid down the arm and shoulder' -there was altogether Grendel's claw—under the broad roof.

Witness the three outstanding sentences. Each contributes

to the central idea—Beowulf had fulfilled his mission.

The steps in the paragraph development may be stated thus:

Beowulf had killed Grendel. He had kept his promise. The

arm and shoulder provided the proof. The culmination of the

climactic scheme appears in: aet waes t^cen sweotol. . .

earm ond eaxle . . . under geapne hr(of).

After Beowulf kills Grendel's dam, he cuts off

Grendel's head. The blood of the monster melts the sword

of giants to its hilt. Grasping the hilt and also Grendel's

head, Beowulf dives up through the mere to the surface:

Com l?a to lande lidmanna helm swi^mod swymman; aSlS ce" gef eah. maegnebyrjjenne >ba.ra be he him mid haefde. Eodon him ia togeknes,'" 5ode ancodon.

56

^ i 'fitoc begna heap , ^odnes gefegon, baes ^e hi hyne gesundne gesgon moston. Ba waes of aem hroran helm ond byme lungre Slysed. Lagu drusade, waeter undep: wolcnum, waeldreore fag. Ferdon foro non febelastum ferh] \im faegne, foldweg maeton, ciX e straete; cyningbalde men from baem holmcllfe hafelan bieron earfodllce he^a aeghwa^rinn"' felamSdigra; fgower scoldon" on pma waels t enge weorcum geferian to fa^m goldsele Grendles h'gafod.--op oaet semninga tg* sele cgmon frome fyrdhwate feowertyne Ggata gongan; g\imdryhten mid modig on gemonge meodowongas traed. •Ba cgm in gan ealdor "^egna, daedc gne mon dome gewurbad. haele hildedgor. HrSygSr grftan. •PS waes be feax'e on flet boren Grendles heafod. EBr guman druncon, egesllc for eorlum ond aere idese mid, wlitsgon wr#tllc; weras on Sawon.

-(1523^6507""

Came then to land the protector of sea-farers stouthearted swjjaming; in the sea-booty great joy, mighty burden"whieh witlPhim he had. They went him then toward, God they thanked, mighty troop of thanes, rejoiced in the prince, that they him safe and sound behold could. Then was from the brave one helm and corslet quickly taken off. The lake lay quiet, water under the clouds, with battle gore stained. They fared forth then on the foot-tracks with hearts joyous, they traveled the pathway, the well known street; royally brave men from the cliff the head bore with difficulty for each one

,, -- g(, until suddenly to the hall brave warlike fourteen Geats arrived; their lord with them fearless among the troops the meadows about trod. Then came in the prince of thanes. the man bol? in deeds made glorious with fame. the hero bra've in battle. Hrothgar to greet. Then was by tHe"TraIr"over the floor carried

57

Grehdel^s'liead, wheFe~~waTridf^~^ere drinking^ terrible for earls and the ladies there with them, a spectacle wondrous; the men looked upon it.

In this stirring passage, Beowulf returns triumphant to

Hrothgar's hall. The entire paragraph is developed in

cumulative order, but the underlined sentences vividly

stand out in the ascent of the action to its high point.

The action in its ascending order may be recounted thus: 1

Beowulf returns. His loyal men remove his armor. They go

jto Heorot. Beowulf greets Hrothgar. The men bear the

giant's head into the hall. Pa waes be feaxe on flet boren

Grendles heafod and wliteseon wr^tllc; weras on sawon ! provide the climactic emphasis in the closing sentence.

Beowulf tells Hrothgar that he and his people may i

sleep in Heorot henceforth free from sorrow. The head of \ I

Grendel and the ancient sword hilt are proof that the death-j

scourge has been lifted. He gives the sword hilt to

Hrothgar:

Ba waes gylden h i l t gamelum r i n c e . Earum hildfruman on hand gyfen. enta. aergeweorc; Hit on asht g^wear f ae f te r deofla_ii3bcns Denigea frgan. wundorsmi^a geweorc; ond pn pEa worold ofgeaf gromheort guma. Codes andsaca, mortSres scyldig, ond h i s mgdor eac; on geweald gehwearf woroldcyninga ^ m sgl ' i i tan be sgm tweonum ^ I r a J)e on Sc'edftiCgge scea t t a s daelde.

'F- .— (1677-1686)

Then was the golden h i l t to the aged warr ior . grev-lialred war chief in to tHe~hands given.

58

by giants wrought; it into the possession passed after the demon's death of the Danish lord, by cunning smith wrought; and from this world de­

parted the hostile of heart one, God's enemy, of murder guilty, and his mother also; into possession passed of the world kings the best between the seas who in Skene treasure gave.

In this passage the sentence structure and ordering of

thought harmonize. Balanced phrases expand and emphasize

the central idea which in summary is: the sword passed to

the aged warrior, the Danish lord, the greatest and best

king in all Skane. The climax is achieved in the superlative,

Woroldcyninga aSm sglestan . . . on Scedenigge.

! Beowulf accomplishes his purpose. He rids the Danes

of their foes. Ready to return to his homeland, he approaches

Hrothgar on his throne and speaks his farewell:

Bgowulf mabelode, beam Ecbeowes: ' 'Nu wS sSll^end secgan wyllatT

feorran cumene, Jpaet we fundiab HigelSc secan. Wairon hgr tela, wiliMua bewenede; pu us wel dohtest.

' Gif ic bonne on eoroan gwihte maeg J lnre modlufan mSram tilian, gumena dryhten, tTonne ic gyt dyde, gutTgeweorca, ic beo gearo sona. Gif ic baet gefricge ofer floda begang, ^ait ^ec ymbsittend egesan ywao swa bee hetende hwllum dydon, ic ge i)usenda begna bringe, haelepa to helpe; Ic on Hlgelace wat, G§ata dryhten, bgah e he geong af, folces hyrde, paet he mec freraaan wile wordiim ond weorcum, ^aet ic e wel herige ond be to geoce gSrholt here, msegenes fultum, Jaaer oe bio manna bearf.

^ (1817-1835)

59

Beowulf spoke, son of Ecgtheowt 'Now we seafarers to say wish from afar come, that we intend Hygelac to seek. We were here well delightfully entertained; thou us well treated. If I then on earth any way might from thee a love greater win, lord of men, than I yet have, for warlike deeds, I shall soon be ready. If I that hear beyond the compass of the flood that thy neighbors press against thee, as thy foes at times have done, I a thousand thanes shall bring, heroes to thy help. I in Hygelac trust, the lord of the Geats, although he young be, people's protector, thee he will help in words and deeds, that I thee will support and to thy aid a spear bear, mighty help, when there is need of men.

The notable sentences in the climactic structure of this

iparagraph are parallel in form. Each states a condition

of Beowulf's pledge of loyalty to Hrothgar and his people.

The progression is toward the firmest statement in the

pledge. The pledge is literally: I am ready to serve you

at all times; Hygelac is my friend and yours; in time of

distress, I with Hygelac's help will aid you. One observes

he anaphora with gif introducing the clauses.

I Hrothgar speaks words of praise to Beowulf and

gives him treasures for reward. He embraces Beowulf and

Weeps, fearful that he will never again see the brave

Warrior. Beowulf prepares for the journey homeward:

Cwom ba tg flgde felamgdigra, t haegstealdra /~hgap_7; hringnet bSEron,

locene leo^osyrcan. Landweard onfand

f

60

eft aid* eo r l a . sw5 h"e Sr dyde; nS hg mid heanne oT"hTldes nosan gaesTtas) g r e t t e . ac hiiti togganes r5d. cwaeg" vbaet wilcuman Wedera leodum scaban scirhame to scipe foron. ps waes on sande sSgSap naca hladen herewaedum hringedstefna, mearum ond raa^um; maest h l i fade ofer Hro^gSres hordgestreonum. H6 pfem batwearde bunden golde swurd gesealde. Jpaet he'"syda>an waes on meodubence ma)me ££ weori?ra, y r f e i a f e . ^ewat nim on naca drgfan deep waeter; Dena land ofgeaf. Fa waes be mae s te merehraegla avja, segl sSle f ae s t ; sundwudu ^unede; nSJpSSr wSgflotan wind ofer y^um sloes getwffifde; aSgenga fg r , f l e a t fgmigheals forO" ofer y^g. bundenstefna ofer brimstreamas, v^aet hie Ggata c l i fu ongitan meahton, cu^e maessas; ogol up geprang lyftgeswenced, on lande stgd Hra^e waes aet holme h^dWeard geara . sg ^e ^ r lanige t l d Igofra manna T^a aet farooe T¥or wlatode; i m j r t g " i n d e -iI3fasj>me scip oncerbendum faes t , ^y I s i s hym yba grym wudu wynsuman forwrecan meahte. Het j)a up beran aei>elinga ges t reon. fraetwe ond f g t g o l d ; naes him feor>i>anon to gesgcanne sinces bxr t t an . Mgelgc Hr6tt>llng^ SaBr aet hain wunao se l f a mid ges l^um sl^wealle neah.

(1888-1924)

Came then to the flood of very brave yoxmg warriors a /~troop_7; c o r s l e t s they bore, locked s h i r t s of mai l . The coast gmrd saw the r e t u r n of the ea r l s as he before did; he did not wit h insu l t from the edge of t h e c l i f f tEe s t rangers g ree t . but toward them rode ; he said tha t welcome the people of thTltfeders with gleaming armor to the ship went• Then was on t h e sand the spacious sh ip laden with armor the ring-prowed ship with horses and t r e a s u r e s ; t he mast towered over Hrothgar 's hord of t r e a s u r e s . He t o the guardian of the ship bound with gold * sword gave, so t h a t afterwards he was

61

on the meadbench honored because of the treasures. the heirloom, ffe embarked on the ship to plough the deep water; the land of the Danes he j

left.; Then was by the mast a sail, a sail with a rope bound; the timbers creaked; not there the waveflooter the wind over the billows from the journey turned aside; the sea-goer fared, sailed the foamy-necked one forth over the waves. the boat with ornamented prow over the ocean currents, imtil they the cliffs of the Geats could see, the well-known headlands; the ship forward drove \ pushed by the wind, on land rested. Quickly was by the sea water the harbor-guard ready.; who there a Tong time for the beloved men i longing at the sea far had gazed; he bound to the sand the broad-bosomed ship with anchorbonds, fast, lest the force of the waves the vessel winsome drive away might. He bade them up to carry the chieftain's treasure. acfomments anclpTated gold; had not far "they to seek the^gTver of the jewels. llygelac son of HretEel, where he at home dwells, himself withTiis comrades the sea wall near.

This long passage describes the homeward journey through

climactic ordering of sentences and idea. The central idea

progresses as follows: The Danish coast guard bids the Geat

warriors a friendly farewell. Beowulf gives a sword to the

keeper of the boat. The Geats sail over the ocean. The

Geat harbor guard welcomes the warriors home. They carry

the treasure to Hygelac. The climax is not intense but it

is very significant. The parallel parts Het jpia up beran

aebelinga gestrgon fraetwe ond fsTfetgold and naes him feor

jbanon to gesecanne sinces bryttan bear the emphasis in the

iclimax; the point of highest interest is that the beloved

'chieftain is home at last. 1 I

CHAPTER V

REPETITION: ECHO AND ENVELOPE

Any comprehensive r h e t o r i c a l ana ly s i s w i l l take note

of the various devices of r e p e t i t i o n w i t h examples of eadi .

In both simple and e labora te forms, r e p e t i t i o n has been used

by r h e t o r i c i a n s of a l l ages. I t may be used t o amplify, t o

r e in fo rce , or t o harmonize.

Since the beginnings of Beowulf scholarsh ip , such

obvious forms of r epe t i t i on as a l l i t e r a t i o n and the metaphor

cal led the kenning have been subjected to recur r ing 1

analysis and examination. Unti l recent decades t h e p o e t ' s

use of the echo word and t h e envelope pat tern has been 2

almost overlooked. The s tudies of Adelir» C. B a r t l e t t

and John 0. Beaty have revealed these devices to b e most

s igni f icant in the rhe to r ica l s t r u c t u r e of t he poem. In

t h i s chapter I sha l l exhibi t r e p e t i t i o n in the Beowulf as

i t i s revealed in the use of the echo word and the envelope

p a t t e r n . The passages i l l u s t r a t i n g the echo word are from

1 B a r t l e t t , p . 81, re fe rs t o J . W. Rankin, "A Study of the Kennings in Anglo-Saxon Poet ry ," JEGP. IX (1910), 49. Very few s t u d i e s of the BeowuIf f a i l to give a t t e n t i o n t o a l l i t e r a t i o n and the use of kennings.

2 See above, pp. 5-6.

62

63

Professor Beaty 's grouping. According t o Beaty, the echo

does not . . . as does the kenning . . . r e t a i n the basic

idea of a word while i t var ies t he e p i t h e t . I t i s a repe­

t i t i o n of i d e n t i c a l sounds in t h e word with a d i f fe ren t

connotation or meaning. I t s purpose i s l a rge ly t o give 4

pleasure from the r e p e t i t i o n or echo of sounds.

Echo appears i n t h e r e p e t i t i o n of the same word in

a d i f fe ren t connotation or a s s o c i a t i o n :

. . . on bearm sc ipes ,

. . . him on Searme laeg (35b; 40b)

. . . on the bosom of the barge

. . . on his bosom lay

. . . hond alegde.

. . . feorh'"slegde (834b; 851b)

. . . l a i d down the hand

. . . l a i d down h i s l i f e

. . . i>aet hyre Ealdmetod es te waere W§ paat ellenweorc gstum miclum feohtan fremedon, . . .

(945; 958-959a)

that to her the Lord gracious was we that brave deed very gladly, the battle wrought, . . .

. . . .baet ^aes ahl^can blodge beadufolme onberan wolde.

3 PMLA, XLIX (1934), 365-374. 4 P7T66.

64

Ba waes hat en hrdpe Heorot inanweard folmum gefraetwod; . . .

(989-992a)

not that thus the monster's bloody battle-hand shorten would. Then was commanded quickly Heorot with hands be decorated.

Wig ealle fornam Finnes egnas nemne feaum anum, ^aet hg ne mehte on aSm metfeletede wig Hengeste wiht gefeohtan,

(1080b-1083)

Warfare all carried off Finn's thanes except a few only, so that on the battle-field warfare with Hengest in no wise he could make,

Sometimes the echoing word is a part of a compound:

hwyder helrunan hwyrftiom scrlpatS'. , . . Monig oft gesaet rice to rOne; . . .

(163; 171b, 172a) whither the demons in t h e i r wanderings go. . . . many often sat mighty i n council . . .

eode yrremgd; . . . . . . Ba his mod ahlgg; (.726a; 730b)

moved angry in mind . . . . . Then his mind exulted,

wearp Sa wundenmael wraettum gebunden yrre Sretta . . . oferwearp a wirigmod wigena strengest, fgbecempa, . . . ^ (1531, 1532a; 1543; 1544a)

65

cast down the ornamented sword with s c r o l l s adorned the angry warr ior f e l l dcwn then the weary in mood of warr iors the

s t ronges t , the foot -warr ior , . . .

vbaet hlo leodbealewa 1ms gef remede, Inwitnl^a, nefa Garmundes, nl8^ craeftig

(1946, 1947a; 1962)

that she harm to t h e people l e s s brought craf ty a c t s of malice . . . grandson of "Sarmund, i n b a t t l e c ra f ty .

Tg lang ys t o reccenne, h'Q i(c^)am leodsce^an yf la gehwylces onlean forgeald; Me ^one waelraes wine Scildunga f & t t a n golde f e l a leanode,

"^2093, 2094; 2101, 2102)

To long i t i s to t e l l how I to the people ' s foe for every evi l reward gave me then for the bloody conf l ic t f r iendly lord of

the Scyldings plated gold t reasure many gave

Sometimes the echo jo ins words of widely d i f fe ren t

meaning:

ylfde eotena cyn ond on fcfum slog (42TT

^ destroyed the g i an t s race , and mid the waves slew

ymb baes helmes hrof heafodbeorge wirum bewunden wala utan hgold, . . . naefre on ore laeg wldciJ)es wig, oonne walu fgollen

^ TTDJO-1031; 1041b-1042)

around the top of the helmet head guard with .'Wire entwined a r idge outs ide held . . . never in t h e front f a i l ed h i s fame i n b a t t l e viien the s l a i n f e l l .

66

Sona waes on sunde sS be air set saecce gebSd wighryre wradriTJ waeter up burhdeaf; . . . Gode ^ancodon, baes be hi hyne gesundne gesSon moston,

—~TI618-1619; I626b-1628)

Soon was swirmning who before in the batt le survived the f a l l of foes , the water up t h r o u ^ dived . . . . . . . . God they thanked, that him they safe and sound see might.

hlaiw xmder hrusan holwylme neh, yggewinne . . . . . . naes paet y^e oeap tg gegangenne gumena. . . •

(2411-2412a; 2415b-24l6) i

the cave under the ground the surge of the sea near i the tossing water . . . i . . . not that an easy bargain for entering warriors

» . . na l les fraetwe geaf ealdor dugo^e . . . . . . ac waes wide cut^,

i>aette 0ngent(lo ealdre besnyl^ede Haed'een Hrebling wi^ Hrefnawudu,

^ (2919b, 2920; 2923b-2925)

. . . not any treasure gave the prince t o his retainers . . . for i t was widely known that Ongentheow of h i s l i f e deprived Haethcyu, son of Hrethel, near Ravenswood,

The echo i s often evident in a series of words.

At l eas t two of the words in the s e r i e s w i l l be of different

meaning or connotation:

-Da hie getruwedon on twe healfa F8B«te frioouwaere . . . . . . paet ^ee r aBnJ.gmon ^ wordum ne worcum waSre ne br»ce , _ gyf ionne Frf sna hywlc frecnan spraece

67

^aes moi^borhetes myndgiend waere, j ^ (1095-1096a;1!U^b-1100; 1104-1105)

i Then they pledged on two sides in a firm peace t r e a t y . . . . . . t ha t the re any man by word or deed the t r e a t y should not break. If then anyone Fr is ian with bold speech the deadly h o s t i l i t y c a l l to mind should

s e t l e s neosan.

h i s seat to find . • »

beddes neosan. ceoles ngosan. ' M (1786a;T79I^; l806b)

" • - ' ( •

his bed to seek, his vessel to seek

gstum geywan . . . |>aet i c h i s s r e s t ^e es t gesaegde;

; * ; « ond mSSma.-

with good w i l l beptow

he him es t geteah

(2i49a; 2157; 2l65b, 2166a)

witn goog w i l l peptow . . , t ha t I f i r s t to thee his., good w i l l dec la re ; . . . he him t h i s g i f t gave steeds and s t o r e s .

. . . naes baet y^e ceap to gegangenne gumena £nigum. Gesaet %& on naegse ni^heard cyning; Fela ic on giogooe gudrae sa igenaas. n a s ic him t 3 l i f e l a^ ra owihte, beorn in burgum, bonne h i s beama hwylc, . . .

(2415b-2417; 2426; 2432, 2433)

. . . that was not an easy bargain

to reach for any man Sat there on the headland the brave in battle king many I in youth of battle storm survived nor was I to him ever hostile in any way, a child in the court, than any one of his children.

68

Ic him llfwra^e lytle meahte aet gif an aet gQoe, . . . _ . . . Wergendra to lyt ^rong ymbe i>eoden, . . . . . . Lyt swigode nlwra spella se be naes gerSd.

(2877, 2878a; 2882b, 2883a; 2897b, 2898)

I him life protection little could give in the fight, . . . . . . Defenders too few thronged around their lord . . . . . . little said of the startling story he who rode the headlands.

The echo is frequently the name or part of the name

of a person, an epic phrase, or a term applied to a person:

Baet fram ham gefraegn Higelaces egn hwetton higerofne, . . .

(194, 204a)

That a t home heard of Hygelac's thane they urged on t h e v a l i a n t one . . .

eodor Scyldinga . . . pmt i c sweord here pbje sldne scyld.

pro tec tor of t h e Scyldings, tha t I sword bear or broad sh i e ld .

gSre wunde;

• • •

spear wounded

ecg waes i r en , • • •

the ftdge was iron

Hrojpgares scop

(l666b, 1075a)

Hrothgar's singer

mago Ecglafes (1459a, 1465b)

son of-Ecglaf

nefa Garmundes.

• • •

grandson of Oarmund,

gealdor ongeaton. • • •

sound they heard.

69

garcgne man

(1958b, 1962a)

spear bold man .

Sweona ond Geata, 2944a, 2946F)

Swedes and Geats,

The term "envelope pattern" describes repetition

which binds together a verse paragraph. At the beginning

and closing, the repetition of words and ideas serves as

a simple framework for the verse group. Such a framework

is evident in Psalm 8: 1 and 9, "0 Lord our Lord, how ex­

cellent is thy name in all the earth I" In Hhe Larger 5

Rhetorical Patterns in Anglo-Saxon Poetry. Bartlett has

illustrated envelope pattern, one of the predominating

devices in the rhetorical structure of all Anglo-Saxon

poetry. In this chapter of my study, the passages exhibit­

ing envelope pattern are from Bartlett's citations. Envelope

pattern in the Beowulf provides emphasis and vividness for

the idea developed within its frame. Each passage is

intensely dramatic:

5 Chapter II, pp. 9-29.

70

Gewat da neosian. sy^dan niht becom, hean husei^ Eu hit Hring-Dene aefter bBor^ege gebuh haefdon. Fand ^aer inne ae be 1 inga gedriht swefan aefter symble; sorge ne cudon, wonsceaft wera. Wiht unhaelo, grim ond gr&dig gearo sona waes, reoc onirg^e, ond on raaste genam l)rltig egna; ^anon eft gewat nuoe hremig tg him faran, mid i>Sre waelfylie wlca neosan.

^ ^ TnT-r?3— He went then to seek out, vfeen night fell. tKe high house, how within the Ring-Danes after the beer-banquet had disposed themselves. He found therein the band of chieftains sleeping after the feast; sorrow they knew not, the misery of men. Creature of evil, m grim and greedy, ready soon was, savage and cruel, and at rest seized thirty thanes; thence he escaped again in his spoil exulting to his home to journey, with his fill of slaughter his dwelling to seek out J

Dryhtsele dynarie; Denxim eallum wear^, ceasterbuendiim, cenra gehrwylcum, eorlum ealuscerwen, Yrre waeron begen, repe renweardas. Reced hlynsode.

—mi-W) The great hall resounded; on all the Danes on the castle-dwellers, on each of the'bold men, on the earls was terror, Angry were both fierce contestants for the house. The hall resounded.

Dead is AEs chere^ Yrmenlafes yldra br5i>or, mln runwlta ond mln reidbora , eaxlgestealla, oonne we on orlege hafelan weredon, )ponne hniton fgban, eoferas cnysedan, Swylc scolde eorl wesan, /^aebeling_7 aergod, swylic AEschere waes '.

(1323b- l l2^

JEschere i s dead Yrmenlaf's e lder b ro ther , ' my close fr iend and my counselor .

71

my shoulder-companion, when we in the battle our heads defended, when clashed the foot-troops, the boar-crested helmets struck. Such should a

leader be, a prince proven, such JEschere was.

S81re hi^ seghw^m. ;| baet hg his freond wrece, ponhengTeTa murne. ig| Ure SBghwylc sceal ende gebidan H worolde llfes; wyrce sS e mote ,| dgmes aer deabe; pa^t bid'drihtguman ;| unlifgendum aefter selest.

nOT;^-1389) B^tt^et* i t i s for each one >v,„^

tha t rhe h i s fr iend avenge, than ETm grea t ly mourn, j Each one among us sha l l the end await of t h i s wor ld ' s l i f e ; l e t him win who may , fame before death; t h a t s h a l l be for the grea t i

warr ior | no longer l i v i n g afterwards t h e b e s t .

Gyrede hine Beowulf eorlgewsedum, na l l e s fo r ealdre mearn;

Ne waes ^aHm gdinim swa, sy^|>an hg hine t g gu^e gegvrede haefde.

(1442-3; 1471-2)

Beowulf girded himself in battle armor, for life he feared not at all

The other was not so when he for battle had girded himself.

CHAPTER VI

RELATION OF RHETORICAL DEVICES

TO LARGER STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

To consider the great mass of scho la r ly c r i t i c i s m

r e l a t i n g to t he Beowulf i s sometimes t o f ee l t h a t a l l the

important quest ions have been r a i s ed and s a t i s f a c t o r i l y

s e t t l e d . Yet so t o fee l i s t o f a l l v ic t im t o a not uncommon 1

i l lusion of the novi t ia te . Tolkien has r ight ly observed

that r ich as the field of Beowulf cri t icism i s , i t i s poor

in the area which relates to the understanding of the poem

as a poem. Most of the ear l ie r studies were concerned with

establishing the unified authorship of the poem. Out of the i

attendant controversy has developed the conviction held by

almost a l l modem scholars that a single ski l l ful poet was

responsible for the poem as i t is today. With the question ;

of authorship se t t led , scholars have tiirned to matters of

structure and s ty le . Several of the more recent s tudies

consider the poem as a work of a r t . Although th i s interest

i s not altogether new, scholars now place emphasis on the

1 "Beowulf: The Monster and the Cr i t i c s , " Proceed­ings of the British Academy. XXI (1936), p. 245.

— . • ^ • ' • ' - ^ i ' . • • • ^ ^ - - _ . .

72

73

p o e t ' s s t r u c t u r a l s k i l l and show heightened apprec ia t ion of

the poem's s t y l i s t i c excellence t h a t many of the e a r l i e r 2

commentators f a i l ed to d i s p l a y .

In The Working Pr inc ip les of Rhetor ic . John F.

jGenung has observed t h a t good s ty le r evea l s the power and

I beauty of thought by f reeing i t from crudi ty and incomplete-i 3

Iness."' In i t s s ty l e the Beowulf poem shows great beauty and

d ign i ty . I t s r h e t o r i c a l s t r u c t u r e does not i nd i ca t e t h a t

the poet was a v i r tuoso seeking to impress h i s audience with

h i s s t y l i s t i c b r i l l i a n c y ; ra ther i t i s evidence t h a t he was I

seeking to develop hie subject adequately and effectively.

I In this development he has used the traditional devices of I

rhetoric—parallelism, balance and contrast, climax, repeti­

tion—as structural forms harmonizing with his subject matter

and indeed, as their inevitable embodiment. Klaeber has

commented on the fine discrimination revealed in the handlinjg

of the traditional rhetorical devices. The poet has employed

parallelism for amplifying and expanding ideas. He has

achieved effective emphasis by balance and contrast. He has

revealed the intense suspense of dramatic situations through

2 Some of the scholars who emphasize the artistic merits of the poem are: Fr. Klaeber, Adeline C. Bartlett, Joan Bloomfield, Adrien Bonjour, James R. Hulbert, Charles W. Kennedy, Kemp Malone, and J. R. R. Tolkien. See the bibliography at the close of this study for titles,

3 Boston, 1900, p . 19. 4 Beowulf, t h i r d ed. (1950), p . I x v i i i . Klaeber ' s

comments provide at once an analys is i n b r i e f of t he p o e t ' s r h e t o r i a and an-impressive t r i b u t e . t o J i l s a r t .

74

climactic arrangements. He has provided pleasing emphasis

with repetition. Throughout the poem one observes these

conventional devices used with fine judgment and good taste.|

In like manner the larger elements in the plan of {

the poem exhibit impressive evidence of deliberate design.

The adventures of the hero are set forth in parallel ar-

I 5

Irangement. The f i g h t s with the monsters and with t he

jdragon a r e narrated f i r s t by the poet and l a t e r are r e to ld

jby Beowulf and Wiglaf. The poet na r ra t e s e labora te and

awesome d e t a i l s . Later when Beowulf and Wiglaf r e t e l l , : 1 I

jthey present concise, matter-of-fact accounts. Always, the i

parallel passages emphasize Beowulf's great difficulties

land his narrow escapes! These retellings advance the narra-l

tive and subtly reveal character. The modest recitals of

jBeowulf and Wiglaf contrast with the poet's elaborate accounts

land set in sharp relief the heroic qualities of both the hero

land his helper.

I Critics frequently note that the structural relation­

ship between the two parts of the poem is established chiefly

through balance and contrast. Professor Malone has commented

thus: "Beowulf gives us two chapters only of the hero's life

and these two chapters stand in sharp ccaatrast. In the first 5 James R. Gaskin, "Structural Principle and Device

in Beowulf" (Doctoral dissertation: North Carolina, (1952),

p. VzT

\

75

the hero i s young; he i s represented as an idea l r e t a i n e r ; I

he undertakes a task which he i s not in duty bound to

perform. . . . In the cont ras t ing chapter , t h e hero i s o ld ;

he i s represented as an idea l k ing; the task which he

undertakes i s one which he cannot avoid without f a i l i n g in

h i s duty t o h i s own people ." Two other s t r i k ing examples

of balance and contrast i n the two p a r t s of the poem are

Hrothgar 's long peaceful reign i n the f i r s t part—Beowulf •s,i

in the second pa r t ; Beowulf•s confidence before the f i r s t

combats—his gloom before the l a s t one.

The th ree great adventures in Beowulf•s l i f e are

arranged i n a c l imact ic progression beginning with h i s f i r s t |

achievement i n youth and ending with h i s f i n a l achievement

and death i n old age. The p a r a l l e l account of his adventures

and the balance and cont ras t i n t h e two p a r t s of the poem

heighten t h e cl imactic arrangement vrtiich may be b r i e f l y

described: Beowulf a s a noble young warr ior overcomes the

monster Grendel and wins great honor and much t r e a s u r e ; i

next , he overcomes the monster 's mother and achieves greater^ I '

fame and more t r e a su re ; f i n a l l y , a f t e r a long and peaceful I

r e ign , he k i l l s a mighty dragon but dies from a wound suf­

fered in the f i g h t . This cl imactic ordering i s the ou t l ine

of the n a r r a t i v e ; i t s e laborat ion r e l a t e s with r i c h d e t a i l

6 "Beowulf," English S tudies . XXIX (1948), 165.

76

the significant moments of a great life from its first

achievement in youth to its ending with death in old age.

It is in the elaboration of the simple narrative

that the poet harmonizes the basic rhetorical structure

with the larger elements of the poem. As he has used

structural parallelism (and repetition), balance and

contrast, and climax in the larger plan of the poem, so

has he used these devices rhetorically for filling in and

rounding out his design. This design in its finished form

is the poem. Its success is due in no small way to the

harmony of the larger plan and the rhetorical structure. 7

To paraphrase a present day critic: the greatness of the

poem lies largely if not chiefly in its style. The poet

was master of a traditional style, a mode already old in

his day. Beowulf carries one along on a great golden stream

of rhetoric. It is a great literary tradition at its finest

flowering. Beowulf may not be one of the half-dozen great

poems in the world, but for sheer style, there are not many \

works to put above it.

7 Kemp Malone, A Literary History of Enjgland. p. 94. Professor Malone"quotes from M. B. luud. M]C^ II (1941), 138-139.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. Texts and Translations

Gordon, R. K. Anglo-Saxon Poetry. New York: E. P. Button and Company, Inc., 1950.

Kennedy, Charles W. Beowulf. The Oldest English Epic. New York: Oxford University Press, 1940.

Klaeber, Fr. Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg. Third Edition with Supplements. !Tew York: D. C. Heath

I and Company, 1941.

Moore, Samuel and Knott, Thomas A. The Elements of Old English. Ninth Edition, Revised, Enlarged, and Corrected. Ann Arbor, Michigan: George Wahr, 1940.

•Waterhouse, Mary E. Beowulf in Modern English. Cambridge: Bowes and Bowes, 1 9 4 ^

II. Commentaries

History

Baldwin, Charles S. Three Medieval Centuries of Literature in England. Boston: Little, Brown, an3~Company, 1932.

Kennedy, Charles W. The Earliest English Poetry. New York: Oxford University Press, 1943.

Malone, Kemp and Baugh, Albert C. A Literary History of England. Volume I. New Yoric: Appleton-Century"^rofts, Inc., 1948.

I

Criticism

Brodeur, Arthur G. "The Structure and Unity of Beowulf," PMLA. LXVIII (1953), 1183-95.

77

78

jBrown, Calvin S,, Jr. "On Reading Beowulf," Sewanee Review, L (1942), 78-86.

Chambers, R. W. Beowulf: An Introduction. Second Edition. Cambridge: University Press, 1932.

Du Bois, A, E, "The Unity of Beowulf," PMLA, XLIX (1934), j 374-405.

Gaskin, James R, "Structural Principle and Device in Beowulf." Unpublished Doctoral dissertaion. North Carolina, 1952.

Girvan, Ritchie. "Finnsburg," Proceedings of the British Academy. XVI (1940), 327 5 5:

Lawrence, William W. Beowulf and Epic Tradition. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1931.

Malone, Kemp. "Beowulf," English Studies. XXIX (1948), 161-172.

jNolan, Edward Francis. "Organic Repetition in the Structure of Beowulf." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Princeton, 1941.

O'Neill, Sister M. A, "Elegaic Elements in Beowulf." Catholic University dissertation, Washington, 1932.

Routh, J, E, "Two Studies on the Ballad Theory of the Beowulf," Johns Hopkins dissertation, Baltimore,

1905. 1.

Tolkien, J. R. R. "Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics," , Proceedings of the British Academy. XXI (1936), U$-295.

III. Stylistic and Rhetorical Studies

Baldwin, Charles S. Ancient Rhetoric and Poetic. New York: The Macmillan Cbippany, 1924.

I . Composition Oral and Written. New York: Longmans, Green and Company, 1923.

. Medieval Rhetoric and Poetic. New York: The kacmillan Company, 1928.

79

. Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice. Edited by Donald L. ClarFI MorningsideHeights, New York: Columbia University Press, 1939.

^artlett, Adeline Courtney. The Larger Rhetorical Patterns in Anglo-Saxon Poetry. Morningside Heights, New York:"Columbia University Press, 1935.

Batchelor, C. C. "The Style of the Beowulf: A Study of the Composition of the Poem," Speculum. XII (1906), 330-342.

Beaty, John 0. "The Echo Word in Beowulf with a Note on the Finnsburgh Fragment." PMLA. XLIV (1934), 365-374.

Blair, Hugh. Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Letters. Philadelphia: Hayes and Zell, 1854.

Bloomfield, Joan. "The Style and Structure of Beowulf." RES, XIV (1938), 393-403.

Bonjour, Adrien. The Digressions in Beowulf. Oxford: Basil Blaclcwell, 1950.

; . "The Technique of Parallel Description in Beowulf." RES, II (New Series; January, 1951),

riiu: Brewster, William T. Representative Essays on the Theory

of Style. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1911.

Brooks, Cleanth and Warren, Robert Penn. Fundamentals of Good Writing. New York: Harcourt. Brace and Company, T54^.

Clark, Donald L. Rhetoric and Poetry in the Renaissance. New York: Columbia University Frees, 1922.

Davidson, Donald. American Composition and Rhetoric. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1939.

Genung, John F. Outlines of Rhetoric. Boston: Ginn and Company, 1894.

. The Working Principles of Rhetoric. Boston: Ginn and Company, 1900.

80

Gunn, Alan M. F. The Mirror of Love: A Reinterpretation of The Romance of The Rose. Lubbock, Texas: Texas Tech Press, 1952.

i Haber, Tom Burns. A Comparative Study of the Beowulf and •

the Aeneid."" Princeton: Princeton University Press,

T^i: Hoskins, John. Directions for Speech and Style. Edited

by Hoyt H. Hudson, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1935.

Hulbert, James R. "Beowulf and the Classical Epic," Modern Philology. JtLIV (1946), 65-75.

Joseph, Sister Miriam. Shakespeare's Use of the Arts of Language. New York: Columbia University Press, 1947.

Lounsbury, Marion Brewer. H. L. Mencken: A Study of His > Style. Unpublished Master's thesis. Department of | English, Texas Technological College, 1953.

Luminansky, R. K. "The Dramatic Audience in Beowulf." JEGP. LI (1952), 545-550. I

Nesmith, Rebecca. The Rhetoric of Winston Spencer Churchill'. Unpublished Master's the"sls. Department of English, Texas Technological College, 1950.

Rix, Herbert D. Rhgiiiric_iit SpPinner.'s fnfit.rr The Pennsyl­vania State College Studies, Bulletin No. 7. State College Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State College Press, 1940.

Shurter, Edwin Du Bois. The Rhetoric of Oratory. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1909.

Tolman, A. H. "The Style of Anglo-Saxon Poetry," PKLA. Ill (1887), 17-47.

INDEX: PASSAGES QUOTED FROM BEOWULF

Lines Page

35b; 40b 63 47-49 48 80-81 30 90a-98 41 115-125 70 126-129 10 149-158. 31 163 64 171b, 172a 64 183-188 28 189-193 42 194-204a 68 202-204 32 210-228. 11 277-285 37 331b-347 12-13 421 65 1428a, 437 68 1607-610 14 I 652-660 14-15 ! 702b-724a 53 j 726a; 730b 64 1739-745 40-41 758-761 48 767-770 70 825-836 54-55 834b; 851b 63 864-871 19 9l6-917a 19 945 63 958-959a 63 974-977 , 33 989-992a 63-64 1030-1031 65 1041b-1042 65 1066b, 1075a 68 1080b-1083 64 1095-1096a 66 1099b-1100 . 66 1104-1105 66-67 1136b-1139 . . . '^^^j^-_' ' ' •_ • • • ' ^ ' ' ' ' 29 81

82

Lines Page

Il68b-ll80 16 1215-1227 17 1323b-1329 70 1349b-1355a 22-23 1368-1372a 38 1376b-1383 49 1383-1385 28 1384b-1389 71 1390-1394. . : 50 1442-1443 71 1459a, 1465b . . . . . . 68 1471-1472 : 71 1518-1522 33 1531, 1532a. . . . : 64 1537-1538. 34 1543, 1544a 64 1618-1619 66 1623-1650: 55-56 I626b-1628 66 1677-1686 57 1706-1712 34 1735-1741 24 1760-1768 24 1786a 67 1791b 67 1806b 67 I8I7-I835 58 1888-1924 59-60 1946, 1947a 65 1958b, 1962b 69 1962 65 20l6b-2024a 20-21 2067-2069a 43 2076-2O80 44 2093, 2094 65 2101, 2102 65 2105-2114 22 2131-2134a 45 2149a 67 2157 67 2165b, 2166a 67 2262-2266 51 2287-2288 46 2411-2412a 66 2415b-24l6 66 2415b-2417 67 2426 67 2432, 2433 67

83

Lines Page

2550-2553 51 2580-2583a 47 2736-2739a 52 2783-2784 45 2832-2835 35 2845-2852a 35-36 2877, 2878a 68 2882b, 2883a 68 2897, 2898a 68 2919b, 2920 66 2923b-2925 66 2944a, 2946b 69 3021-3027 36 3143-3148a 47 31!74b-3l82 18