A Queenly Response to Violence

wealhtheow

My wife (who is currently out of town) has just responded to my last post with a story that expands my conversation about the Beowulf approach to societal rage. In the story related in Julia’s post, a woman takes a principled and courageous stand in an ugly situation and finds herself, against all expectation, making an impact. The story is different than that of Beowulf because (1) she is not an alpha dog male calling for order but simply a private citizen and (2) whereas Beowulf carries within him an implicit threat of force, she appeals to the higher sensibilities of the warring combatants.

There is such a woman within the poem as well, perhaps indicating that the poet senses that the Beowulf solution is not enough. She is Wealhtheow, King Hrothgar’s queen. Although, at first glance, Wealhtheow seems to be a powerless figure who is simply serving up drinks following Beowulf’s victory over Grendel, she is actually playing a very subtle game. Here’s the situation:


Hrothgar has an ambitious nephew named Hrothulf. He also has two young sons. His concern is that, if he dies before his sons are grown, Hrothulf will usurp the throne. The poem doesn’t tell us all this directly. In fact, some of this we know from other stories of the period (which original audiences would have known), which indicate that Hrothulf did in fact seize the throne following Hrothgar’s death. He killed Hrethric, the older son, and then was killed in turn by Hrothmund, the younger son. Grendel jealousy, in other words, broke out in Denmark, disrupting what had been a remarkably orderly succession to that point.

I think it is because Hrothgar has worries about Hrothulf that, following Beowulf’s victory, he is thinking about naming the young warrior as his heir. Since this would mean dispossessing his sons, Wealhtheow knows that she needs to act.

She does several things. First, she articulates the situation (I quote from the Seamus Heaney translation): “Now the word is that you want to adopt this warrior as a son.” Then she vouches (mistakenly as it turns out) for Hrothulf, saying that she is certain of him. Note how, while she is ostensibly speaking to Hrothgar, she is also appealing to Hrothulf’s sense of obligation and his sense of right:

“He [Hrothulf] is noble and will use the young ones well.
He will not let you down. Should you die before him,
he will treat our children truly and fairly.
He will honor, I am sure, our two sons,
repay them in kind, when he recollects
all the good things we gave him once,
the favor and respect he found in his childhood.”

Wealththeow then uses a similar approach with Beowulf. After creating some sense of obligation by bestowing a priceless necklace and a suit of armor upon him (maybe the inspiration for Thorin’s gift of mithril armor to Frodo in The Hobbit), she says to him,

Be acclaimed for strength, for kindly guidance
to these two boys, and your bounty will be sure.
You have won renown: you are known to all men
far and near, now and forever.
Your sway is wide as the wind’s home,
as the sea around cliffs. And so, my prince,
I wish you a lifetime’s luck and blessings
to enjoy this treasure. Treat my sons
with tender care, be strong and kind.
Here each comrade is true to the other,
loyal to lord, loving in spirit.

Wealhtheow seems simultaneously to be as wise as a serpent and as innocent as a dove (to quote Jesus, Matthew 10:16). Her appeals work with Beowulf but not with Hrothulf. In fact, to audiences of the time, the dramatic irony of knowing what Hrothulf would go on to do might seem to confirm the futility of appealing to one’s higher nature.

And yet, the Beowulf approach is not in itself sustainable. Manly force without womanly idealism makes for a fragile society, and it is noteworthy that Beowulf’s peace does not hold. His chest-bumping entrance into Hrothgar’s court and his macho put down of Grendel hasn’t solved the problem. They have just deferred it. No sooner has he killed Grendel than there is a revenge attack from Grendel’s mother. No sooner does he get back to Geatland than he is predicting that war will break out again within Hrothgar’s kingdom and that the king will not be able to use a diplomatic marriage involving his daughter to prevent hostilities between the Danes and the Heatho-Bards.

All of which is to say that, if Wealhtheow’s approach can’t guarantee peace, neither can Beowulf’s. And unless one wants to give up in despair and assume that the forces of darkness will triumph regardless of what one does, the best response probably lies in a combination of the two, Beowulf firmness and Wealhtheow gentleness. Which may be the way we should be responding to the outbreak of hysterical speech and hate killings that we have been witnessing over the past few weeks and months. Leaders and and all of us must step up in whatever forums they/we have to assert, firmly and with conviction, the need for basic decency and respect. Without those, our society will fly apart.

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