Kinship and Loyalty in Beowulf
Like almost all epics, from the Táin Bó Cuailgne to the Bible, Beowulf is designed to impart the appreciation of certain virtues. In ancient Scandinavia and Germany, your kinsmen were your life. Many virtues would have been reinforced in a recitation of Beowulf, such as valor, ingenuity, and the bravery that comes from overcoming fear. However, in the third tale of Beowulf, perhaps the most important lesson to those who heard it sung, would be one of kinship and loyalty. A man without kinship ties would have little recourse in law, little wealth, and no place to ride out the harsh northern winters. The prominence given to elements such as Beowulf's fostering with Hrethel and the bonds of kinship and fealty felt by Wiglaf would only serve to strengthen the importance of kinship in the minds of those listening to it. To cover every mention of kinship or loyalty in even just the third tale of Beowulf would be a mountainous task. Each character is introduced according to who his family is, as the son of Hrethel or the nephew of Onela, and these relations are presented as all-important. However, examining when these bonds are tested will show the true strength of the bonds within society.
The first test is Beowulf's, when he goes to face the dragon. While taking eleven other warriors with him was a sign of their favor, leaving them behind at the grove showed his valor. Kinship and loyalty, however, play an important part in this encounter. First, there is Beowulf's loyalty to his subjects. As king, he was responsible for the threats to the realm, such as a marauding dragon. While appeasement would have made for a lousy epic, it also must have been known that it would not last long. The only option for a king, then, is to have the beast destroyed, and valor picks its champion, in the mind of Beowulf. Loyalty, however, goes both ways. The eleven warriors who accompanied Beowulf set aside their own valor, at first, in order to preserve his. In a society where a man's valor comes only after kith and king, to do so shows that their loyalty was not to be taken lightly.
As the fight wears on, and it becomes evident that Beowulf is losing, Wiglaf sees a greater aspect to loyalty than simply following orders one really wants to follow anyway. He recalls the spirit of the oath "that we'd pay him back/ /for this bright armor/ if he ever needed us" 1. Wiglaf shows bravery in leaving the safety of the copse in which they have taken shelter (in line 2598), but he also demonstrates his loyalty to kin and king. "No man can deny/ claims of kinship/ /if he cares for valor" (lines 2600-2601). One cannot get more bald-faced than such a statement. The intertwining of kinship, valor, and wealth was self-evident to the Germanic peoples of this time.
With the dragon defeated and Beowulf slain, Wiglaf turns to those who deserted Beowulf in his time of need. He berates them for their cowardice, reminds them again of all that Beowulf gave them. He then strips it from them, condemning them to a short, hard, life, without kin or possessions.
Now shall treasure-gifts/ /the taking of swords
All homeland joys/ /in the halls of your kinsmen
All happiness cease…
This is crueler than the death of Haethcyn, which was over in mere minutes. Without kin, without king, stripped of honor and called cowards to the world, these men would die alone over the course of months, if they did not end their own lives in shame.
You will sorrowfully wander
stripped of land-rights/ /beloved homesteads
alone in your exile/ /when other battle-thanes
learn of your failure/ /your flight to the woods
dragging your life-shields./ /Death will be better
for each of you/ /than a wasted life.
An unpleasant fate, by any measuring of it. (Lines 2884-2891).
A further example of the importance of kinship comes much earlier, both in the text and chronologically. This comes in line 2435 (and ending on 2446), when Herebeald:
The oldest of sons/ /by sorrowful chance
Slept in a murder-bed/ /through a sibling's error
When Haethcyn struck/ /shot from a horn-bow
Wounded Herebeald/ /with a wandering arrow
Missed his target/ /murdered his elder…
…Same is the sorrow/ /of a solemn hall-lord
sharp soul-torture/ /when his son rides hanging
young upon the gallows.
The death of his brother is clearly accidental, seemingly a hunting accident, yet he is put to death. If the accidental murder of your brother (something I'm sure many a sibling has contemplated in his or her life) merits hanging, far worse is the fate of those who shirk their duty, exile.
Punishment in Beowulf clearly falls hard on those who betray the bonds of kinship and loyalty, and the eventual surviving hero is the one who upholds them. To a modern individual, being cut off from one's kin perhaps means little. There may be a sense of loss, but one can lead a normal life even though rejected by family. To a Geat, or a Swede, or a Dane, however, it meant a loss of everything that one could call a life. One's wealth was tied to family lands, which was tied to the gifts of a lord. One's weapons were gifts from that same lord. One branded a traitor to kith and king would receive no more of either wealth or weapons, since who would take in a man so low as to betray his own family, or give weapons to one who is known to not fight when his lord needs him? This would have been on the minds of those who sat in mead-halls and heard the song of Beowulf. They would have been sitting there with brothers and cousins, surrounded by the wealth that comes from loyalty. The song of Beowulf, with its rewarding of loyalty and punishment of kin-slayers and oath-breakers, would strengthen those bonds, forming them into the backbone of Teutonic society. That backbone would carry the Germanic and Scandinavian peoples across the world, winning them lands in Northern France, Ireland, Britain, the Orkneys, the Americas, and even in Constantinople. With the support of men who also believed in the importance of loyalty and kinship, it is little wonder they felt they had the right to stand tall.
Notes and Works Cited
Rebsamen, Frederick (translator), Beowulf. Icon Editions, 1991
(1) In quoted lines, / / denotes the caesura within a half-line, a very important consideration in the timing of Old English poetry. A single slash, followed by another stanza of text, denotes the end of a line.
Postscript: I discovered my original paper, including all the notes Dr. Machor posted on it. His final note said:
Nexx,
With no surprise, this paper represents your usual thoughtful work. The analysis is crisp, clear, and undoubtedly would be illuminating to an audience of your peers. A very fine performance, indeed!
It may be bad form to quote one's own reviews, but I think I'll keep this one.
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