Beowulf and the Power of Speech

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Beowulf and the Power of Speech

“Anyone with gumption/ and a sharp mind will take the measure/ of two things,” states one of the Danish warriors in Beowulf: “what’s said and what’s done” (287-289). Beowulf is, above all, a poem about language, about storytelling: the stories told of the great ones, and the stories the great ones hope will be told about themselves. It is a poem about the importance of boasting and vows, the power of the word made flesh, and the crucial link between worda ond worca, “what’s said and what’s done.” The bulk of the poem's content does not concentrate on what is happening in the present action of the tale, but on the telling what has happened and what will happen. Through language, the Danes and the Geats state their intentions and define themselves as a people; they recall the past exploits that shape the present, and "a battle-scarred veteran, bowed with age,/ would begin to remember the martial deeds/ of his youth and prime and be overcome/ as the past welled up in his wintry heart" (2112-2115). Stories of times gone by and boasts of past accomplishments link the characters to their past; vows of deeds to come and the promise of glory after their deaths help to carry them into the future. As parallels between the past and the present are constantly drawn, the heroes use the example of earlier warriors in hopes of accomplishing the great deeds that will win them similar renown.

"So,” begins poem. “The Spear-Danes in days gone by/ and the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness./ We have heard of those princes’ heroic campaigns” (1-3). What follows is a brief history lesson, the story of “Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes,/ a ...

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...c nature and exploits:”

for a man should praise a prince whom he holds dear

and cherish his memory when that moment comes

when he has to be convoyed from his bodily home.

(3173, 3175-3177).

In praising him, even, they herald his desire to be praised so; for he was “the man most gracious and fair-minded,/ kindest to his people and keenest to win fame (3181-3182, emphasis mine). Beowulf's glory is twofold: what he has done, and what is being said of him. He has joined the long line of famous kings who are spoken of throughout the poem, and his deeds will be praised for years to come.

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