Analysis Of Beowulf: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Actions Speak Louder than Words

Monsters, warriors, and kingdoms are brought to life in the translation of Beowulf by Seamus Heaney. The poem revolves around the warrior hero Beowulf and his fellow comrades as Beowulf is called to fight the forces of evil three times. Through a series of events, Beowulf discovers that although loyalty is often spoken, it is rarely put into action.

A key turning point for Beowulf is when he is an old king and fights a dragon. Being his usual prideful self, Beowulf chooses to fight the dragon alone and asks his men to remain outside during the battle. However, when Beowulf needs help to fight the dragon, his fellow men “broke ranks and ran for their lives” (2598). Beowulf’s “high-born comrades” and “hand-picked

troop” leave rather than help their leader who is on the brink of death (2597). This moment reveals how loyal Beowulf’s comrades really were. Beowulf receives help from only Wiglaf, and although Beowulf defeats the dragon, he ends up dying in the process. Perhaps if all fifty of his men were loyal enough to defend Beowulf and face the dragon, Beowulf could have survived the fight.
In Beowulf’s time of need, his men flee as their fear of death surpasses their promised allegiance. Only young Wiglaf carries out his loyalty to Beowulf and thus inherits the kingdom. In this case, fifty men spoke loyalty and only one acted upon it. Thus, loyalty is often spoken but scarcely put into action.
Throughout Beowulf, the writer incorporates pledged loyalty being rarely acted upon within sagas and conversations. After Beowulf defeats Grendel, the people celebrate in Heorot and Hrothgar’s minstrel performs the saga of the Danish princess who marries the Frisian king. After the Danish princess and the Frisian king’s son is killed, in the midst of the feud between the Frisians and the Danes, both sides form a truce. However, the feud is later reignited as “blood was spilled/the gallant Finn/slain in his home” (1146-1147).
Similarly, when Beowulf returns to Hygelac’s hall, he tells of a truce that he foresees will be broken.

The young man Ingeld has an arranged marriage that is supposed to form peace between two feuding sides. Beowulf argues that the end of Ingeld’s wedding will happen as such:

…the oath-bound lords

will break the peace, a passionate hate

will build up in Ingeld and love for his bride

will falter in him as the feud rankles (2063-2066).

Both of these examples demonstrate truces between feuding peoples that end, or are foreseen to end, in bloodshed. In the first example, the Danes speak loyalty to the Frisians, yet act differently. The Danes kill the Frisian king, directly violating their previous truce. Next, Beowulf foresees the consequences of an arranged marriage: despite both sides being bound by an oath, the feud will reawaken. Even in minstrel songs and foreseen tales, loyalty is thought to be spoken and rarely carried through.

Beowulf’s heightened value of loyalty is contrasted to the lack of loyalty in other warriors, especially Unferth. After Unferth claims that Beowulf will only lose in the fight against the demon Grendel, Beowulf rebukes:

The fact is, Unferth, if you were truly

as keen or courageous as you claim to be

Grendel would never have got away

with
such unchecked atrocity (590-593).
Another example of Unferth’s lack of loyalty is before Beowulf fights Grendel’s mother. Unferth lends Beowulf the sword Hrunting as Unferth is not “man enough” or loyal enough to fight and chance “the risk on his life” (1468, 1470).
These examples demonstrate how Unferth, and many other of Hrothgar’s warriors, pledge false loyalty to their king. None of them were loyal enough to defend Hrothgar and the kingdom from the attacks of Grendel. Therefore, Hrothgar’s men speak loyalty but do not demonstrate it through their actions.
The king of the Danes, Hrothgar, can be evaluated in terms of his loyalty to others. When Hrothgar sees blood in the water above Grendel’s mother’s den, he assumes that Beowulf has been slayed by the demon. He, and the other Danes that came to support Beowulf, “bowed their heads” and “spoke in their…experienced way” (1594-1596). Not only are the Danes giving up hope for Beowulf as soon as they see a possible indication of death, but they begin to mourn as they would for anyone else. This shows no acknowledgement to the warrior who saved an entire kingdom from the wraths of Grendel.
Promptly after, the Danes “abandoned the cliff-top/and the king went home” (1601-1602). The Danes lose hope and leave after quickly mourning Beowulf’s death, despite Beowulf’s comrades waiting on. Hrothgar and his warriors cannot even offer patience to Beowulf, demonstrating that they did not fully believe in Beowulf’s abilities.
The Danes are grateful for Beowulf’s heroism in defeating Grendel and attempting to defeat Grendel’s mother. However by assuming he is dead and promptly leaving without personable words to say or patience to give, they do not display loyalty.
Throughout the events present in Beowulf, the reader can see how loyalty is often a spoken promise that is broken through contradicting actions. Not only is this theme common in Beowulf, but is noticeable in modern society through the deceitful husband who cheats on his wife, the corrupt police officer who violates his oath, and the dishonest politician who lies to his citizens. Loyalty continues to be a rare value throughout the human population, despite Beowulf having been written centuries ago. Actions speak louder than words in terms of loyalty, and the failure to coordinate these actions with words continues to make it difficult to build relationships and trust in the world today.