ROYAL POWER AND ROYAL SYMBOLS IN BEOWULF *  

 

Barbara Raw

 

 

Royal power in Beowulf is based primarily on success in war and the possession of a large warband. The Beowulf-poet describes three kings as 'good' : Scyld, Hrothgar and Beowulf (Beowulf, v. 11, 863, 2390). Scyld, the founder of the Danish royal house, appeared miraculously from over the sea and was returned to the sea in a ship-funeral after a long and successful reign. His virtue consisted in defeating the tribes whose lands surrounded those of the Danes, taking away their mead-benches and reducing them to paying tribute (Beowulf, v. 4-11). Hrothgar, Scyld's great-grandson, was successful in war. He acquired a large warband. He celebrated his success by building an enormous hall, imposing the work of decorating it on many tribes (Beowulf, v. 63-76). He ruled the Danes for fifty years, protected them in war and was immune from attack until the coming of Grendel (Beowulf, v. 1769-1773). Beowulf shares some of Hrothgar's qualities. He, too, has ruled for fifty years, has protected his people and has been sufficiently strong to deter attacks by neighbouring tribes ; the chief fear of his followers after his death is that their nation will be destroyed by hostile neighbours now that Beowulf's protection has gone (Beowulf, v. 2733-2736, v. 2910-2913, v. 2922-2923, v. 2999-3007). His ambitions as king do not seem to include the extension of his territory, however. As he lies dying, he congratulates himself on having awaited his fate in his own land unlike his uncle, Hygelac, who went out looking for trouble, and died defending his spoils during an apparently unprovoked raid on the Frisians (Beowulf, v. 2736-2737, v. 1202-1214). His followers praise him for his kindness and gentleness as well as for his military achievements (Beowulf, v. 3173-315, v. 3180-3182). Yet he is not passive. When Onela, the Swedish king, kills Hygelac's young son, Heardred, because he has harboured his rebellious nephews, Beowulf not only fulfils his duty of taking vengeance for Heardred ;  he assists Onela's one surviving nephew to defeat him and gain the Swedish throne (Beowulf, v. 2379-2396). The action is particularly striking since Beowulf had been placed on the Geatish throne by Onela, after the death of Heardred, and presumably owed him allegiance.

 

The adjective god used to describe these kings, and translated above as 'good', was discussed many years ago by Margery Daunt, who concluded that it implied fitness for a particular purpose(1). To describe a man as god cyning, then, implies that his actions were appropriate to a king. In Old English gnomic poetry the king's role is defined in terms of power and generosity. His task is to rule (Maxims II, 1). He is eager for power and especially for land (Maxims I, 58-59). He sits in his hall, sharing out rings (Maxims II, 28-29). In Beowulf we see what lies behind this image : land is acquired by fighting and rings are the spoils of war. The king is the drihten, the leader of the driht or warband. He is guðcyning, 'a war-king'. He is characterised as sigerof, 'victorious', heaðorof and niðheard, 'brave in battle'. He is not only the friend of his people (wine), the lord of his household (frea), the giver of rings (beaga brytta), the famous ruler (þeoden mære), but se goda, the hero (Beowulf, v. 350-355). Birth and family are important but heroism is the main requirement for an aspiring king. Scyld, who arrived in Denmark destitute, alone in a boat, became king because of his ability in war (Beowulf, v. 4-11). Hrothgar and his followers acclaim Beowulf as worthy of a kingdom after his killing of Grendel (Beowulf, v. 856-861, v. 1845-1853), and when Hrothgar adopts Beowulf as his son, apparently intending to disinherit his own sons (Beowulf, v. 946-55, v. 1175-1180), it is because of his physical strength.

 

Once power had been acquired, it had to be maintained and displayed. Hrothgar displays his power primarily through his hall and the ceremonies connected with it. The hall is large, because Hrothgar has a large warband (Beowulf, v. 64-79). It was built by non-Danish workmen. It is expensively equipped, bright with treasure (Beowulf, v. 167, 308), the mead-benches and roof decorated with gold (Beowulf, v. 777, 927), the walls hung with golden tapestries (Beowulf, v. 994-995). Hrothgar himself does not seem to be distinguished by any special dress or ornaments, though his queen and daughter are decked with gold and his queen appears to wear a crown (Beowulf, v. 612-614, 1162-1163, 2025). His status is manifested instead by position, ritual and deference. He sits on a raised seat (on yppan, v. 1815) at the centre of the hall, his þyle at his feet and his gedriht or warband around him (Beowulf, v. 356-357, 500, 1165-1166). When Hrothgar's officers approach him to speak, they stand in the correct place because they know the customs of the duguð (Beowulf, v. 359). When Wealhtheow moves through the hall with the ceremonial drinking cup she goes first to Hrothgar, then to the duguð, the tried warriors who sit near the king, and finally to the geogoð, the younger warriors who sit at the end of the hall (Beowulf, v. 612-624, 1188-1191). Sometimes she serves only the more important warriors while the younger ones are served by her daughter, Freawaru (Beowulf, v. 2016-2024). Everyone and everything has its proper place and order(2).  

 

Hrothgar's hall is not simply an example of magnificence. It demonstrates his dominance over his neighbours and his control of material and human resources (Beowulf, v. 67-79). The hall stands in the border-country, presumably to remind the neighbouring tribes of their subjection. It is exceptionally large, and therefore a visible sign of Hrothgar's power. It shows that his command extends beyond the kingdom he inherited, for it is built and decorated by men from many tribes. It demonstrates Hrothgar's feeling of security at least, until the arrival of Grendel for it has no gatehouse or other defence works. A guard watches the coastline and an officer controls entry to the hall itself but, apart from this, Hrothgar's home lies open to all comers. As he himself says when looking back on his fifty-year reign, he did not fear attack (Beowulf, v. 1769-1773).

 

The ability to organise men and resources which allows Hrothgar to build his hall is only one example of the way in which royal power works in Beowulf. Having acquired land and loot, kings controlled its disposal. The second symbol of royal power, therefore, is the gift-stool from which the king distributed treasure(3). Kings were expected to be lavish with gifts and meanness was considered a major crime (Maxims I 81-3). Scyld's predecessor on the Danish throne ended his life as an exile from his kingdom because he failed to distribute rings to the Danes, and Hrothgar warns Beowulf against following the same path (Beowulf, v. 1709-1724, 1748-1750). But the giving of treasure is not merely a matter of generosity ; it confers prestige on both giver and recipient. The king gives rings to demonstrate his wealth, as a boast or gylp (Beowulf, v. 1749-1750)(4) ; the retainer expects gifts of which he need not be ashamed before other warriors (Beowulf, v. 1025-1026). Gifts are an incentive to future performance as well as a reward for services performed. Hrothgar offers Beowulf treasures in exchange for fighting Grendel before he even knows that that is the purpose of his visit (Beowulf, v. 384-385). In this case the exchange of gifts and services, which is completed after the death of Grendel, is a matter of equality, because the gifts are offered to someone who is not in Hrothgar's service. The relationship between lord and retainer, on the other hand, is one of subordination. The gifts given by the lord to his retainers are not merely an incentive to serve him ; they create an obligation to do so, as Wiglaf reminds Beowulf's followers during the dragon-fight (Beowulf, v. 2633-2638).

 

Gifts of land, like gifts of treasure, imposed obligations on a king's followers and bound them to him. T.M. Charles-Edwards has drawn a distinction between the grant of land by the king which enabled a warrior to marry, and which was reciprocated by military service, and inheritance of land on the death of one's father(5). In Beowulf, however, inheritance, like gift, involves a reciprocal relationship with the lord. Wiglaf repays Beowulf for the gift of his father's estate by helping him against the dragon (Beowulf, v. 2606-2610). Beowulf himself obtains his inheritance only when he hands over the treasures he won by killing Grendel and his mother (Beowulf, v. 2155-2166, 2190-99)(6). 

 

In addition to ensuring the loyalty of the warband, gift-giving could be used to promote friendship between tribes. Hrothgar had learned of Beowulf's reputation from the seafarers who carried gifts from the Danes to the Geats (Beowulf, v. 377-381) and he anticipates a continuing exchange of gifts after Beowulf's defeat of Grendel and his mother (Beowulf, v. 1855-1863). These gifts are to be a sign that the former hostility between the tribes is at an end, suggesting that the relationship between the two tribes has not been entirely peaceful, and that the gift-giving has been more than a simple exchange between friends. Further evidence of inter-tribal diplomacy comes from Hrothgar's reminiscences about Beowulf's father, who had killed a member of the tribe of the Wylfings and had consequently become involved in a blood-feud which would have brought war on the Geats (Beowulf, v. 457-472). Hrothgar, whose wife probably came from the tribe of the Wylfings (Beowulf, v. 620 ; Widsith, 29), sent treasures over the sea to settle the feud. By doing so, he imposed an obligation on Beowulf's family which he believes the latter is repaying by coming to help him against Grendel.

 

The control over the lives of others described so far is the result either of a free exchange of gifts and services or of defeat in war. In places, however, the Beowulf-poet hints at a more autocratic kind of kingship, which brought with it absolute control over the lives of family as well as retainers. The first victims are women. Superficially, their status seems high. Wealhtheow is in a position to give advice to Hrothgar; like him, she controls wealth, and offers gifts to Beowulf (Beowulf, v. 1169-1187, 2172-2173). Hygd is honoured during her husband's lifetime and is free to choose who will succeed him on the Geatish throne (Beowulf, v. 1926-1931, v. 2369-2379). But whereas queens seem to share their husbands' power, princesses can be used in the pursuit of diplomacy, rather as though they were examples of moveable wealth. Hrothgar's daughter is to be married to Ingeld in an unsuccessful attempt to patch up a feud between their two tribes (Beowulf, v. 2024-2029). The tale of Finnsburg, recited at the feast held to celebrate Beowulf's defeat of Grendel, involves the marriage of another Danish princess to the Frisian king, with equally unhappy results (Beowulf, v. 1071-1159). The Beowulf-poet expresses sympathy for these women, but he does not criticise the way in which royal power is being used. His attitude to the relationship between king and retainers is different. Eric John claims that the Beowulf-poet is writing from the point of view of a retainer who was aware that he was totally at the mercy of an all-powerful lord(7). It is clear, however, that the poet does not consider such a relationship as either normal or acceptable. He describes how the Danes, faced with a king who was in the habit of killing his table-companions, deposed him and drove him out (Beowulf, v. 902-904, 1709-1722). In his account of Hrothgar's rise to power he draws attention to the limits within which this power operated. Hrothgar promises to share all the treasure he acquires, but not the common land or men's lives (folcscare ond feorum gumena, Beowulf, v. 71-73). The reference to the lives of men is puzzling. It is tempting to link it to the passage later in the poem which describes the Danes' reversion to devil-worship after the coming of Grendel (Beowulf, v. 175-183) and to interpret it as a reference to ritual killing, condemned by the Christian poet.

 

The final form of control exercised by kings concerns the succession, and there are several examples in Beowulf of kings (and queens) trying to ensure transfer of power to someone other than the direct heir. Heorogar's son was passed over in favour of his uncle, Hrothgar, apparently at Heorogar's instigation (Beowulf, v. 2155-2162). Hrothgar adopts Beowulf as his son, and Wealhtheow, at least, believes that he intends him as his heir (Beowulf, v. 1175-1180). Hygd offers Beowulf the throne after the death of Hygelac, because she believes her son is too young to rule successfully (Beowulf, v. 2369-2372). These attempts by Hrothgar and Hygd to control the succession fail because Beowulf refuses to accept. Onela, on the other hand, does achieve control when he places Beowulf on the Geatish throne after the death of Heardred (Beowulf, v. 2389-2390), but the kind of power being exercised here is quite different because it derives from his position as military conqueror.

 

One would expect the transfer of royal power to be accompanied by the transfer of some material object, which would symbolise what was being transferred, and for there to be some special role for the new king at the funeral of his predecessor, but this is not always the case. Scyld's funeral is organised by his followers in accordance with instructions given before his death (Beowulf, v. 28-30), and his heir seems to play no part in the ceremonies. Beowulf, too, plans his own funeral, giving detailed instructions about the barrow which is to be raised over his remains (Beowulf, v. 2802-2808, 3096-3100), though in this case the funeral itself is controlled by Wiglaf, who succeeds him as king. Both funerals are designed to reflect the prestige of the dead man but their implications in terms of power are very different. Scyld's military achievements are symbolised by the armour and weapons placed round his body, and his wide-reaching power is recalled by the treasures brought from distant parts (Beowulf, v. 32-42). The choice of a ship-burial is particularly appropriate because Scyld is portrayed as a sea-king  : he not only arrived over the waves (Beowulf, v. 45-46) ; he makes his neighbours pay him tribute ofer hronrade (Beowulf, v. 10). There is no indication that the lavish funeral is intended to show that wealth, generosity and power now rest with Scyld's successor. Beowulf's funeral, on the other hand, indicates that power is now in the hands of his heir. Wiglaf is no longer the young follower fighting with his lord for the first time (Beowulf, 2625-2627). He has received power to command, and his authority extends even to the senior retainers who were closest to the dead king. He assembles a large body of house-holders to fetch wood for the funeral pyre (Beowulf, v. 3110-3114) ; he organises the removal of the treasure from the dragon's lair by a group of seven king's thanes (Beowulf, v. 3120-3136). His command of resources is seen in the building of the barrow, a task which takes ten days to complete (Beowulf, v. 3156-3162) ; his generosity and his devotion to his dead lord is seen in the placing of the whole of the dragon's treasure in the grave-mound, even though Beowulf himself had intended that it should go to his people (Beowulf, v. 2794-2798, 3163-3168).

 

Wiglaf exercises moral authority because he was the only one of Beowulf's retainers to help him against the dragon, but his unchallenged command of Beowulf's retainers must also derive from some formal handover of power. This raises the question of whether the kings described in Beowulf possessed status symbols which were inherited rather than being buried. The main such status symbol is, of course, the gift-stool, control over which was essential to the exercise of kingship because of the central role played by gift-giving in maintaining and enhancing royal power. When Hygd offers Beowulf the kingdom of the Geats after the death of Hygelac, she offers him hord ond rice, beagas ond bregostol, 'treasure and kingdom, rings and royal seat' (Beowulf, v. 2369-2370). When Onela allows Beowulf to succeed Hygelac's son, Heardred, dominion is once again expressed in terms of possession of the bregostol (Beowulf, v. 2389-2390). When the dragon attacks the Geats his first act is to destroy the symbols of Beowulf's power, the hall and gift-stool of the Geats (Beowulf, v. 2325-2327). Other items which may belong to the king in virtue of his office are the ornaments and military equipment given by Hrothgar to Beowulf and by Beowulf to Wiglaf. Hrothgar gives Beowulf four items : a golden standard, a helmet, a coat of mail and a sword (Beowulf, v. 1020-1024). There is a strong case for believing that this equipment was royal rather than personal property. It had belonged originally to Hrothgar's predecessor, Heorogar, who had chosen to leave it to his brother rather than to his son (Beowulf, v. 2158-2162). The fact that Hrothgar succeeded his brother as king and that the gift to Beowulf is made shortly after his adoption by Hrothgar suggests that the gift is part of an attempt to designate Beowulf as Hrothgar's successor (Beowulf, v. 946-949, 1175-1176)(8). The equipment left to Wiglaf by the dying Beowulf consists of a golden neck-ring, a helmet decorated with gold and a coat of mail. These items are not given a pedigree like Hrothgar's gifts, though the reference to Wiglaf as the last member of Beowulf's tribe suggests that they are not merely personal belongings (Beowulf, v. 2809-2816).

 

Possession of a helmet and coat of mail seems to have been fairly widespread among the warriors described by the Beowulf-poet, though this does not necessarily rule them out as symbols of royal power in a society where the king was also the leader of the warband. The standard and neck-ring are more plausible symbols of rank, however. Anglo-Saxon poets frequently refer to royal standards. In the Old English Exodus, Pharoah is described as segncyning, a king who owns a standard (Exodus, 172). The emperor Constantine has a þuf or segn raised in battle and sleeps beneath his eofurcumbul, his boar-standard (Elene, 76, 123-4) The most interesting example is the standard devised by Satan as a first stage in setting himself up as a rival to God ; the possession of segn and side byrnan clearly symbolises his move from retainer to drihten (Solomon and Saturn, 454). Three standards are mentioned in Beowulf, apart from that given to Beowulf by Hrothgar. Scyld's standard is placed in his funeral ship and must therefore be a personal item (Beowulf, 47). Hygelac's standard was probably captured, together with his neck-ring, after his death in Frisia (Beowulf, v. 1202-1214) ; it is impossible to know whether it was a national symbol or a personal one, since it could not be passed to his successor. The standard in the dragon's cave, on the other hand, is clearly a tribal possession rather than a personal one, for it forms part of the treasure of a whole race, buried by a man who is its sole survivor (Beowulf, v. 2232-2270, 2767-2771). The neck-ring, like the standard, seems sometimes to be a personal item, sometimes a public one. When Beowulf gives his neck-ring to Wiglaf, the gift is clearly connected with his designation of Wiglaf as his successor (Beowulf, v. 2809-2812). Hygelac's neck-ring, on the other hand, was a gift by Wealhtheow to Beowulf, given by Beowulf to Hygelac's wife, Hygd, and by her to her husband (Beowulf, v. 1195-1211, 2172-2176). It is highly unlikely that it was a symbol of kingship.

 

One striking feature of royal power in Beowulf is its fragility. Heremod fails as king because he misuses his power, killing his companions, and keeping his treasure to himself (Beowulf, v. 1709-1722). Hygelac and Heardred fail because they over-reach themselves. Hygelac attacks the Frisians, much as Scyld and Hrothgar attacked their neighbours, but his power is insufficient to carry the expedition off ; Heardred tries to influence Swedish politics by harbouring Onela's rebellious nephews but lacks the strength to oppose the Swedish king successfully. Hrothgar and Beowulf fail, partly as a result of external forces which are not under their control, and partly because of character traits which are inherent in their conception of kingship. Hrothgar's kingship is threatened by the activities of Grendel, who behaves in a thoroughly uncivilised way, restricting the king's use of his hall, killing his retainers and refusing to pay wergild ; it is possible, however, that Grendel would not have caused trouble if Hrothgar had confined his rule to Danish territory and had not built so ostentatious a hall. The second, and perhaps more serious threat, comes from Hrothgar's ambitious nephew and co-ruler, Hrothulf and from the feud with the Heathobards, which will result in the burning of Hrothgar's hall. Beowulf fails because a runaway slave steals a cup from a dormant dragon, which, once roused, burns the royal hall, forcing Beowulf to engage in a fight in which he loses his life. Behind this fight, however, lies another failure. Beowulf's fifty-year reign has resulted in a band of retainers who are too weak and cowardly to carry out their duty of supporting their king under attack.

 

The picture of royal power outlined above has been limited deliberately to material drawn from a work of literature, and no attempt has been made to combine the evidence of the poem with documentary evidence. When the Sutton Hoo ship-burial was excavated in 1939 scholars saw clear parallels between it and Beowulf. For literary scholars, Sutton Hoo provided confirmation that the allusions to wealth and splendour in Beowulf were not the result of poetic exaggeration ; for archaeologists, the description of Scyld's funeral at the beginning of Beowulf offered a context for the objects excavated at Sutton Hoo. But a poem cannot be used like a historical document. The events described by the Beowulf-poet date from the late fifth and early sixth centuries, long before the composition of the poem in its present form. It is doubtful whether even the most conservative scholar would now date the composition of the poem before the eighth century and some would place it as late as the tenth or even the early eleventh. The Beowulf-poet himself makes it clear in the opening lines of the poem that he is writing about the distant past. His descriptions of halls, funerals and feasts are his vision of what this pagan past might have been like. But although a poet might well include descriptions of objects which were not of his own period in his main narrative, he is less likely to invent when making casual passing references. The implications of what he says, therefore, the assumptions lurking between the lines, are probably an accurate reflection of the society in which he lived. They may also be an accurate reflection of the society to which the king of Sutton Hoo belonged, but that is something of which it is impossible to be sure.