Professor Borges - A Course on English Literature

they contradicted each other. The word “god” appears, as does
wyrd
or “fate.” Fate, in Germanic mythology, was a power greater than even the gods themselves. We know this from Norse mythology.
Wyrd
has survived in modern English: Shakespeare uses it in
Macbeth
to speak of the witches, though it probably did not have the same meaning. In any case, the word [in
Beowulf
] is not “witch,” but “emissary of fate,” “weird sister,” “sister of fate.” 3 Throughout
Beowulf
, the concepts of God—the new God, and the old one, the one of
wyrd
—are woven into the text and used indiscriminately.
    The Germanist Ker has criticized
Beowulf
, for he considers the plot to be childish. 4 a> The idea of the hero who kills an ogre, that ogre’s mother, and then a dragon, belongs to a children’s tale. But these elements are, in fact, inevitable; they are there because they must be. Once he chose that legend, the author could not possibly omit the ogre, the witch, or the dragon. The public expected them, because it knew the legend. Moreover, these monsters were symbols of the powers of evil; they were taken very seriously by that audience.
    One of the poem’s most curious aspects is that it takes place first in Denmark and then in southern Sweden. This indicates that after three hundred years of living in new lands, the Anglo-Saxons still felt homesick for their old homelands on the Baltic Sea; this further suggests that there is a strong affinity between the Norsemen and Anglo-Saxons. The characters in the poem are Scandinavian. The hero himself is a Swedish prince. This might tempt some scholars to claim that the lore of the Goths contains the legend of their origins, which says they come from Northern Europe. But there is no proof of this. (We actually know that the first news of these people has them hailing from south of the Danube.) However, Charles XII of Sweden believed this. So much so that during a conflict with the pope, he wrote to him [the pope], warning him not to feel too secure; he said his ancestors had already entered Rome once, and their descendants were no less brave. He was hinting at a possible invasion that would repeat the Gothic invasions of Italy. (Now, if we look closely at the word “Geats,” we see that it can easily be associated with “Goths.” 5 a> Hence, if we identify the Geats with the Goths, the Spaniards would be relatives of the Norsemen. Hence, all descendents of the Spaniards would be relatives of Beowulf!)
    In the
Odyssey
and the
Iliad
, we see that the bloody and bellicose events are the most paramount. The poet of
Beowulf
was interested in hospitality, manners, gift-giving, and minstrels more than in military feats; in other words, he was interested in what we would now call “social life.” All of these things were valued at that time and must have been quite appealing to the Saxons, who lived in a violent era and in inhospitable lands. Europe was colder then. We know this because research has shown that the animals who lived at that time in the south of Europe now live in the north. For example, reindeer used to live in Germany and are now found only in Scandinavia. England was a marshy land. The Germans considered it to be a terrible, noxious place. They populated all those swamps with evil beings, devils. Moreover, the psychology of these people is revealed by the fact that they counted the years by the winters, and the days by the nights. The cold that prevailed in that land is what constantly shows up in these texts; always mentioned are the terrors of the snow, the hardships of winter. The arrival of spring was welcomed as a great event.
    Returning to the poem, the first episode deals extensively with the mythic king of Denmark, Scyld Scefing, which means “shield with the sheaf.” This name is derived from the legend of his origins. One day, a baby arrives on the coast of Denmark in a mysterious ship. There was nobody manning the ship, and the child is lying on the bottom, on a bed of weapons, sheaves of wheat, and jewels. This prodigious child becomes king and was so strong that he made his people great. This is, in the concept of the era, a “good king”: one who terrifies his neighbors, is strong, and is a warrior, and whose men fear and respect him. Time passes and the king grows old; he feels that the hour of his death is upon him. So he plans hisfuneral and gives orders for it to be carried out according to his instructions. These include