Beowulf And Grendel: Craving For The Queen Essay, Research Paper

Beowulf and Grendel: Craving for the Queen

Brittney Turner

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.