Roles In Beowulf Essay, Research Paper

Role of Queen in Beowulf & Grendel

In both texts, Beowulf and Grendel, the main purpose of the

Queen’s are to serve the courts as “weavers of peace”. In Grendel

however, Queen Wealththeow is described in much greater detail and

serves a further purpose. The reader gains insight to a part Grendel

that is not present in Beowulf, his desire for a human.

It was not unusual for women to be offered as tokens of peace

within the noble courts. In the novel Grendel, Wealhtheow’s brother,

King of the Helmings, bestowed her to King Hrothgar to promote peace

amongst the Helmings and Scyldings. “She had given, her life for those

she loved. So would any simpering, eyelash batting female in her

court, given the proper setup, the minimal conditions”(Grendel,

p.102). It is ironic how she promoted peace from her arrival because

she was an essential part in keeping peace, as the “weaver of peace”

in the later of both texts. Queen Wealhtheow however is not the only

woman in the texts that was forsaken to encourage appeasement amongst

feuding courts. Queen Hygd was offered to Hygelac under very similar

circumstances as told in Beowulf, and portrayed the same role in

Hygelac’s kingdom. There is reference in both texts concerning this

tradition, and it is evident to the reader that this is not an unusual

Anglo-Saxon custom.

Queen Wealhtheow and Queen Hygd served as excellent role models

for the courts in which they served. They exemplified the mannerisms

and etiquette of the noble people. Queen Wealhtheow showed excellent

poise from the very beginning of both texts. She was admirable as she

passed the mead bowl around Heorot. The offering of the bowl was

symbolic, being that the bowl was first given to Hrothgar and then

passed to Beowulf, as if she presented him with her trust. Beowulf

gave Wealhtheow his guarantee that he would be successful or die in

battle. After she presented Hrothgar and Beowulf with the mead bowl

she served the Scyldings, and did so as if they were her own people.

She was not a Scylding, nor did she desire to be one, but she

never made her unhappiness known, as described in Grendel. There is

not great detail on Queen Hygd in Grendel, but from what the reader

can gather from Beowulf, she is as much of a female role model as

Queen Wealhtheow. She was young but very intelligent. In fact King

Hygelac felt intimidated by Hygds intelligence. Queen Hygd was unlike

Wealhtheow in the way in which she did not bare many gifts. Hygd was

more concerned about the future of the people of her kingdom

succeeding Hygelacs death than Wealhtheow. Hygd offered Beowulf the

kingdom because she believed it was in the best interest of the

people, she loved the warriors and wished peace amongst all the

people. Wealtheow on the other hand felt that the kingdom should be

preserved for her sons.

Wealhtheow spoke after the “fight at Finnsburg” about the

importance of her sons taking over the kingdom in the poem Beowulf,

and this reminds Hrothgar of his age. This same speech affected

Hrothgar in both texts. It forced him to contemplate his worthiness of

Wealhtheow. He realized that she was young and beautiful, and need not

be with an old man. Which made his sorrow even worse is the fact that

she knew all this as well.

Queen Wealhtheow put up an excellent disguise when hiding the

pain she experienced from being forced to be Hrothgars wife. Unlike in

Beowulf, in Grendel the reader was given insight into Wealhtheow’s

sorrow. The only time she would display her unhappiness was when she

would lie in bed at night with Hrothgar with her eyes full of tears.

Sometimes she would leave the kingdom to dwell in her sorrows but she

would be immediately surrounded by guards, and escorted inside.

Wealhtheow was homesick, she missed her land, and her brother. When

her brother visited Heorot she paid no attention to Hrothgar, and

Hrothgar fulfilled passing around the mead bowl. In Grendel, it told

of Hrothgar’s love for wealhtheow. He would often stare at her in

admiration. Despite her resentment she treated Hrothgar with much

respect, she always looked up at him and referred to him as “my lord”.

Although Wealhtheow has much resentment towards serving the

Danes, she puts all that beside her and fulfilled her duties as an

praiseworthy queen. In Grendel it told how she came between drunken

men in the mead hall, as if she was their mother. Her intervention

reminded them of their responsibilities toward the kingdom. Her

presence “brought light and warmth, men began talking, joking and

laughing, both Danes and Geats together”(Grendel, p.163). She created

a positive feeling throughout the kingdom. In her presence the Shaper

vocalized on a positive note about comfort and joy. Wealhtheow gave

Beowulf advice about proper etiquette , how to speak to the Geats with

“mild words”. She advised him to make sure he shared his gifts. After

all that was a rule by which she lived. Before Beowulf left the Danes,

Queen Wealhtheow gave Beowulf a precious collar , the Brosing

necklace, in appreciation for his duty. She gave him the gifts so that

he could make known who he was, to be proud of his accomplishments.

She wished him the best of luck and asked him to take care of her

sons. There was much focus on Queen Wealhtheow’s outer beauty in the

novel Grendel. It went into much further detail than in the poem,

Beowulf. From Wealhtheows entrance into the novel, the reader was told

in great detail of her physical beauty. Beowulf primarily focused on

her inner beauty. She was described as “having hair red as fire, as

soft as the ruddy sheen on dragons gold. Her face was gentle,

mysteriously calm” (Grendel p.100). This combination made her a very

desirable woman. So desirable that Unferth was attracted to her.

Unferth flirted with Wealhtheow often in Grendel. When she would offer

him the mead he would glance at her and look down and smile. Unferth

felt embarrassment after he made a comment about men killing their

brothers while they were drunk. Few people in Heorot found the comment

humorous, the queen was caught off guard. He respected the queen, as

did every one throughout the kingdom. He was humiliated at what he had

said, he felt regret and ridicule by his mistake and glanced at the

queen without looking away. Being the kind person that she was she

forgave him, and he was put at ease.

The lust for Wealhtheow did not stop with Unferth. Perhaps the

most significant difference in the two texts is that in Grendel,

the monster, was attracted to Wealhtheow. There is no suggestion in

Beowulf that Grendel posses any feelings toward the humans. This

desire for Wealhtheow gives the reader better insight into Grendels

character. Up until this point the reader was given no hint that

Grendel possessed anything except hatred toward the human race.

Grendel was touched the first time he saw Wealhtheow, he was struck by

her innocence and beauty. He wanted to sob at the sight of her; the

reader had never been introduced to this sensitive side of the

monster. The reader wasn’t the only one who had a problem

understanding Grendels feelings, Grendel couldn’t understand them

either. He was “tortured by the red of her hair and the set of her

chin and the white of her shoulders”. There is definitely a sexual

overtone in Grendels desire for Wealththeow. Upon his attack of her he

ripped her out of bed by her feet as if he was going to split her in

half. He wanted to kill her but he was torn by his feeling for her,

all the pain he wanted to inflict was sexual. He wanted to “cook the

ugly hole between her legs, and squeeze out her feces with his fists”.

His motive for killing her was justified by wanting to teach the Danes

reality, but he refrained because it would be “pointless pleasure”.

Grendel was clearly unhappy about his desire for Wealtheow, and was

disconcerted. He contemplated killing her because he wanted to get rid

of these feelings, instead he decided to focus on the undesirable side

Wealhtheow, “her unqueenly shrieks” and “the ugliness between her

legs(the bright tears of blood).”

Although the two texts are fundamentally the same, there is a

significant difference in how Queen Wealhtheow is portrayed. In the

novel Grendel, the reader is given not only further insight to the

beauty and charm of Wealhtheow, but the sensitivity and needs of

Grendel. Both texts allow the reader to gain a further understanding

to the position of women in the Anglo-Saxon society by means of the

development of the characters, Queen Wealhtheow and Queen Hygd.