... all recent criticism the essential paganisiii of the poem. However important to our view of Beowdf the principal Christian elements-the allusions to free will, Hrothgar’s semion 011 humility, Beowulf’s moderation and thanksgivings to God, the identi- fication of Grendel with the race...

... and above his society-is found in BeowulJ where “in no passage is a king presented as anything other than a lord” (Abels, 210 n. 23).10 The nation [Geata bode] seems to be equated with the king’s retainers [geneatas] (e.g., 11. 1228-1315, 3170-9), and Hrothgar speaks of the Geatish people electing...

... at work in the narrative particularly by noticing the poet’s treatment of feasts and treasure. Alvin A. Lee has recently pointed out that throughout Beowulf“the condition of dream (joy) is symbolized by banqueting in the hall7 At the center of Hrothgar’s society stands the great meadhall...

... in the forefront of the fighting, a place appropriate for the champion which he presumably was. The passage would not lead us to conclude that Ecgtheow was a royal personage. A little later in the story, Wulfgar, a Danish court official, re- ports to King Hrothgar the arrival of Beowulf, and the king...

... sense.”l The context here is especially important for any reasonable emenda- tion. After his arrival at Heorot, Beowulf is praised by Hrothgar, who says that Ecgtheow, Beowulf‘s father, once killed a man named Heath- olaf in the land of the Wylfings. Because of the slaying, ‘%a hine gara...

... Beowulf and Hrothgar” ;? and to Klaeber it “contrasts strangely with the digni- fied courtesy reigning at Hrothgar’s It is not my intention to dispute so well-founded a view as this, for there is no denying that the air of dignity which permeates the poem is broken by the debate carried...

... is necessary if the second part of the author’s next sentence is to ring true: “In other words his [Unferth’s] reasoning is ill-grounded, and his irascible and concupiscent souls are faulty.” Perhaps one of the most serious misreadings is Gardner’s statement that Hrothgar has trust in God’s...

... statement that Hrothgar has trust in God’s justice and control, a trust that “brings Beowulf’ (p. 66). This idea is ii key one for his interpretation, since he repeats it on pages 64, 71, 72, 75, and 100. Hut where in the poem does he find this con- cept? ‘I‘he only “evidence” he...

... Beowulf tells Hrothgar, to act well than to mourn much.5 Without characterizing the past as antique, the poet initially con- structs a Eramework that suggests the depth of days long past as well as what a good king is and what shape our lives have-days of achieve- ment bounded by the unknown...

..., Sisani is formidable. The third chapter begins with a brilliant explanation of what appears to be Hrothgar’s rising long after the defeat of Grendel has been celebrated in horse-racing and song-making: 378 ROBERT P. CREED...

... injunction, “Ne wyr6 . . . wilna Fd’’ (236). God‘s promise echoes that of Hrothgar to Beowulf on the evening of his fight with Grendel: “Ne bi6 be wilna gad” (660).7 The similarity of the two promises suggests that, like Hrothgar’s speech, God’s speech is essentially that of a Germanic lord...

... and Hrothgar’s rising] are described one after the other with no technical device to show that they were contemporaneous” (p. 31). The chapter goes on to scrutinize the bases of a number of critical notions that have hardened into dogma: the supposed “parallel between Hildeburh’s losses and those...

... their arms (1512-19). No doubt a Beowulf had as keen an appreciation of ceremony, as perceptive a sense of decorum, as the brethren of the Table Round or the gracious house- hold of Bertilak; the guard of Hrothgar, for example, was no less civil than the “porter pure plesaunt” of the castle beyond...