As I read
the epic, Beowulf, I thought deeply
about the idea of family, origin, and personal identity relating to these
topics. From the start of the poem every
single person mentioned is not their own being, but a son of a great father. In
the back of the text one can find a layout that maps the lineage and relation
between the characters; that is the
definition of a tight-knit family.
Even more
catching on the idea of identity is the main
reason why Beowulf traveled to Heorot in the first place. He decided to go to settle a deal that his father,
Ecgtheow, made many years ago with King Hrothgar. The gravity of these family ties
of identity is especially shown on lines 371 through 389 when King Hrothgar
recognizes Beowulf simply by his name, but mainly through his family and this
deal.
Further, I
thought of identity as who a character’s family member is and how that affects
their outcome in the epic. For example,
Beowulf is seen as a great warrior, not only by his achievements, but also his
almost godly bloodline. On lines, 399- 455 (but really the whole epic) Beowulf
talks about his great feats, but later he also talks about how he has the
support for these killings by his elders. Is he destined to be a great?
In
contrast, Grendel is said to have a “whole ancestry [full of] demons and
ghosts” (lines1356-1357) and if that isn’t bad enough his mother is said to be
a “monstrous hell-bride” on line 1259. Compared
to Beowulf, Grendel doesn’t have much going for him or his identity. Maybe that is why he is such a Hell child:
pun intended?
Which leads
me to the end of Beowulf, and the
dragon. This dragon is particularly
catching to identity because he really doesn’t have one. The dragon does not have a flawless blood
line to rely on like Beowulf, but he also doesn’t have the scarlet A marking
him as the descendant of Cain. So, why is he so fussy about that goblet? Only
judging by outside sources, I can assume that he is like all dragons that just
loves treasure. Maybe it’s just that
simple? It’s never that simple! I believe that it is the original author of Beowulf sneaky creative writing skills
juxtaposing the idea of proud identity, unfortunate family ties, and not having
a name tag in the world to show the downfall of each identity issue.
I seem to think of the curse at the end as kind of a curse for the greedy man burying the treasure. Everything comes full circle and is part if a cause and effect correlation. Everything each character does in the past renders a cost, mostly blood, and it has to be paid by someone or something. Maybe Beowulf is divine and by taking on all these fights, he is similar to Christ carrying out burdens. I'm not sure. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteYou made a good point with the lineage and recognizing a person through his family and its accomplishments.
That's really interesting! I never thought of the killings as a comparison of God and Lucifer and the things each does. For example, God killing for a higher purpose whereas Grendel's mother killing in the name of a evil intent. Great food for thought.
DeleteI definitely thought of our discussion in class about our sympathy for Grendel when I read your thoughts on family reputations. As I reiterate the questions: Why does the sympathy lie on Grendel—when he was literally eating people—and not on the dragon—who was only defending what he thought was his? What makes Grendel and his mother so different?
ReplyDeleteThroughout the poem the characters (can I call them characters) go through long, sometimes painful anecdotes of what this guy’s father did to that group of people, or what this guy did to gain honor from his people—all dedicated to the explanation of why knowing about the family’s reputation is important. Even Grendel—who has the mark of Cain—has a family history. The dragon has none whatsoever. Maybe the lack of a family history is why we don’t think the dragon deserves our sympathy.
Exactly, I feel like because the Dragon has no mother, dead father, or the sights of leaving an heir. Because of this we do not see his life or his death as something that is worth caring about in the epic. It is almost like a character needs a lineage to support their killing or their death as a sorrow.
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