Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition

Citation preview

eo

E AND THE

LKYRIE ITI .

T

HELEN

AMICO

THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN PRESS

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Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition In this work, Helen Damico draws on literary, historical, and mythological sources to present the first systematic analysis of Wealhtheow, Queen of the Danes in Beowulf. Long considered a passive and decidedly minor character with no relation to other heroic figures, Wealhtheow is transformed through Damico's scholarship into a recognizable legendary type with clear-cut epic association and a solid literary importance of her own. The result allows fresh readings of an Old English classic and raises significant questions for students of Old English and Old Norse poetry, Germanic legendary traditions, medieval folklore, and women's studies.

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Published 1984 The University of Wisconsin Press 114 North Murray Stteet Madison, Wisconsin 53715

The University of Wisconsin Press, Ltd. l Gower Stteet London WClE 6HA, England Copyright C> 1984 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System All rights reserved First printing Printed in the United States of America For LC CIP information see the colophon ISBN 0-299-09500-2 Publication of this volume has been made possible in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the University of New Mexico.

To the memory of F. P.

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Contents •

Preface

IX •••

Abbreviations

XIII

1.

Wealhtheow and Contextual Problems

2.

Wealhtheow and Heroic 'Ihldition

17

3.

The Valkyrie-Figure in AnglO-Saxon and Old Norse Literature

41

4.

Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie-Figure

58

5.

Wealhtheow and Helgi's Valkyrie-Brides

87

6.

Wealhtheow and the Scylding Queens of the Sagas

106

7.

Wealhtheow and Yrsa

135

Afterword

179

Notes

183

Bibliography

239

Index

261

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Preface What follows constitutes a literary, historical, and mythological study of Wealhtheow, the queen of the Danes in Beowulf, and limits its investigations to Anglo-Saxon and Old Icelandic literatures and cultures. The nature of the poem (an amalgam of folktale, history, and legend) as much as the character herself dictates the multifarious approach, for Wealhtheow is largely an unknown quantity. Unlike the other female figures in AngloSaxon epic-Elene, Judith, and Juliana-she apparently has no literary, legendary, or historical source. Her name is neither recorded elsewhere in the poetic corpus nor found in the Scandinavian analogues-Hr6lfs saga kralca and Skj(>ldunga saga-that refer to Hroar's, that is, Hrothgar's, wife. As a consequence, whether critics perceive Wealhtheow as an exemplar of aristocratic domesticity or as a tragic victim of circumstance, they consistently judge her to be a fictional personage with no roots in history or legend. The following pages present the results of a search to provide a literary and legendary heritage for Heorot's enigmatic queen. The objective is to establish the extent ~o which Wealhtheow is a typical figure, constructed along the lines of the stock female characters that pervade Germanic heroic poetry, and the extent to which she is idiosyncratic, the Anglo-Saxon rendering of an identifiable legendary personality. No previous systematic examination of Wealhtheow has been undertaken. My methodology is essentially that of a comparative analysis of character, with emphasis placed on the means the poet used to achieve the effects of characterization for which one supposes he strove. In the absence of firm evidence regarding dating, composition, and provenience, I follow traditional assumptions that the poem as it now exists was composed by a single author, almost certainly Christian, who worked within the oral tradition, employing the conventional rhetorical and metrical devices of characterization common to Germanic heroic poetry and freely drawing his subject matter from the stock of legendary lore that comprised the heritage of the Germanic tribes . Whether the poem was a product of literary or of oral composition is not here addressed, the issue not being germane to my argument, although the latter postulation is unlikely. The arrangement of the argument is centrifugal and accretive. Chapter 1, introductory in nature, examines the queen in the context of the poem. My purpose in this formal analysis of her sequences is not only to situate her in the poem, but to reexamine the quality of her roles and to confront

ix

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xI

Preface

the narrative problems that arise from the structural positioning of her episodes. These preliminary considerations serve as a departure point for the expanded discussion in Chapter 2 of Wealhtheow in the context of heroic literature, with particular attention given to her relationship to the Christian female warriors of Anglo-Saxon epic and to the valkyrie-brides of Old Norse heroic poetry. The correspondences that arise are further explored in Chapter 3, which investigates the valkyrie-figure in AngloSaxon and Old Norse literature, and in Chapter 4, which examines Wealhtheow's association with the valkyrie-figure through an analysis of her epithets. These first four chapters comprise the preliminary evidence for my hypothesis that Wealhtheow, rather than being an isolated figure in the literature, is associated with the female warriors of Anglo-Saxon epic and, like them, is related to the valkyrie-figures of the Eddie Lays. Chapter 5 offers a more extensive consideration of Wealhtheow as a character constructed along the lines of a valkyrie-figure and addresses itself to a textual and thematic comparison between Wealhtheow and the Svava-Sigrun figure in the Helgi lays. Chapters 6 and 7 extend the inquiry to the Old Norse prose documents-particularly Hrolfs saga kraka-that deal with the Scylding legend, in an effort to determine what might be Wealhtheow's connection with Yrsa, Helgi's queen in the sagas. The cumulative evidence serves to transform the Beowulfian queen into a generally recognizable rendering of a legendary personage central to the Scylding tale, whose character is an embodiment of interwoven ideas and images embedded in the tradition of Germanic heroic literature, a literature that, as Theodore M. Andersson observes in his Legend of Brynhild, characteris~ically "observes no tribal boundaries." Some preliminary explanation is perhaps in order regarding the critical difficulties that are posed by the problems of chronology and by the nature of the primary texts. The relevant Scandinavian sources that deal with the Scyldings-the Helgi lays and Hrolfs saga kraka especially-are of later composition than Beowulf The Helgi lays, for example, appear in a unique Icelandic manuscript written in the second half of the thirteenth century, and, although it is generally agreed that the final extant version of these poems had prior forms, there is no precise information either as to what these forms might have been or as to their dating or provenience. Nor is the dating of Beowulf firmly fixed, as The Dating of Beowulf, a recent collection of essays, clearly .illustrates: Peter Clemoes and John C. Pope present stylistic and linguistic arguments respectively. for composition in the eighth century; Thomas Cable offers metrical style as a rationale for the ninth; Roberta Frank details a number of correspondences in expression and motif between the Beowulf poet and the skalds, and extends the terminus ad quem to 950; and Kevin S. Kiernan reevaluates the manu-

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Preface I xi

script and proposes Beowulf as a composite poem of the eleventh century, an encomium to Cnut. The one fairly reliable dating is that of the manuscript itself, written sometime around the year 1000. Based on manuscript evidence alone, then, Beowulf and the major Old Norse poetic texts that relate directly to the argument are some two hundred years apart. This disconcerting textual situation results in two problems in strategy which should be mentioned here to avoid any possible confusion later. First, it is customarily accepted that the Beowulf poet was well-versed in matters concerning the Scyldings, as well as in those of other Scandinavian dynasties. Although Beowulf is the earliest literary source, the Beowulf poet is often seen and will be seen here as adapting and diverging from the usual handling of the narrative motifs and poetic conventions as they appear in the Old Norse sources. This view is possible primarily because the Scandinavian sources show a persuasive consistency in the depiction of their dramatis personae and in the recounting of events and motifs. Second, because in many instances the later texts present fuller renderings of events and personages, the point of reference of the argument will be reversed, and the later texts used to explain the earlier work. The discussion is intended to engage not only the specialist in AngloSaxon and Old Norse studies, but also ~ general reader who has interest in and derives pleasure from the study of early medieval cultures and literatures, and of the making of literary characters. It likewise would invite the attention of scholars concerned with elucidating woman's image in medieval literature. To some extent, the evidence here serves as a corrective to traditional appraisals of the female characters in Anglo-Saxon literature (and of Wealhtheow in particular) as either mannequins or passive victims of circumstance. It is primarily to facilitate the reading of the nonspecialist in Germanic languages that I have supplied my own translations of Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse quoted passages. Single quotes enclose translations that appear immediately adjacent to the original word or phrase being cited. When translated terms are not thus paired, double quotes are used. Spellings of Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse personal and place names have been modernized in the text, but retain their original forms in quotations. To avoid repetition, the terms "sequence," "episode," "passage,"· and "unit" are used synonymously. A distinction is made between these and "scene," the latter term at times also signifying a larger nanative division which encompasses the others. As will be evident, among my chief concerns is to come to a fuller understanding of the poet's diction-its formal characteristics, such as versification and structural patterning, and its semantic value. The Bessinger-Smith concordances-A Concordance to Beowulf and A Concordance to the Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records-have been invaluable tools to this end.

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xii I Preface My indebtedness to previous scholarship in Beowulf and in Old Norse literature will be only too visible in the pages that follow. Other debts are less apparent, and it is with pleasure that I acknowledge them here. I owe particular debts to Professor Vaiden J. Madsen of Brooklyn College of the City University of New York for his critical readings of the manuscript at its early stage; to James T. Damico, Jr., for his editorial commentary as a nonspecialist; to Professor Kaaren Grimstad of the University of Minnesota for her incisive criticism of the Old Norse materials; and to Professor Howell Chickering of Amherst College for his painstaking reading of the manuscript at its final stage and for his considered suggestions. Others to whom I am indebted for their criticism and aid are Professors Calvin B. Kendall and Bruce Lincoln of the University of Minnesota, Professor Susan Ray of Fordham University, and Professor Joseph V. Scaletti of the University of New Mexico. Lastly, for his unrim readings of the manuscript at all its stages, I owe much to Professor Jess B. Bessinger, Jr., who introduced me to Old English and to Beowulf and whose influence surely must permeate these pages. The remaining errors of fact, judgment, and style are my own. University of New Mexico, 1983

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Abbreviations Akv And Brot Bwf Dan Ele Gen Grlm Gr(p Guth GutJhvt Gylf Heir HHI HH/I HHv Hsk Hynd/ J6ms Jud Jul LC Ls

AtlalcvitJa Andreas Brot af SigurtJarkvitJu Beowulf Daniel Elene Genesis Grlmnismal Grlpisspd Guthlac GulJr1'narhv{!t Gylfaginning Helrei6 Brynhildar HelgakvitJa Hundingsbana I HelgakvitJa Hundingsbana II HelgakvitJa HjprvartJssonar Hr61fs saga kraka Hyndlulj66 J6msv£kinga saga Judith Juliana Leire Chronicle Lokasenna

Maxi Oddr Rid Sigsk Sk.aldslc Ss Upp Vafp Vkv Vpls Vsp Wid Yng Ger Goth MHG OE OHG 01

ON OS OSw

Maxims/ OddrUllargrdtr Riddles SigurtJarkvitJa en slcamma Sk.aldslcaparmlll Skj{!ldunga saga Uppsalafpr VafPrU&ismal V plundarkvitJa V plsunga saga Vplospd Widsi6 Ynglinga saga German Gothic Middle High German Old English Old High German Old Icelandic Old Norse Old Saxon Old Swedish

•••

XIII

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Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition

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1 W ealhtheow and Contextual Problems Some one hundred lines before Grendel sets out on his final and fateful raid on Heorot, there emerges from the light, song, and laughter of the gathering in the hall a character resplendent in gold, who offers mead to Hrothgar and Beowulf and treasure to the warrior-band: f>zr wzs hzlepa hleahtQr,_ hlyn swynsode, word wzron wynsume. Eode WealhJ>Cow fo~. ewen HrotSgires eynna gemyndig, grette goldhroden guman on healle, ond pi freolie wif ful gesealde zrest East-Dena epelwearde, bzd hine blmne zt l:'iere beoq,ege, leodum leofoe; be on lust gepeah symbel ond seleful, sigerof kyning. Ymbeode pi ides Helminga dugupe ond geogope dzl zghwylene, sincfato sealde, op l:'zt siel ilamp, )>zt hio Beowulfe, beaghroden ewen mOde gepungen medoful ztbzr; grette Geata lead, Gode paneode wisfzst wordum pzs & hire se willa gelamp, )>zt heo on znigne eorl gelYfde fyrena frOfre. He pzt ful gepeah, wzJ.reow wiga zt Wealh~n. ond pi gyddode gupe gefysed, Beowulf mqelode, beam EcgJ>Cowes: "le pzt hogode, pa ie on holm gestih, siebit gesa:t mid minra secga gedriht, l:'zt ie inunga eowra leoda willan geworhte, op& on wzl erunge leondgripum fzst. le gefremrnan sceal eorlie ellen, oJ;>& endedzg on pisse meoduhealle minne gebidan!" f>im wife pi word wel lieodon, gilpcwide Geates; Code goldhroden freolieu foleewen to hire frean sittan. 1 (611-641)

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4 I Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition (There was the laughter of heroes, the din resounded, words were winsome. Wealhtheow went forth, Hrothgar's queen, mindful of etiquette [or kin], the gold-adorned one greeted the men in the hall; and the freeborn woman offered the cup first to the guardian of the native land of the East-Danes, urged him be joyful at the beer-drinking, loving to his people; he partook of the banquet and the hall-cup with pleasure, the victory-renowned king. Then the lady of the Helmings went around to the band of proven warriors and the troop of young retainers, gave to each one a portion of the jeweled treasure, 2 until the moment arrived when she, ring-adorned queen, excellent of mind, bore the mead-cup to Beowulf. She greeted the prince of the Geats, thanked God with words rooted in wisdom, because the wished-for thing had come to pass for her, that she might count on a nobleman for consolation from the evils. He took up that cup, the warrior fierce in battle, from the hands of Wealhtheow, and then, incited to battle, made a boasting speech. Beowulf spoke out, the son of Ecgtheow: " I had resolved on that, when I set out to sea, sat down on the sea-boat with my band of warriors, that I would carry out the will of your people in every respect, or fall on the field of the slaughtered slain, fast in the grip of the enemy. I shall perform heroic deeds of valor, or in this mead-hall I shall experience the day of my death." Those words, the boasting speech of the Geat, pleased the woman exceedingly; the gold-adorned one, the freeborn queen of the people, went to sit by her lord.)

This is the first of Wealhtheow's two major appearances in Beowulf. Each occurs in the banqueting hall of the Danish court, in a setting of ceremony and celebration, and fulfills an important narrative function. In her_ fir~t s~quence. the queen elicits a solemn vow from Beowulf (an episode reminiscent of the Icelandic heiriirenglng.-and-bragarfull3-), and, in the secthe- hero and bestows treasure on him as hiseamed ..re..ond, ·-- -··she ---- .blesses .. ---·-·----·- - ··.--. .. _,_. --··- ··---·--·- ····· - .. . .. _,____ ... - · ···· - . ward (Bwf l 159h-I232•).4 -~· ·

~ ···&b_9_ugh_.in_ lem:t...S...Qf _line..count..._Wealhtheow is..a.subordinate .charac\ ~~~:. .ter.~on.ly .?.?.. ~f the J29.erri:~_.J,J.~l.JJn.~~.J~~ ..d~Y9l~4 tQ..~er 5 -:--:--J~e ooet_'s

the queen el~yates. her to tl}e st~tl,l_s_of..amaJor figu.r~, (or, in ,_····' ·· ,...,~~: :. ,_. _!!le passag:_Just quoted and _i!! _~~r- ~~-C.Q~_d..~~q~~!l~~. ~$!~~!oys -~~~es : .'; :,.·· ofCliarac;te_ri~au~t or_dil);:u:iJY...~e-.~~_ed to delirieate~nly the most ' prom1ne_~~-~.'.1£~~J~{Among these techniques· are-elaborately staged e·n:. :y the position of the aristocratic female in Anglo-Saxon and other Germanic courts (a topic to be explored in Chapter 2). The ensuing banquet scene strengthens and expands Wealhtheow's tri:.•·"~,.;a i~perative: "t~e up ths...-c1.1p,"-" joyful,'.' "':_e gracious," ~~nj~~__y_Q~ r~'"".J_';,,& nches," utterances that lend assert1v Q..tQ~gueef!. -Moreover, to be t"'" Ii6eril is not the only exhortation Wealhtheow makes to Hrothgar. By counseling the king to confer the dynastic succession upon his magum ..,..,c>wl 'kinsmen' and more particularly upon Hrothulf, she is, in effect, giving '< l '' s ,.rer )>a gooan twegen sreton suhtergefrederan; )>a gyi wres hiera sib retgredere, reghwylc Mrum tjwe. Swylce )>rer Unfer)> )>yle ret fotum sret frean Scyldinga; gehwylc hiora his ferh)>e treowde, )>ret he hrefde moo micel, peah )>e he his magum nrere arfrest ret ecga gelacum. Sprrec ~a ides Scyldinga: "Onfoh )>issum fulle, freodrihten min, • •' • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

''

Hwearf )>a bi hence, )>rer byre byre wreron, ~ric ond llt'Mmund, ond hrele)>a beam, 1190 giog~ retgredere; )>rer se gooa sret, Beowulf Geata be )>rem gebrMrum twrem. .Him wres ful boren, ond freondla)>u wordum bewregned, ond wunden gold estum geeawed, earm[h]reade twa, 1195 hrregl ond hringas , healsbeaga mrest )>ara )>e icon foldan gefrregen hrebbe . Nrenigne ic under swegle selran hyrde hordmM\lm hrele)>a, sy~an Hama retwreg to p;ire byrhtan byrig Brosinga mene , 1200 sigle ond sincfret, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1232 Eode )>a to setle. prer wres symbla cyst, druncon win weras. Wyrd ne cu)>on . . . (The song had been sung, the tale of the gleeman. Mirth rose up again, the bench-noise brightened, the cupbearers poured wine from wondrous vessels. Then Wealhtheow went forth .advancing under the 1188

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Wealhtheow and Contextual Problems I

13

golden crown to where the two good ones sat, the nephew and the uncle; then was her kin still together, each to the other true. Unfertb, the spokesman, likewise sat there at the feet of the lord of the Scyldings; all of them trusted in his spirit, that he had great courage, even though he had not been honorable to his kinsmen at the play of swords. Then the lady of the Scyldings spoke: ''Take up this cup, my lord and chief...."Then she turned to the bench where their children were, Hrethric and Hrothmund, and the children of the warriors, the band of young retainers together; there the good one, Beowulf of the Geats, sat alongside the two brothers. A cup was borne to him and a kinsman's greeting offered in words, and twisted gold bestowed with goodwill, two gold-stained armbands, a corselet and rings, the greatest of neck-rings I have ever heard spoken of on earth. I have heard of no better treasure-hoard of heroes under the skies, since Hama carried off to the bright stronghold the Brosing's necklace, jewel, and ornamented treasure .... Then she went to her seat. There was the choicest of feasts; men drank wine. They did not know the fate ... )

Once more the sequence is enclosed between narrative frames that reflect conceptual and lexical repetition-the banquet and the wine-drinkingand that depict mirrored physical actions performed by the queen. Since both 1162 and 1233 have aw alliterator, 1233b (Wyrd ne cupon) can replace l l 62h (/Jd cwom Wealhpeo fortf) without harming the metrical pattern or disrupting the stylistic figuration of the contrastive joy-sorrow motif required for the introduction of Grendel's mother. If one sets aside the omission of the Eorrnenric and Hygelac digression (this itself can be de_leted from lines l 198b through 1214•), the important elements that would be excluded if the passage were excised are Wealhtheow and her giving of treasure to Beowulf. As in the case of the first sequence, it seems only prudent to assume that authorial intent lies behind the inclusion of these elements, and that the entire second sequence serves a purpose in the development of story or character. The 1>2_Ct, for example, goe~-~~-~~~.!:.P~ins to enhance the pers~n o_f the queen through poetic epithet; his rhetorjc.a! .1iiid-.me.f.ft~Jt-.embellishQ1~JJt -~~ssestier piominentstiitiis".intlieiransition passage just quoted which immedlately.preceaes·ner ...second entrance, the merriment in Heorot expressed by beorhtode bencsweg 'bench-noise brightened' is, as Fred C. Robinson has noted, synesthetically represented as "glittering" through the hall. 21 It is this bright resonance that heralds the queen's second appearance. Ornamenting her elaborately staged arrival, the verse line expands when she enters, and the extended rhythm is sustained for six lines, comprising the longest hyperrnetrical passage in the poem (1163-1168). 22 Word play (Unferp.ferhpe, l 165b, l 166h)23 and semantic congruency in

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14 I Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition alliteration (suhtergefaderan:sib, 1164)24 underline the thematic concerns of the scene, the latter highlighting Wealhtheow's emphasis on loyalty between kin. Moreover, the content and syntactical parallelism of the narrative passages that open and conclude her first speech are indications of the poet's intent that all character action and relationships be viewed from the queen's vantage point (l 162b-l 168, 1188-1191). The queen's giving of treasure to Beowulf has also been endowed with special significance in two ways. By emphasizing the gifts-especially the healsbeaga miist 'greatest of neck-rings' that is compared to the Brosinga mene 'necklace of the Brosings' (ON Brfsinga men), Freyja's famous neck-ring in Old Norse mythology-the poet appreciates their value. Wealhtheow's accompanying speech further particularizes the act of giving and lends it a narrative weight that exceeds the conventional giftgiving found in most formal banqueting scenes of heroic poems. It would be unlikely that a poet would make use of such rhetorical and metrical embellishment to characterize an unimportant personage. Rather, the deliberation with which he employs his poetic devices suggests that he is delineating a figure of some consequence, one that has particular significance to the poem. This is not to deny Wealhtheow's subordinate standing in the poem's hierarchy of characters; yet subordination does not necessarily imply insignificance. Penelope is a subordinate character, but her importance to the basic story of the Odyssey is considerable, as is Athene's, another catalyst figure of "secondary" status. The poet's elaborate treatment of Wealhtheow is conducive to the supposition that he embellished his depiction of the queen because he did not wish her to be undervalued, and that her sequences, although limited in scope, were integral to the main narrative, for without them the story of Beowulf's journey to Heorot would be incomplete. In one respect, the integrity and poetic elaboration of the sequences, as well as their concentration on character delineation, suggest that they may have existed at one time as either separate lays or obligatory episodes in longer tales about the Scylding dynasty. Praise songs and "situation songs" (as A. C. Bouman describes the elegies)25 about women are not anomalous to the literature. Hildeburh's lament in Beowulf is an immediate example of a song presenting a known heroic event from a woman's point of view. And Widsielwearde, bzd hine blmne a:t pifre beorpege, leodum leofne; he on lust geJ>eah symbel ond seleful, sigerof kyning. Ymbeode pi ides Helminga dugut>e ond geogot>e dzl zghwylcne, sincfato sealde, op pa:t szl ilamp, pa:t hio Beowulfe, beaghroden cwen mooe gepungen medoful a:tba:r; grette Geata leod, Gode pancode wisfa:st wordum pa:s tse hire se willa gelamp . . .

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(612b-626)

(Wealhtheow went forth, Hrothgar's queen, mindful of etiquette [or kin], the gold-adorned one gieeted the men in the hall; and the free. born woman offered the cup first to the guardian of the native land of the East-Danes, urged him be joyful at the beer-Orinking, loving to his people; he partook of the banquet and the hall.cup with pleasure, the victory-renowned king. Then the lady of the Helmings went around to the band of proven warriors and the troop of young retainers, gave to each one a portion of the jeweled treasure, until the moment arrived when she, ring-adorned queen, excellent of mind, bore the meadcup to Beowulf. She greeted the prince of .the Geats, thanked God with words rooted in wisdom, because the wished-for thing had come to pass for her . . . )

One queen may easily serve as blueprint for the other. Both possess excellence of mind (Bwf 624•; Max I 85b); they have circumspection and deliberateness of speech (Bwf 62&; Max I 8&, 91 b); they exhibit generosity, a courtly manner, and a domestic authority commensurate with consorts of royal leaders. They are treasure-givers, counselors to their husbands (a function Wealhtheow undertakes in the second banquet scene), and participate in political matters (a function also depicted in the second banquet scene). Both are formal figures. The occasion that requires their appearance is ritualistic-the mead-ceremony 19-and their presentation of the cup is ceremonial and not to be interpreted as a quotidian activity. The serving of drink, as clearly evidenced in Beowulf, is a function of official cupbearers:

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Wealhtheow and Heroic Tradition I 23

pegn nytte beheold, se peon handa brer hroden ealowrege, scencte scir wered. (A thane attended to his duty; he who bore in his hand the decorated ale-cup poured out the clear, sweet drink.)

Preceding Wealhtheow's second entrance, a similar image of royal cupbearers is presented: Gamen eft astah, beorhtode bencsweg, byrelas sealdon win of wund~rfatum . (l 16Qb-l 162•) (Mirth rose up again, the bench-noise brightened, the cupbearers poured

wine from wondrous vessels.)

Wealhtheow (explicitly) and the Maxims queen (by implication) are imposing presences at the celebratory occasions. Although their stateliness evokes a statuary repose , !1eitheLWe_aj}ttheow nor the queen of Mapnrs l· is a -passive character.-.T he_v...erhs. used t0-describe their actions are active and suggest that Germanic noblewomen are persons of volition, gLven to individual express1orrorwltl: -weg1'httreow incites Beowulf to battle (63Qb); the Maxims figure encourages praise among her people (85•). Both ar. o t 1call acti : e typical queen holds secret counsel (8&); Wealhtheow · ce from the dryhtguman 'warriorband' in the hall and seeks to influence dynastic succession with her support of Hrothulf as inheritor of the Danish crown. Each queen exercises an autonomous authority in the court that is in consort with her husband's. It would not be amiss, then, to classify Wealhtheow as an archetypal queen-figure alongside the Maxims queen, reflective of the ideal noblewoman in Germanic society. It is, however, difficult to ascertain the extent to which the literary queens represent social reality, for the traditional and conservative nature of Anglo-Saxon poetry in general tends to produce highly stylized dramatis personae. Yet if one allows for the normal disjunction between history and literature, it is possible to correlate the characters under consideration with the Germanic cultural situation. Vigor and independence of action were exhibited by noblewomen in social and legal affairs, as Doris Stenton and others have argued. From documents ranging from Tacitus's Germania through Cnut's laws, there emerges a composite portrait of the Germanic noblewoman as an active, interdependent member of the family. 20 Tacitus takes note of just such vibrant interdependence when he records a betrothal scene, in which both parties exchange gifts to seal the alliance:

24 I Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition The wife does not bring a dowry to her husband. but receives one from him. The parents and relations assemble. and pass their approbation on the presents-presents not adapted to please a female taste. or decorate the bride; but oxen, a caparisoned steed, a shield, spear, and sword. By virtue of these, the wife is espoused; and she in her tum makes a present of some arms to her husband. This they consider as the firmest bond of union; these, the sacred mysteries, the conjugal deities. That the wQman may not think herself excused from exerti~ns __of fortitude, or exempt from the casualties of war, she is admonished by the very ceremonial of ~er marriage ,_that she comes to her husband as a partner in toils and dangers; to sllffer ancf"io dare equally with him, in peace and in war: this is indicated by the yoked oxen, the harnessed steed, the offered arms. Thus she is to live; thus to die. (Germania ....... Jfil2•

._ --The reciprocity of the gift-giving, as well as the nature of the gifts them,.,.,--- .

selves-military equipment-are reminiscent of the exchange of miitJtJum 'treasure' between a lord and his thane at the end of a military enterprise. Like the thane, the bride offers her bridegroom armor, the booty of war, while he gives her oxen, horses, a shield, spear, and sword. 22 For Tacitus, this gift of military equipment was symbolic of actual circumstances; it was customary for Germanic wives to be on the battlefield, engaging in the fight, encouraging the men, inciting the troops to battle (Germania 8). 23 The incitement of warriors to heroic action is a characterizing feature of the warrior-maids of Old Norse heroic literature; and, although much softened, it is a trait exhibited by Wealhtheow and the Maxims queen as well. Tacitus was also the first to remark on the reverence in which the Germanic noblewoman was held: They even suppose somewhat of sanctity and prescience to be inherent in the female sex; and therefore neither despise their counsels, nor disregard their responses. We have beheld in the reign of Vespasian, Veleda, long reverenced by many as a deity. Aurima, moreover, and several others, were formerly held in equal veneration, but not with a servile flattery, nor as though they made them goddesses. (Germania 8) 24

This reverential deference (that Bowra finds typically bestowed on queens of the aristocratic heroic poem) is shown to both Anglo-Saxon queenly figures, who also function in the role of counselor. Engagement in governmental affairs was apparently within the province of historical female royalty, as it seems to have been within that of the literary queens. The political authority exercised by Wealhtheow and the Maxims figure, as well as by some of the other female characters in Anglo-

11

Wealhtheow and Heroic Tradition I 25

Saxon poetry (Elene, Hygd, Judith), ~ft~!uJU.ilf. A string of AngloSaxon queens and noblewomen-tyrants (Cynethryth, Eadburg, Aelfgifu)25 and benefactors (Bebba, Aethelftaed, Emma)26-helped shape English political history. 27 Although women were not in the--auect line-ol succe'ssion, there was'"iv'idently no prohibition of or aversion to female rule among the Anglo-Saxons as apparently there was among the Zealanders, if one is to credit Saxo. 28 Bede relates that early in the settlement of the island, there was a tendency among the Picts to choose kings from the female royal line. 29 This does not, however, indicate the presence of a matriarchy, such as governed the Sitones, an early tribe probably located in Finland (Germania 45). 30 In any event, the Anglo-Saxon queen could be a formidable political figure in the court, and the female rulers of the literature mirror that reality. In many respects, then, the literary queens typify the Germanic noblewoman in her political and cultural environment. But whereas classification as an "idealized queen-figure" is satisfactory for the Maxims queen, it is not entirely appropriate for Wealhtheow. The Maxims queen appears in a didactic poem, a genre that lends itself to the depiction of generalized rather than particularized personages. Wealhtheow, on the other hand, is a ~~ !I! a_he~~ narrative,-~h~~-h py _rJ. is mimetic an~ is compnsed o_f events that are determined by the interaction of idiosyncratic personalities~ Because the desired end of a didactic poem like Maxims I is to endorse a single idea (in this instance, to prescribe standards of ethical behavior), fixed and two-dimensional characters are preferable, for typical characterization is a means by which an author controls his audience's detachment and focuses attention on the doctrine being put forth. In heroic narrative, however, which aims to present the complexities of and alternatives to human action as ends in themselves relative to a world view, characters by necessity are complex in motivation and temperament, with individualizing attributes that engage rather than distance the audience. Thus, to ascribe merely an exemplary function to Wealhtheow is to say that she does not conform to the treatment of character in heroic narrative. Furthermore, because characters in didactic poetry like Maxims I are functionary figures in the service of expounding a thesis, they are entirely fictive creations. In contrast, personages in heroic poetry, by definition, have origins (however insignificant) in either historical or legendary events. 31 One can trace their existence in various national literatures and legends. Hrothulf, a minor character in Beowulf. for example, appears as a major figure in Danish and Old Icelandic literatures, in renderings in both prose and poetry, in fictional and historical documents, in Latin and the vernacular, with a chronological span of some six hundred to seven hundred years (ca. A.O. 750 to A.O. 1400). A similar range of time and literature

A ..: .... ;•..,..,,I {,.,,,.,...,.

26 I Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition

characterizes the major female characters in the Anglo-Saxon epics. The _Cynewulfian heroines-the hagiographical figures Elene and Julianahave a legendary and literary heritage. The story of Juliana's martyrdom, reaching back to the early fifth century when it was first mentioned by Saint Jerome, underwent various narrative treatments. Cynewulf's ninthcentury poetic rendering is thought to have been based on the first of two prose versions that appear in the Acta Sanctorum under 16 February. 32 The legend of Helena's discovery of the Holy Rood was also variously treated. Of possible Syrian origin, the form of the legend said to have influenced Cynewulf was the Vita Quiriaci of the Acta Sanctorum under 4 May.33 Judith, the hybrid Old Testament-Christian heroine, and the Burgundian warrior-princess Hildegyth, of the fragment Waldhere, likewise are found in extraneous materials. The main source for the warrior-maid Judith is the character in the Latin Vulgate rendering of the Apocrypha; and Hildegyth, who appears in the tenth-century Latin hexameters of Ekkehard, is said to have had a prior existence in German lays of somewhere around the seventh century. 3'4 In contrast to the Anglo-Saxon epic figures just cited, it is unlikely that Wealhtheow alone would be disassociated from any literary, legendary, or historical source. Even Beowulf, whose historicity has not been established, nonetheless is tangentially related as a type to Grettir and Bjarki. And Grendel's mother has parallels in folktale, saga, and heroic song. Thus, despite Wealhtheow's resemblance to the Maxims queen, the exigencies of characterization common to narrative, in general, and to heroic poetry, in particular, argue against classifying the queen as an archetypal figure. To perceive her solely as a poetic ideal is to conceive of her as having been constructed in a literary vacuum, for it is to deny her not only the spatial and temporal definition that heroic characters with legendary and historical moorings possess, but also referents in the literature as well. As an exemplar queen-figure, she would be removed from the company of female characters that pervade Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse heroic poetry-the warrior-women. Among these battle-maids, Wealhtheow would · then seem to be an alien figure. Yet there is a close correspondence in the delineation of the three female warriors in Anglo-Saxon epic and Wealhtheow. Similarities in their mental qualities and in their emotional and physical traits point to the possibility that each heroine is a particularized rendering of the character type of the warrior-woman. Wealhtheow and Elene, for example, are parallel in their physical appearance, in their activity, and in their speech. These and other likenesses shared with Judith and Juliana suggest that all four characters may be constructed along comparable lines. Differences are present, of course. Unlike Elene and Judith, Wealhtheow is not obviously a warrior-

•

Wealhlheow and Heroic Tradition I 27

woman. Yet the particular semantic dimension of the epithets the poet employs to delineate her invites the comparison. Generally the treatment of the warrior-women Elene, Judith, and Juliana corresponds closely to the treatment given the Anglo-Saxon heroic male warrior. In an examination of the rhetorical figures used to describe these three female characters, Patricia Belanoff has demonstrated that the epithets used to define Beowulf, the exemplar of Germanic heroic conduct and thought, and Andreas, the paragon of Christian virtue, are likewise employed to distinguish the Cynewulfian and Old Testament heroines. 35 Although the female characters undergo slight alterations-their femininity is usually diffused, while their heroic attributes (soberness of mind, nobility of birth, courage in action) are emphasized-the heroic temperament apparently is equally appropriate to male and female. Elene is surely a warrior-queen. Her first action is heroic-at the command of a troop of chosen warriors, she sets out on a sea voyage in quest of treasure, a voyage that has been associated with Beowulf's journey to Heorot. 36 In addition, the epithets that describe her are equivalent to those that describe Beowulf and Hrothgar: she is gutJcwen 'warrior-queen' as Beowulf is gutJcyning 'warrior-king', and sigecwen 'victorious queen' as Hrothgar and Hygelac are sigedrihten 'victorious lords' . The tenn that signifies her sway over the people, peodcwen 'queen of the people', also has its masculine equivalent in peodcyning used to describe the authority of Beowulf, Hrothgar, and Ongentheow. 37 One of the correspondences between Wealhtheow and Elene lies in this latter role. Heorot's queen is identified asfolccwen 'queen of the peopl~' on her first appearance, and the masculine-feminine equivalency noted in peodcwen and peodcyning is applicable to this epithet also: folccwen corresponding to Beowulf's epithet folccyning 'king of the people'. In conte"t, there is a strong martial connotation to foli:cyning, for when it refers to Beowulf it is associated with the idea of fighting on the battlefield: Nealles folccyning fyrdgesteallum gylpan J>orfte; hwa:tsre him God ii&, sigora Waldend, }>a:t he hyne sylfne gewra:c ina mid ecge, }>ii him wa:s elnes J>earf. (2873-2876)

(Not at all did the king of the folk have need to boast about his battlecomrades; nonetheless God, the Ruler of victories, granted him that he might avenge himself, alone, with the sword when courage was required of him.)

The tenn 's second appearance in the poem-where it refers to the many folccyningas of the neighboring tribes-occurs in the context of military

A ..: .... ;•..,..,,I {,.,,,.,...,.

28 I Beowulf s Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition invasions (2733h), the same environment in which it is employed in Genesis A (1974h, 2074h). In the Christian work, thefolccyningas are chieftains of armies spreading over the plains of battle. When both elements of the compound appear in simplex form in Beowulf, they describe Modthrytho, the homicidal queen of Offa. This fremu folces cwen 'vigorous queen of the people' is a battle-associated figure; the last element of her name-Thryth-as well as her actions allies her with the valkyrie-figures of the Edda. 38 The martial connotative value of Joie is more clearly evident in Old Norse literature (ON folk). In poetic usage, for example, it carries the meaning of "host" in Helgakvitia Hundingsbana I (50) and "to wage war" in Grimnismal (me6 folcom for, 48). 39 Freyja's hall, where half of the chosen fallen heroes reside, is called Folkvangr 'Battle-Plain', and an epithet for the valkyries is folkvitr 'battle-wights'. The term folccwen, then, carries a semantic weight that is suggestive not only of a political authority for Wealhtheow, but of a possible military influence as well . In this regard, it might be profitable to reassess Wealhtheow's statement that the dryhtguman d66 swd ic bidde 'warriors do as I bid'. As will be argued in Chapter 7, the activity inherent in the words is evocative of Freyja 's in Folkvangr and Elene's in the council chambers in Jerusalem. Wealhtheow does exact obedience from the warrior-band residing in Heorot, a location that in the narrative scheme of the poem functions as a place of battle as well as celebration. One can surmise that what separates the giltJcwen Elene from the folccwen Wealhtheow is not so. much the nature of their authority as the story that each poet wants to relate (one an oriental-type tale Christianized, the other an expanded panegyric). Elene's attributes, for example, are similar to Wealhtheow's. Both queens are gemyndig, Wealhtheow of kin and/or custom, since cynna is a homograph (Bwf 61 Jb), and Elene of the will of her son and/or Christ (Ele 266h, 267h). 40 In addition, the queens possess acuity and strength of mind (Bwf 624a; Ele 267•) and wisdom. When Wealhtheow speaks, her words are firmly "rooted in wisdom," and Elene is granted snyttro crreft 'power of wisdom' after the recovery of the cross (Bwf 62&; Ele 1171). Exemplars of aristocratic womanhood-Elene is cwen selest; Wealhtheow, miiru cwen-they are of royal blood. The Cynewulfian character is cdseres miig 'kinswoman of the emperor', while the Beowulfian queen is tJeodnes dohtor 'daughter of the prince' . Finally, they appear in analogous settings. Once Elene arrives in the land of the Jews, her environment is the council chamber and her action is speech making. The queens closely resemble each other as they address the assembled warriors in their respective halls . Each is splendidly adorned, and the keynote of their ornamentation is its metallic and martial properties. When Elene speaks out to the assembly, she is adorned with gold:

-

Wealhtheow and Heroic Tradition I 29

prungon J:la on J:lreate J:lzr on J:lrymme bad in cynestole caseres mzg, geatolic gul5cwen golde gehyrsted. (329-331) (Then, as a troop, they pressed forward to where the kinswoman of the emperor awaited in glory on her throne, splendid battle-queen, adorned with gold.)

The tefll)s geatolfc and gehyrsted have strong military associations. Elsewhere in Elene, geatolfc is used to describe the splendid byrnies (geatolic gutJscrad) of the warrior-queen's comitatus on the march toward Jerusalem (258-:--259-). These martial associations are also evident in Beowulf · where, in addition to being used to describe Hrothgar and Heorot (215•, 1401•), the term denotes the splendor of the sword that kills Grendel's mother (1562•). Closely allied with motifs of warfare is gehyrsted, the past participial form of hyrstan 'to adorn', 'to decorate'. The noun, hyrste, for example, means "armor," "decoration," and is used in the former sense in Elene-hilderincas, hyrstum gewerede 'the warriors were outfitted in armor' (263)-as it is in Beowulf where it refers to Ongentheow's battle dress (2988•). On her initial appearance, We.alhtheow is twice described as being adorned with gold-goldhroden (614•, 64lb), the second element of which, -hroden, is etymologically related to -hyrsted. Both terms meet in OHG hrust, which carries the signification of martial ornament and armor. The discussion on goldhroden in Chapter 4 demonstrates that the compound also carries a specialized sense of battle and military ornament in addition to its surface meaning of "decorated with gold" (see Chap. 4, pp. 74-78). As might be expected, dress of a metallic brightness is apparently conventional with military females, for it is also attributed to Judith. Both she and the war-trappings of the soldiers are golde gefratewod (17lb, 328b). Golde gefratewod, as well as golde gehyrsted, in fact appears to be part of a formulaic system that expresses the idea of the adornment with gold of military equipment. Golde gegirwan, employed in Waldhere to praise the sword made by Weiand (11.7•), and golde gegyrwed used in Beowulf to extol the hero's woven mail shirt (553•), are variations of the formula, as is golde geweortJod, which describes the gold-studded armor that is Waldhere's inheritance from Aelfhere (ll.19b). This is not to suggest, however, that only military objects are adorned with gold, 41 but rather that the expression "adorned with gold" is most commonly invoked to praise splendid military dress. By being identified as goldhroden, Wealhtheow is placed in relief against a background of warrior-women exemplifying feminine heroic conduct in the Anglo-Saxon epic tradition. The final, and perhaps most interesting, resemblance between Wealh-

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.... :""'-' ...............

30 I Beowulfs Wealhtheow and the Vallcyrie Tradition theow and Elene rests in their speech making. Both characters employ what seems to be a fonnulaic unit that expresses thanksgiving to God for a wish fulfilled. There are two such passages in Elene, the first appearing immediately after Judas's discovery of the three crosses. Marveling at the newly achieved faith of the young man and at the fullness of his wisdom, Elene is impelled to give thanks to God: 961

965

A C A3 A3 E

Gode pancode, wuldorcyninge, pzs hire se willa gelamp purh beam godes bega gehw~res, ge zt pzre gesyh& pzs sigebeames, ge Ozs geleafan pe hio swa leohte oncneow, wuldorfzste gife in pzs weres breostum.

D B A

c

B

c

(She thanked God, the king of wonders, because the wished-for thing bad come to pass for her; through the Son of God, in both respects, both in the seeing of the victorious wood, and the faith that she so clearly saw, the glorious gift of grace in the heart of the man.)

In versification, vocabulary, and theme, the passage corresponds to the thanksgiving lines found in Wealhtheow's first scene: 625 A C A

Gode pancode wisfzst wordum pzs & hire se willa gelamp, pzt heo on znigne eorl gelYfde fyrena frofre . He pzt ful gepeah ...

D B A

B

(She thanked God with words rooted in wisdom, because the wishedfor thing had come to pass for her, that she might count on a nobleman for consolation from the evils. He took up that cup . . . )

The similarity between the versification patterns of lines 961 b-964 in Elene

and lines 625b-628 in Beowulf, the identical lexical correspondences (Ele 96lb, 962b, Bwf 625b, 626b), and the resemblances in thematic actions, are further indications that these passages spring from the same fonnulaic system. Substitution of the Christian elements for the pagan (bearn godes for iinigne eorl and grace for secular solace) would be expected given the subject matter of Cynewulf's poem. The second passage in Elene that is constructed on the Gode pancode fonnula lacks these correspondences;42 yet it too expresses the essential idea of giving thanks to God for a wish fulfilled: 1138 A D A

Gode pancode, sigora dryhtne, pzs pe hio soO gecneow ondweardlice pzt wzs oft bodod feor zr beforan frarn fruman worulde . . .

..

r....:-: ........ 1 h,.,.._

D

B

c

A

Wealhtheow and Heroic Tradition I 31 (She thanked God, the lord of victories, because she knew the truth in actuality, that had often been proclaimed previously before, far back in the past, from the beginning of the world ... )

In the writing of Elene, Cynewulf was supposedly influenced by specific passages in Beowulf, incorporating and adapting certain of its thematic units, the sea voyage as an instance. Perhaps the characterization of his warrior-queen was affected by Wealhtheow's, for these thanksgiving speeches are Cynewulfian additions to the original source. 43 The several qualities that comprise the characters of Wealhtheow and Elene-profundity and quickness of mind, sagacity of speech, thoughtful intent toward duty, and a shining physical appearance-are attributes found in another warrior woman, Judith, and, to a lesser extent, in Juliana. A distinguishing trait Judith shares with Wealhtheow, Elene, and Juliana is wisdom. The Jewish widow is twice referred to as snoter 'wise', once when she is escorted by Holofemes's men into his bedchamber (55•), and later (as snotere mag5) when, no longer the victim but the victor, she carries out Holofemes's bloody head to her servant (125•). The first descriptive term applied to Judith is gleaw on getJonce 'wise in mind' (13b); and she is subsequently referred to as ferh(Jgleawe 'wise in spirit', 'prudent' (41•), as a gleawhydig wif 'wise-minded woman' (148•), and finally as seo gleawe 'the wise one' as she commands her handmaid to uncover the battle-treasure, the head of Holofemes (171•). The warrior-maid buttresses her wisdom with a keenness of wit that conceptually may be associated with Wealhtheow's excellence of mind. Judith is gearoponcolre 'quick-witted' when her comitatus presents her with the battle-booty won from the Assyrians (341•), and searotJoncol 'clever-minded' (145•). Along with Wealhtheow (and Elene), Judith, too, is gemyndig of her purpose, which in her case is to take the life of the atolan 'terrible one' (74b-77•). On an emotional plane, Judith and Wealhtheow share in the expression of a longing for freedom from the evils of a ravager. Moreover, the narrative unit that opens the Judith fragment, which presents Judith's prayer for grace in indirect discourse, is the Christian counterpart of Wealh--t theow's petition to the pagan god for cons~lation, a passage also presented in indirect discourse (Jud 1-5; Bwf 625b-628•). And fipally, during her beot, which is both prayer and boast, Judith too has her wish fulfilled, although not by a nobleman but by God (94h-98•). Verbal skill and renown are important attributes of Judith, as they are of Wealhtheow and Elene. Judith addresses an assembled warrior-band with rhetorical proficiency. She commands the Hebrew soldiers, as Elene does the Jewish elders, and she holds sway over her people, as Wealhtheow does over the dryhtguman in Heorot. And her fame is as far-

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32 I Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition ,,,,,,-{

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reaching-she winsforemarne blad 'illustrious glory' (122h)-as that of the cwen selest 'best of queens', Elene, and the miiru cwen 'illustrious queen', Wealhtheow. Like Wealhtheow, Judith is a visually arresting figure. As noted above, Wealhtheow, Elene, and Judith have a particular metallic brightness in physical appearance. The image of a radiant woman poi~ with a raised sword produces as striking a pictorial effect as does one of goldhroden 'the gold-adorned one' holding out a cup, bedecked with rings (beaghroden). Judith, too, is a beahhroden. To be thus in a heroic society is to be an embodiment of one of its creeds, generosity: the giving and receiving of rings is a sign not only of wealth and largess, but of interaction with one's fellow beings. Beahhroden in Judith, however, does not convey generosity. The term appears in a highly martial environment and refers to both Judith and her maid, an anomalous description, since to be beahhroden would conform neither with the maid's social status nor with her function in the poem. She neither appears as a treasure-giver, as Wealhtheow does, nor is she beahhroden as an allurement for a man, a reason Huppe suggests for Judith's "adomments." 44 Some other, more inunediate explication of the word is called for, one that would encompass both maid and mistress, as well as the environment: Eodon tsa gegnum panonne pa idesa ba ellenpriste, otspret hie becomon, collenferhtse, eadhretsige mregts, ut of tsam herige, pret hie sweotollice geseon mihten prere wli_tegan byrig weallas blican, Bethuliam. Hie tsa beahhrodene fetselaste forts onettan, ots hie glredmode gegan hrefdon to tsam wealgate. (Then they went forward thence, both the women, bold in courage, until they, bold-spirited, passed through, out from the host, maidens blessed in triumph, so that they clearly might see Bethulia, the walls of the fair city shining. Then they, the ring-adorned ones, hastened forth with footsteps, until they, gracious in spirit, had gone to the wall-gate.)

The cluster of epithets-ellenpriste, collenferh&, eadhretJige mreg6-not only distinguishes the characters as heroic figures (earlier the maid is referred to as aforegenga 'one who goes before', evoking the image of a standard-bearer (127h), but defines the women as a character-pairing, a

A ..: .... : ..... "I

+..---

Wealhtheow and Heroic Tradition I

33

characterization device whereby a minor figure is endowed with similar (or contrasting) traits belonging to the hero in an effort to enhance the person of the hero himself. The heroic qualities possessed by the warriorwoman Judith are properties of her maid: she too is thoughtful and prudent (higetJoncolre, 131•, and pancolmOde, 172b). She is also decorous, 'excellent in manners' tteawum getJungen (129-), a descriptive phrase that parallels the ·terms used to characterize Wealhtheow, cynna gemyndig 'mindful of etiquette' and mOde gejJungen 'excellent of mind'. The P,nenne 'servant' , in fact, i~ a mirror image of her mistress, enjoying all the qualities appropriate to the warrior-woman-superiority of mind, conduct, courage, and obedience. Beahhroden further unites the women in a heroic sense, suggesting that they be regarded not as servant and mistress, but as victors in a campaign against the enemy. It is as beahhrodene 'ring-adorned ones' that they march through the horde of an invading army with dauntless courage, carrying their battle-prize-the head of Holofernes-in triumph. Exactly what the meaning of beahhroden might be in this context is difficult to determine. In the Poetic Edda, Helgi's valkyrie-bride, Sigrun, is described as brutJr baugvari~ 'ring-bedecked woman' (HH II 35). In addition to a general sense evoking jeweled adornment, baugvari~ could refer to Sigrun's wearing of bent rings, either spiral or round in form, interlocked or single, which in Anglo-Saxon and Old Icelandic literature are used primarily as treasure or currency (ON baugr; OE beag, pl. beagas).45 But since Sigrun is not dispensing treasure when she is termed baugvari~. or being praised for her physical beauty, but is instead pronouncing doom upon her brother Dag, it is conceivable that the term is meant to denote another aspect of the character. In Old Norse poetic diction, baugr had an additional specialized sense that heightened its heroic coloration. A baugr often signified a circle painted on a shield within which scenes of mythological subjects were depicted. As Snorri relates, through what apparently was a process of synecdoche, baugr eventually came to stand for the shield itself (SkQldsk 48). 46 An instance of baugr as a metaphor for shield appears in HakonarmllL (8.2).47 A term like baugvari~. then, might refer to a woman who either is decorated with shields or who carries a shield, the ring of battle, as an ornament. There is a description of the skjaldmeyjar 'shield-maidens' in Saxo that is particularly relevant to this understanding of the term. Describing the she-captains who fought at Bravalla (Wisna, in particular), Saxo writes: Wisna, a woman, filled with sternness, and a skilled warrior, was guarded by a band of Sclavs: her chief followers were Barri and Gnizli. But the rest of the same company had their bodies covered by little shields, and used very long swords and targets of skiey hue,

34 I Beowulfs Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition which, in time of war, they either cast behind their backs or gave over to the baggage-bearers; while they cast away all protection to their breasts, and exposed their bodies to every peril, offering battle with drawn swords.41

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\

\...

Such a garment worn by the historical warrior-women-a bymie covered with metal shields-would have had a metallic, ornamental radiance, particularly in battle and under the glare of the sun. Archeological finds provide another possible explanation for the terms beahhroden and baugvari(J used to describe females in a martial environment. Worked into the famed sixth-century gold collar from Mone, West Gotland, are two ornamental figures which serve to join the seven rows of gold tubing that comprise this outsized, unusual necklace. One figure is a warrior bearing an embossed shield and helmet, while the second is dressed in a corselet skirt made up of rings placed in four regular rows. Although it is difficult to define its gender, the latter figure wears a headdress of embossed metal that reaches to the shoulders and that suggests a female model as its basis, the ringed corselet skirt being a stylization of a feminine warrior-dress. 49 The use of beahhroden and baugvaritJ as descriptive terms for women who appear in a military environment and are engaged in actions relative to activity on the battlefield strongly suggests that the terms possess a martial connotative value. "Shield-adorned" as an alternative meaning would make appropriate their use as epithets for Sigrun and for both Judith and her maid, since they would describe warrior-dress. As were the historical skjaldmeyjar, these literary female warriors might conceivably have been adoralCd with shields, the jewels of the battlefield, as they marched through the enemy troops. "Shield-adorned" for beahhroden as a descriptive term for Wealhtheow would be highly significant, for it would further associate her with the warrior-figures. Like folccwen, beaghroden would be charged with martial associations. Other descriptive and identifying terms to be examined in the forthcoming chapters likewise carry a semantic force that imbues the queen with a military significance. And although Heorot's queen does not appear on the battlefield as do the characters mentioned above, the figure of a female warrior bearing a drinking vessel does appear in a banqueting environment in Old Norse heroic poetry. Freyja and the valkyries have as one of their functions precisely such an activity. Wealhtheow 's relationship with the remaining female warrior of AngloSaxon epic poetry is of a more general nature than her association with Elene and Judith. While Cynewulf's Juliana also possesses a radiant physical appearance, her brilliance lacks the metallic quality associated with military adornment, a marked feature of Wealhtheow's physical makeup

..

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Wealhlheow and Heroic Tradition I 35

and that of Judith and Elene. As will be discussed below, Juliana's radiance is more luminous; yet even this luminosity has martial associations, particularly with the valkyries. One hesitates to assign the warrior-woman role to the Christian saint. Like Wealhtheow, Juliana neither sets out on a military campaign leading her comitatus as does Elene, nor brandishes a sword to slay the enemy as does Judith. The tortures and humiliations she undergoes are not heroic features, but are details found in the trials of other saints.50 Furthermore, although she does engage in single combat (a heroic commonplace), it does not entail the physical agony that Beowulf, for example, undergoes in contesting with Grendel and Grendel's mother. In the Demon, Juliana battles a foe not of the flesh, but of the spirit and the mind. And her weapons are words. If, however, one conceives of a battle for spiritual salvation as viable subject matter for a heroic poem and rhetoric as a means of battle, then Juliana can be perceived as a triumphant warriormaid. She confronts her antagonist in pam engan hofe 'the narrow place' (532•), a suitable setting for heroic encounter. On God's command, the heroine grasps her antagonist, binds him in fetters-bonds which he is powerless to break (433-434•, 534b-53&)-and does not release him until he has revealed his true identity, hi6 kinship, his method of perverting souls, and has recognized her as on ferpe fr6d 'wise in spirit' and incapable of being corrupted (547'>-55&). The wisdom that enables Juliana to best the Demon is one trait that the Christian saint shares with Wealhtheow, Judith, and Elene. Juliana is g/eaw 'wise' and dear to God (131•). She has superiority and fortitude of mind . From the narrative's opening, she is described as bearing a halge treow 'holy pledge' in her spirit (29-), and the fear of God pervades her thoughts. She is gemyndig of his will and powers (601 b-602•). This mental tenacity, characterized by Heliseus as obstinacy (wiperhycgendre) and by Heliseus and Africanus as dolwillen 'folly', is precisely what assures her victory over the Demon. Finally, like the other characters under discussion, Juliana is eloquent. In her struggle against her adversaries, her speeches progress from forsenic argument to evangelical utterances. And her oratorical skill surpasses that of even Elene and the women of the Beowulf Codex. In the course of this examination of the Anglo-Saxon epic heroines and the Beowulfian queen, certain traits-wisdom, acumen, and eloquencehave repeatedly appeared as prominent constituents of Wealhtheow 's character and those of the female warriors, indicating that all four characters were in part shaped in the same mold. Yet oddly enough, the qualities found in the females of the epics are also attributable to the Maxims I queen. She too is wise, clear-minded, and rhetorically proficient. Unless

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36 I Beowulf's Wealhlheow and the Valkyrie Tradition

the Maxims I queen may also somehow be classed as a warrior-figure, this correspondence of traits would seem to imply that all renderings of noblewomen in Anglo-Saxon poetry conventionally included these attributes as part of the basic characterization, regardless of genre or narrative role, and that uniqueness of character must therefore be sought in other elements . Significant features do separate the Maxims I queen from Wealhtheow and the company of female warrior-saints: first, she does not share their radiant physical appearance. The epithets goldhroden and beahhroden (beaghroden) and the formulaic phrases golde gehyrsted and golde gefratewod, with their specialized senses indicating adornment of martial dress, unite Wealhtheow only with the warrior-women. Second, the note of battle suggested by goldhroden and beahhroden is also present in folccwen, for its masculine equivalent, folccyning, contextually signifies chieftains of invading armies and brings Wealhtheow in close harmony with the gu&wen Elene. In addition to sharing these affinities of physical appearance and conceptual similarities in roles, the four women are consistently placed in a public environment-a council chamber, a court, a banqueting hall-where they address a gathering of warriors. Here, too, Wealhtheow and Elene have a stricter relationship. Their discourse is formulaically constructed, with speeches that are parallel in kind (indirect discourse), in matter (thanksgiving to God), in vocabulary, and in versification. These are not slight similarities, if one considers the difference in the nature of the narratives and the imbalance in the amount of storytelling space given to the characters. Beowulf, primarily a panegyric, recounts the adventures and praises the virtue of the greatest Scandinavian heroking; of necessity the demands of the narrative place Wealhtheow in a secondary position in the hierarchy of characters and allot only a few lines to her depiction. Elene, Judith, and Juliana, on the other hand, are heroines and, as such, are the continual focus of narratives whose principal purj:>ose, after all, is to recount their stories. The authors of the Christian epics are therefore able to be prodigal in the use of descriptive epithet. Cynewulf, for example, can liberally use three epithets-gu&wen, sigecwen, peodcwen-to distinguish the military and political status of his queen, whereas the Beowulf poet must select one-folccwen. For him each epithet must do double or triple duty, so that he can suggest aspects of the character that the exigencies of the narrative prohibit him from recounting directly. A further point to be considered in the examination of the qualities of the Anglo-Saxon epic female characters concerns the resemblance they bear in attribute and role to the valkyrie-figures in Old Norse heroic poetry. Baugvari6 and beahhroden are but two of the several terms that denote

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Wealhtheow and Heroic Tradition I 37

'

parallel physical traits in the characters of both literatures. GuJlvaritJ 'goldbedecked' (HH II 45) and margullin mar 'maiden richly decked with gold' (HHv 26), for example, are conceptual equivalents to goldhroden, go/de gehyrsted, golde gefratewod, terms describing Wealhtheow, Elene, and Judith. Brightness and radiance of physical presence, in fact, are primary attributes of the valkyrie-brides of the Poetic Edda. In addition to being gullvaritJ, baugvaritJ, and margullin mar, the battle-maids are bi{Jrt ( brynio 'bright in bymie' (Gr(p 15), solbiQrt 'sun-bright' (HH II 45), and biartlitutJ 'of clear brilliant hue of countenance' (HHv 7), a tet1n that evokes the blachleor 'fair cheeks' of Judith's servant, and the wliteseyne 'brilliant countenance' of Juliana. The lucency characteristic of the Nordic figures is a vital feature of Judith, who is beorht magtJ 'bright maiden' (Jud 58, 254) and has the shining brilliance of the sun about her. She is alfscinu 'shining like an elf', or 'elfin-bright', a term that possibly refers to a class of elf-the light-elves, the ljosalfar of Old Norse mythology-reportedly fairer than the sun itself (Gylf 17).51 Paradoxically, it is the most Christian of the Anglo-Saxon female warriors, Juliana, who is most like the valkyries in being distinguished by epithets expressing the idea of sunshine and the brightness of the sun. In a passage original with Cynewulf, in fact, Juliana becomes luminosity itself: "Min se swetesta sunnan scima, Juliana! Hwret, J>u glrem hafast, ginfreste giefe, geogu~hades bla:d!" (166-168)52 ("My sweetest shining of the sun, Juliana! What radiance you have, generous grace, glory of youth!")

Glam 'radiance' functions as an intensifier for sunnan scima. Elsewhere, Juliana is called sunsciene 'the sun-bright one',53 a term allied conceptually with solbi{Jrt 'the sun-bright one', an epithet for Sigrun in the Helgi lays (HH II 45) ..s4 lbere is, moreoever, a resemblance in action between Juliana and Odin's maids. It will be remembered that when first encountering his formidable opponent, the Demon (the sinning pegn) is seized by the warrior-saint and becomes physically paralyzed-"powerless to resist"-as if chained in shackles:

"pu me rerest saga, hu pu gedyrstig purh deop gehygd wurde pus wigprist ofer eall wifa cyn, pret pu mec J>us freste fetrum gebunde, reghwres orwigne." (43Qb-434•)

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38 I Beowulf's WealhlMow and tM Valkyrie Tradition ("Tell me first how you, daring through deep thought, became thus bold in battle beyond all races of women, so that you might bind me thus, fast in fetters, powerless to resist in every way.")

As will be seen in the following chapter, the fettering of warriors is a function of Odin's valkyries. The boldness and resoluteness of mind exhibited by Juliana are also attributes of the valkyrie-figures. Elsewhere in the poem, the Demon testifies that neither patriarch nor prophet had ever engaged him in combat as jJriste 'boldly' as had the maid, none had laid bonds upon him as "boldly" as she (bealdlice bennum bilegde, 519), none was more relentless or "bolder" in thought (jJristran ge]x>htes ne pweorhtimbran, 549). These qualities of severity of mind, tenacity of purpose, and courage are components of Elene's and Judith's personalities as well. They are, moreover, attributes that belong to another battle-maid, the hartJugt'Jictman 'hard-minded woman' Brynhild (Gr£p 27), who enters the battlefield b{Jll, f brynio 'bold, in her byrnie' (Sigsk 37; Heir 3). The status of the Anglo-Saxon epic heroines in their respective narratives is also of interest, for it resembles that of the valkyrie-brides. Juliana's position in the narrative as a spokesman and instrument of God, for instance, is an appropriate one for the conventional saint-type: she stands on a plane midway between the human and the divine, used by men for help and intercession (696, 716) and by God as "chosen" to effect his will (605, 613). This office, however, is analogous to the authority held in Germanic mythology by those divinities whom.Grimm classifies as halfgoddesses,ss a generic group of half-mortal, half-supernatural beings called , itis in Old High German,,ides in Old English, and dis, plural disir in Old Norse. s6 Of secondary rank, neither wives nor daughters of gods, their authority was that they were at once "handmaids" to the gods and sources of revelation to men. In Nordic heroic literature, they appear as human maidens, born of royal or heroic families, with supernatural powers and attributes. "Highborn" and "chosen of the gods," they serve as intermediaries between men and the deity, and their primary requisite for the office is "wisdom," for they function as advisers, guides, and arrangers of destinies. s7 The valkyrjur 'choosers of the slain' are of this class. ss That they form an elite group selected by Odin and set apart from the other female figures is stressed in appellations used to identify them: they are known as n{Jnnur Herjans 'nuns of Herjan' (a name for Odin) and {Jskmeyjar 'adopted or chosen' maids'. Their function is to appear on the battlefield and act upon Odin's wish, choosing and determining the fate of warriors and awarding victory (Gylf36). . Juliana's association with these Germanic battle-divinities has already been noted by Gerould, who compares the Christian warrior-saint to a

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Wealhtheow and Heroic Tradition I 39

"barbarian goddess . . . strong to do battle and triumphant in victory... '9 But this intermediary status of "chosen handmaid" and determiner of human destiny is applicable not only to Juliana, but to Judith and Elene as well. The female warriors are functionaries, chosen servants of God. Judith, in fact, is called Nergendes peowen 'servant or handmaiden of the Saviour', at the moment she is about to strike oft" Holofernes's head. And even though Elene is the emissary of her son, the emperor, in actuality she is on God's business, for it is his truth she struggles to have revealed. Juliana's action during her night-struggle with the Demon is analogous to that of the battle-maids in combat. At the command of God, she binds and fetters the foe and pronounces his fate (see above, pp. 37-38). This is not to imply that either Cynewulf or the anonymous poet of Judith was consciously creating a combination saint and pagan half-goddess type, although the rhetorical association emphasizing the similarities between Christian and pagan priesthood had already been made by Saint Paul in connection with Jesus (Heb. 4: 14-15, 5: 10). Rather, the parallels suggest that this female type was so embedded in Germanic heroic poetry that, in its depiction, religious or national boundaries were ignored. This was evidently the case in Old Norse poetic tradition. In Slcflldskaparmal (31), Snorri counsels the skalds to identify their female characters through epithets that give them a supernatural and martial dimension: Kona er ok kend v1~ allar dsynjur e& valkyrjur e& nornir e& dlsir 'woman is also kenned by the names of goddesses, or valkyries, or norns, or dfsir' (or, as Brodeur translates the last term, "women of supernatural kind"). 60 And earlier in the chapter be advises the poets to refer to gull ok gimsteina 'gold and jewels' and gimsteina e& glersteina 'jewels or agates', as well as to terms alluding to '>conduct, or property, or family" in their characterizations of females . Old Norse heroic poetry follows these stylistic prescriptions, for the generic norm is the appearance of a brightly adorned noblewoman, metaphorized into a vaIJcyrie and/or a dfs. No comparable ars poetica for Anglo-Saxon heroic poetry exists, and any assumptions regarding the poets' stylistic conventions must derive from an empirical investigation of the extant literature. Because the AngloSaxon poetic corpus is so limited, and because of the complexity and diversity of the valkyrie-figure itself, these assumptions will by nature be provisional. Nonetheless, the examination of Anglo-Saxon prose and poetic documents to be undertaken in the following chapter focuses on the part played by the valkyrie-figure in the Anglo-Saxon literary milieu and evaluates the Christian female warriors of Anglo-Saxon heroic poetry as . possible counterparts (as their corresponding epithets and traits would suggest) of Odin's chosen maids. The results of this examination invite a close investigation (through a

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40 I Beowulf's Wealhlheow and the Valkyrie Tradition

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lexical analysis of epithets) of Wealhtheow's connection with the valkyriefigure of Old Norse heroic poetry, which may at this point appear to be merely tangential. What is immediately apparent, however, is that Heorot's \ queen bears the physical and character traits that are the properties of the ~ valkyrie-brides. Like Sigrun of the Helgi lays, she is beaghroden, and she owns an exceptional necklace that is compared to the Brfsinga men, the jewel that belongs to the love- and battle-goddess, Freyja. And as will be discussed below, the last element of her name, -peow 'servant', when compounded in proper names, usually refers to a person devoted either to . ban ideal or to a god. In addition, ~eall!!heow's roles as a drink-hearing wel~omin& person.: age and ~.Jin a11thority tig11a:e whg exacts obedience from the dryhtguman --··a ify her-with the chief valkyrie, while Heorot itself, as well as the reveling chosen warriors, evokes the banquet of the einherjar at Odin's gilt-shingled Valhalla. Such affinities would not be inappropriate for a character in a Germanic he1-oic poem, a genre whose omnipresent female figure is the warrior-maid.

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3 The Valkyrie-Figure in Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse Literature pa bra li6ma

af LogafiQllom, enn af )1eim li6mom leiptrir qv6mo; hdvar1 und hialmom a Himinvanga Brynior v6ro )1eira bl60i stocnar. Enn af geirom geislar st60o.

- HelgalcvitJa Hundingsbana I

Hlude wa:ran hy, la, hlude, l5a hy ofer J>one hla:w rida.n, wzran anmode, l5a hy ofer land ridan. ..... ... . ..... .... J1zr ~a mihtigan wif hyra mzgen beraeddon and hy gyllende garas szndan;

- For a Sudden Stitch (Then light broke forth from Logafell, and from those lights ftashes leaped forth. [The maidens rode] sublime under helmets on Heaven's plain; their bymies were splattered with blood, and beams stood forth from the spear-poiJlts.)

(Loud were they, lo, loud, when they rode over the banow. Bold were they, when they rode over the land .. . . when the mighty women made ready their strength, and they sent forth screaming spears.)

Figures corresponding to valkyries may be found in various IndoEuropean cultures, where they have been associated with the Irish war-goddesses, the Vedic Divo duhita, the Teutonic idisi, and certain twin sky-goddesses of ancient Greek lore.2 In Old Norse literature, there are essentially two distinct and antagonistic perceptions of valkyries: they are seen both as fierce, elemental beings and as benevolent guardians. This bifurcated vision may reflect a deeper understanding of the war-maids as representing differing concepts of the worship of Odin and the nature of the afterlife. 3 What religious functions these battle-maids might perform for the hero who either journeys to the realm of the gods or remains as an active corpse in the grave mound (as does Helgi Hundingsbana) are obscure. A complete inquiry into the motif exceeds the bounds of this study, for it would demand excurses into folk belief and religious practices. The concerns here are literary. The ensuing discussion, therefore, will consider the valkyries as literary rather than as religious figures, and will examine only those elements that might have bearing on the construction of Wealhtheow 's character in light of the valkyrie tradition. For the most part, Old Norse poetic tradition conceives of the valkyries 41

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42 I Beowulfs WealhtMow and tM Valkyrie Tradition

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as noble, dignified women; they are generally pictured either astride their horses in full armor, riding through the air over land or sea, or welcoming the einherjar to Valhalla with cup or horn outstretched. In the skaldic poems-Hdkonarmal, Hrafnsmal, and Eirllcsmal-and in the mythological poems of the Edda, the valkyries are entirely supernatural with few individualizing attributes. 4 With the exception of Fg;yia, whose qualities and functions are complex and who will be discussed in Chapter 4, the characters are stereotypes. Stripped of their religious potency, they have been reduced to serve purely as Odin's functionaries, and whatever narrative weight they carry comes from associative allusion rather than from action. In Hdkonarmal, the figure appears in shining armor on the battlefield with the "thoughtful features" that distinguish those who arrange destinies. In Hrafnsm/Jl, the valkyrie has shining eyes, is wise, fair-skinned, and golden-haired; these traits romanticize the physical and mental brilliance of the martial maidens. And in Eirfksmal, she is no more than a dream-figure, a symbol of a portentous event in Odin's mind. In essence, the war-maids have been neutralized from characters of volition to elements of heroic machinery.' 1be valkyries of .the Eddie heroic lays are distinctly different in kind. They are legendary personages and, as such, have idiosyncratic personalities. The heroines of these poems-Sigrun, Svava, Brynhild, and Gudrun (a valkyrie referentially)-are figures of the royal.court, with ties and obligations to a worldly environment. Sigrun, for example, is caught between her loyalty to her brother and her loyalty to her husband (HH II 3038), and Brynhild must either obey Alli's command to marry Gunnar or battle her brother in defiance of that wish (Sigsk 35-41). At the same time, the valkyrie-brides (so called because of their erotic attachment to the hero) have supernatural powers (they are not limited by spatial and temporal considerations). They prophesy as did Tacitus's Veleda and Caesar's matres familiae; 6 and they determine the outcome of central issues that concern the Germanic warrior society-battle and the warrior's afterlife. In all respects, their roles are consonant with the subject matter of the poems-heroic deeds in battle. Variously called skjaldmeyjar 'shield-maidens' and hjalmvitr 'helmetcreatures', terms that describe their appearances as armed warriors bearing shield and helmet, they possess a physical beauty that is emphasized by epithets dealing with gold ornamentation of helmet and bright bymie (discussed in Chapter 2). In addition, they are wise, articulate, and stately. Although their attitude regarding the hero is not ambivalent, their relationship with him is. They are simultaneously the force that propels him into the action that will ensure immortal fame and the agency that brings about his destruction. The blood that stains their bymies is emblematic of the

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TM Valkyrie-Figure in Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse I 43

high cost of heroic identity. As the lexical analysis of Chapter 4 will demonstrate, it is with this class of sublime noblewomen that Wealhtheow is allied. In contrast to this radiant, courtly warrior-figure, Old Norse literature records what is thought to be an earlier conception of the valkyrie as an elemental force, a fierce battle-demon.7 These grim war-spirits were of southem. Ge_~~ic_ oriJiJl. The location was evidently of some importance, for even when the figure is poeticized into the gold-adorned noblewoman discussed above, it retains its southern origin as an identifying mark. Thus, one finds recurring descriptive phrases for Odin's battlemaids-drosir sutJranar 'southern maids', sul!ran 'the southern one', dfsir sutJranar 'southern dfs' -in V c>lundarkvitJa and the Helgi lays. 8 Part of this sinister, southern group are the idisi 'divine ladies' of the tenth-century First Merseburg Charm, the title-in this case, as in Old English and Old Norse-referring to the status of the creatures, rather '" than to their behavior. The charm presents these "divine ladies" as baleful war-spirits, who bind and fetter the host and, in essence, inflict a kind of paralytic terror upon the warriors: Eirls sazun idisi, sazun hera duoder. suma hapt heptidun, suma heri lczidun, suma clubodun umbi cuoniouuidi; insprinc haptbandun, unuar uigandun.9 (In days gone by, the idisi sat and they sat here and yonder. Some made firm the fetters, some hindered the host, and some picked apart the chains; escape from fetters, escape from foes. )

-

·. Binding and fettering, as well as engendering battle paralysis, are considered to be functions of Odin's valkyries. One of the war-god's maids, in fact, is called Herfic>turr 'War-fetter', or 'Warrior-fetter'. Resonances of these grim malevolent figures appear in several Old Norse documents: the darker dream woman who comes to the hero "covered in men's blood," in Gfsla saga (chap. 24) is of this class, as is the cult-figure Thorgerth Holgabruth (or Horgatroll), the troll-like (yet beautiful) dfs who delights in human sacrifice (Joms 32-33), and the three valkyries who weave a bloody death for the hero-king in DarratJarljo~. In the Helgi legend, the destructive battle-figures are the corrupt, lustful giantess Hrimgerth, in HelgakvitJa Hjc>rvar&sonar, who vies with the "gold-adorned" Svava for possession of the Scylding king, and the sword- and helmetbearing, byrnie-clad queen Olof of Hrolfs saga /era/ca (chaps. 6-7). Occasionally, the Old Norse documents juxtapose the sinister battle• demon with the radiant, courtly figure of the later tradition. Thus, Brynhild is placed in opposition to the giantess (in Heir) , Freyja to Hyndla (in

'I

44 I Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition

Hynd[), Svava to Hrimgerth, and Yrsa to Olof. It is this adversary relationship that Ellis Davidson sees as possibly reflective of two distinctive religious conceptions of the afterlife . 10 In literary terms, however, other governing principles may obtain. The presentation of antagonists of diametrically opposed natures may be indicative of an evolution of character, whereby an idiosyncratic personality, because it either loses its potency or becomes unacceptable within an emerging.narrative form or style, is fragmented in order to accommodate these demands and at the same time retain its original characteristics. It is a process that Olrik and Malone believe to have taken place in the depiction of Olof and Yrsa. 11 The corrupt, cruel valkyrie-figure was invented to assume all the derogatory aspects of Helgi's radiant queen . Resonances of both the grim and the benevolent aspects of the valkyries occur in Anglo-Saxon literature as well, although, for the most part, only the earlier concept of the valkyrie as a baleful war-spirit is easily distinguishable. Walcyrge 'chooser of the slain', the Old English equivalent of ON valkyrja, consistently refers to creatures that were malevolent, destructive, corrupt, and associated with slaughter. Latin equivalents for the term walcyrge (walcyrge, walcrigge) found in Anglo-Saxon glosses an~ vocabularies of the eighth through the eleventh century refer to the Erinyes (Herines, Erinys, Eurynes, Herinis), Allecto, Tisiphone, Parcae, and the Roman goddess of war, Bellona. 12 In the second decade of the eleventh century, walcyrian and wiccan 'witches' are connected as baleful influences on society in Wulfstan's Sermo Lupi ad Anglos (A.D. 1014), which accuses them, in concert with murderers, slayers of kinsmen, and fornicators, of destroying the English· nation. Several years later, Cnut's letter to his subjects places the walcyrean in a similar censurable context. Although walcyrean is usually translated as "sorceresses," there is no indication in either Anglo-Saxon text that the creatures being referred to are not the baleful war-spirits. 13 The barbarous nature of the valkyrie is also documented in the Beowulf Codex. In the prose catalog of marvels, The Wonders of the East, the battle-figures are associated with the Gorgons . The valkyries, the narrator informs the reader, were begotten in Gorgoneus, 14 and apparently have the horrific eyes of the Gorgons, for earlier in the travelogue (in recounting the marvels of Lentilbelsinea, a location near the Red Sea), the narrator describes indigenous beasts that have eahta fet 'eight feet' and walcyrigean eagan 'the eyes of the valkyrie' . 15 The description not only evokes the image of Odin's eight-legged steed, Sleipnir, but also brings to mind the picture of the sinister female rider advancing into battle, the sight of whom strikes the warrior with terror. The spectacle of baleful female warriors advancing for attack is pre-

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The Valkyrie-Figure in Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse I

45

served in one of the extant Anglo-Saxon pagan charms, "For a Sudden Stitch," as a metaphor for a sudden, unexpected attack of physical pain: Hlude wzran hy, la, hlude Oa hy ofer pone hlzw ridan, wzran anmode, l5a hy ofer land ridan. Scyld Ou Oe nu, pu l5ysne niO genesan mote. Ut, lytel spere, gif her inne sie! Stod under linde, under leohtum scylde, pzr l5a mihtigan wif hyra mzgen berzddon and hy gyllende garas szndan; ic him oOerne eft wille szndan, fteogende ftane forane togeanes. (3-11) (Loud were they, lo, loud, when they rode over the barrow. Bold were they, when they rode over the land. Shield thyself now, thou might escape this violent attack. Out little spear, if here inside thou be! I stood under the linden, under the light shield, when the mighty women made ready their strength, and they sent forth screaming spears. I will send back another, a flying arrow against them.)

The actions of the mihtigan wif-the swiftness of their approach, the accompanying din of their spears, their appearance over an elevation of landand the fierceness of their mind (anmode) are properties that answer to Odin's valkyries. Odin's battle-maids descend from mountains and ride through clouds (images that reflect their association with weather) with flashing spears and clamoring weapons. 16 In another Anglo-Saxon charm, the female squadron is a metaphor for swarming bees: Sitte ge, sigewif, sigaO to eorpan! Nzfre ge wilde to wuda fteogan. Beo ge swa gemindige mines godes, swa biO manna gehwilc metes and epeles. (9-12) (Descend, victorious women, settle to earth! Never fty wild to the woodlands. Be you as mindful of my goods as each man is of food and homeland.)

Chadwick and Ellis Davidson identify as valkyries the mihtigan wif mustering their troops and (as do others) the sigewif 'victorious women' .17 This latter reference, however, suggests a more benevolent aspect of the warrior-maids, one that evokes the dignified women of the Helgi lays who ride above land and sea and alight to protect the hero, and it thus provides the one possible exception to the prevailing view of the valkyries in AngloSaxon literature as baneful.

11

46 I Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition The Beowulf poet follows the customary portrayal of the valkyrie as a deadly battle-demon in his characterization of Grendel's mother. As Chadwick argues, the grim aspect of the valkyries is epitomized in AngloSaxon poetry by the walgiist wiifre 'roaming slaughter-spirit'. 18 Certainly, the epithets used to describe the battling giantess support Chadwick's statement. The brimwylf 'she-wolf of the sea' has formidable strength. She is a merewif mihlig 'mighty sea-woman', a mihlig miinscatsa 'mighty evil ravager', a micle mearcstapa 'great boundary-stalker', and she delights in camage-she is a 'honor, glorying in the carrion' (atol iise wlanc). Her protective covering is analogous to helm and byrnie, since Beowulfs sword "sang out its gt~y war-song" as it clanged against her head (15201522•). Moreover, she is ambisexual, as are the skjaldmeyjar whom Saxo describes as possessing the "bodies of women .. . [but] the souls of men." 19 Grendel's mother has the 'likeness of a woman' (idese onlicnes, 1351•), but is characterized as a sinnigne secg 'sinful man' (1379-), and several of her pronominal references are in the masculine (1260, 1392, 1394). Finally, the force of her surprise attack on the hall, as well as the terrifying panic it creates in the warriors, reasonably identifies the ides iigliicwif '[divine] lady, monstrous warrior-woman' with the idisi of the Merseburg charm and the dfsir of Old Norse literature. As a complement to Grendel's mother, the Beowulf poet presents the earlier view of the valkyrie as a grim slaughter-spirit in another, more provocative guise. Yet even when he metamorphizes the figure into the splendid creature-as he does in the rendering of the goldhroden Modthrytho-he retains the malevolent traits of the early battle-demon: nznig pzt dorste deor genepan swzsra gesma, nefne sinfreil, pzt hire an dzges eagum starede; ac him wzlbende weotode tealde handgewriJ>ene; ~ seop&n wzs zfter mundgripe mece gepinged, pzt hit sceidenmzl scyran m0ste, cwealmbealu cy&m. Ne bin swylc cwenlic peaw idese to efnanne, peah & hio znlicu sy, pztte freo&lwebbe feores onszce zfter ligetome leofne mannan. (1933-1943) (No brave one among her own champions, save the great lord, dared to venture that-to gaze on her openly with his eyes; but he could reckon fetters of the slain would be ordained for him, woven by hand; quickly thereupon, after the hand-seizure, the sword was appointed, so that the damascened blade was obliged to settle it, to make known

•

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The Vallcyrie-Figure in Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse I 41 the baleful death. Such is no queenly custom for a lady to perfonn, although she be peerless, that a peace-weaver should exact the life of a beloved man because of·a pretended injury.)

Although her environment is courtly and she herself a freotJuwebbe 'peaceweaver', Modthrytho's weaving of slaughter-bonds is reminiscent of the weaving of chains and twisting of shackles in which the idisi of the Merseburg chann engage, and the paralytic state that grips her victim is analogous to the terror that the idisi generate in theirs. Modthrytho is assuredly a court figure. In contrast to Grendel's mother, who is an abstract rendering of the battle-demon, Modthrytho is a specific personage. She is ides iinlicu 'lady of peerless beauty', and she is goldhroden 'gold-adorned'. Although these characteristics associate her with the later aspect of the valkyrie-figure-the benevolent battle-maid in her courtly environment-in the poem's formal arrangement, Modthrytho must be considered primarily a baleful valkyrie-figure in the tradition of the idisi. A distinct parallel drawn between the regal manslayer and the "evilravager" Grendel's mother, emphasizes this bond. In accord with the structural pattern in the poem, Modthrytho's sequence (quoted above) is a repetition of an earlier moment of terror, one that, as always with the grim war-spirits, was swift, sudden, and deadly for the warrior, in this instance, for Beowulf's surrogate, Aeschere: COm pi to Heorote, ~r Hring-Dene geond pzt szld swzfun. pa ~r s6na wear6 edhwyrft eorlum, si~an inne fealh Grendles mOdor. W z s se gryre lzssa efne swi micle, swi bi~ mzgpa crzft, wiggryre wifes be w~pnedmen , J>onne heoru bunden, hamere geprlien, sweord swite fib swin ofer helme ecgum dyhtig andweard scireO. f>i wzs on healle heardecg togen sweord ofer setlum, sidrand manig hafen handa fzst; helm ne gemunde, byman side, pi hine se broga angeat . Heo wzs on ofste, wolde iit panon, fOOre beorgan, pi heo onfunden wzs; bra&: heo z)'elinga inne hzfde fzste befangen, pi heo to fenne gang. Se wzs HrOpgire hzlepa leofost on gesmes hid be szm tweonum, rice randwiga, J>one & heo on rzste ibreat, blzdfzstne beom. Nzs Beowulf ~~r . . . (1279-1299)

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48 I Beowulfs Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition (Then she came to Heorot, where the Ring-Danes slept throughout the hall. 'Then immediately, there was reversal for the noblemen, when Grendel's mother penetrated into [the hall]. The terror, the war-terror of the woman, was lesser [than Grendel's]-just as great as is the strength of maidens compared with a weaponed man when the bound blade, the sword, hammer-forged and shining with gore, strong in its edges, shears through the opposite boar-image cresting the helm. 'Then within the hall, the hardened-edge, the sword was seized from the seat, many a broad shield lifted steady in hand; no one heeded helm or broad byrnie, when the terror seized him. She was in haste, she wanted out from thence, wanted to save her life, when she was discovered; quickly she had seized firmly one of the nobles; then she went out to the fen . He was of heroes in the rank of champion, the dearest to Hrothgar; between the two seas, a mighty shield-warrior, a man established in his glory, whom she had cut down in his bed. Beowulf was not there . . . )

The details of both sequences-the doomed beloved champion, the handseizure, the victim's enthrallment, the shearing sword, the personal injury, and the baleful death-all point to similarity in action between the ides aglacwif 'lady, monstrous warrior-woman' and the peerless peace-weaver. There is, moreoever, an element of corruption connected with each character: the cryptic implication of incest in Modthrytho (the sinfrerlajJdttr (chaps. 1-2) present her as a voluptuous, sexually insatiable creature, and, as Vanadfs 'goddess of the Vanir', she is one of the chief divinities among these gods of fruitfulness. According to Gordon, the very name Vanir perhaps carries a sense of "desire" at its root, as in the Latin Venus and ON una 'to enjoy' .21 In fact, all the valkyrie-brides have erotic desire as a dominant trait. An understanding of this characteristic may lie at the root of Aldhelm 's association of concupiscence with the valkyrie when he glosses walcyrie for veneris in De Laude Virginitatis and offers gydene 'goddess' as a synonym.22 Certain aspects of Modthrytho 's persona can be detected in Juliana and Judith. Not far removed from Modthrytho's hand-seizure, for example, is Juliana's grasp of the Demon, the sinning jJegn who finds himself, as

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The Valkyrie-Figure in Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse I 49

already mentioned, doomed and bound in fetters under the battle-maid's hold (260-286; 43Qb-434•). Nor is the damascened 'appointed sword' (mece gep;nged)-the instrument of justice that redresses Modthrytho's injuries-unlike the 'sharp, gleaming sword' (scearpne I fiigum mece) that Judith uses to exact retribution for Holofemes 's outrages (Jud 78b, 1Q4b). ~e difference lies in point of view: the Christian heroines are virtuous; the other, villainous. Yet the nature and effect of their actions upon the characters with whom each interacts are, in essence, those of the fell valkyries. Modthrytho, of course, is not entirely vicious. The poet records her conversion from evil to virtuous queen after her marriage to Offa. And although the character's change of temper exemplifies that found in the , ~ reluctant-bride or tamed-virago motif, 23 it also parallels the evolution of .'? the archetypal figure that Modthrytho is modeled upon, the progression of the fierce war-demon to gold-adorned warrior-queen. The intensity of emotion that turns into desire for revenge in Modthrytho and Grendel's mother and surfaces as perverted eroticism in Freyja's character finds a more complex expression in the behavior of the other Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse warrior-figures. At base, all the female characters under consideration seek gratification. Andersson observes that Brynhild's distinctive characteristic is her "will," her unswerving desire to "satisfy herself," a strength of feeling that surmounts all social pressure and sees as its sole justification its own fulfillment. The warrior-maid's claim on Sigurd is motivated not so much by sexual passion as by her own "claim to distinction." 24 The valkyrie-brides of the Helgi lays exhibit a similar intemperate longing for self-fulfillment. The Sigrun of the second lay of Helgi, for example, will not cease from her wish to be free of Hothbrod, even though the cost of that independence will be heavy. As Sigrun treads the battlefield strewn with the dead bodies of her kin, she expresses not sorrow but satisfaction that her desire has been realized (HH // 25-29). An intemperate desire to have a wish fulfilled is a dominant emotional trait of the Anglo-Saxon epic heroines as well, although it is not couched in erotic terms. Elene's attitude toward possessing the nails of the cross is a case in point. After the cross has been found, Elene is seized by an uncontrollable longing to find the nails: Mee )>rera nregla gen on fyrht5sefan fyrwet mynga)>. Wolde ic )>ret t5u funde )>a & in fold an gen deope bedolfen dieme sindon, heolstre behyded. A min hige sorgat5, reonig reotet5, ond gerestet5 no

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SO I Beowulfs Wealhlheow and the Valkyrie Tradition zrj>an me gefylle fzder zlmihtig, wereda wealdend, willan minne, ni& nergend, .,ara nzgla cyme, halig of hieMa. ( 1077"-l 08&)

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(Still my inquiring intellect reminds me of the nails. I wish you to find them, those that are still deeply and secretly buried in the earth, hidden in darlc.ness. My soul shall ever sorrow, grieve in weariness, never rest, until Father Almighty, Ruler of Hosts, Saviour of Men, the Holy One from on High, fulfill my desire through the finding of the nails.)

When her wish is granted, and the nails finally rest in her hands, her sense of gratification approaches a state of ecstasy: pa wzs wopes bring, hat beafodwylm ofer hleor goten, (nalles for tome tearas feollon ofer wira gespon), wuldres gefylled cwene willa. (Then weeping rang out, hot tears gushed forth over her cheeks-not at all from suffering did the tears fall over the fastened wires-the queen's desire had been fulfilled in glory.)

Juliana's ardent religious desire to fulfill God's will and Judith's longing for and satisfaction with the rewards she has yearned for for a long time (345b-34&) are reflective of temperaments that are as excessive in desire as are Elene's and the valkyrie-brides'. Although more decorous in her tone, Wealhtheow similarly expresses intense feeling. The queen's longing for the advent of a nobleman who will rescue her from the evils of Grendel and her response when her willa 'desire' is fulfilled manifest a strength of mind and feeling that are indicative of a desire that will not rest until it is satisfied. In light of the preceding discussion, the valkyrie-figure seems to be as much a part of the Anglo-Saxon literary consciousness as it is of the Old Norse. The glosses, charms, and prose documents clearly depict a figure essentially derived from the early war-spirits of Germanic origin. Resonances of the later concept of the valkyries, exemplified in Old Norse by Freyja and the Svava-Sigrun character of the heroic lays, can be detected in the female warriors of the Anglo-Saxon Christian epics and in Wealhtheow as well. Correspondences in epithets, traits, and action reasonably suggest that the characters of both poetic traditions are constructed from a common type.

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In Beowulf. moreover, as in several Old Norse works, the figure exists both as an abstract battle-demon and as a specific personage in a courtly environment, with the dominant traits of violence and excessive longing or perverted eroticism. The formal relationship between Modthrytho and Grendel's mother, however, differs from the diptych pattern previously noted in Old Norse literature. Whereas in the Nordic works, the grim, baleful figure bears an antithetical relationship to the gold-adorned, courtly one (as in the Svava-Hrimgerth pairing), in Beowulf the two disparate types serve as parallels. The action of the wrelg'iist wii!fre in the first part of the poem is executed in its second part by a haughty noblewoman, a renownedfolces cwen 'queen of the people' . Bc:.£!\_!lse they are parallel in function and nature, collectively Modthry!!t_Q_~- Grendel's mother may form one half ~f a valkyrie-diptych configuration. Each manslayer is opposed to a generous, benevolent female who is her obverse: the wise, even-tempered Hygd makes as stark a contrast to the arrogant, cruel Modthrytho as Heorot's august sovereign does to the gryrelicne grundhyrde 'terrifying protector of the depths' . It has been generally believed that these binary character formations were intended to contrast the violent and benevolent figures, and hence render their separateness more distinct. Recently, however, Eliason set forth the argument that Modthrytho and Hygd are the same personality, but at different stages of life. The Modthrytho digression is thus interpreted as an expository account of Hygd's development from an arrogant homicide to a wise, generous, and brilliant queen who wears the Geatish crown, and the extreme qualities and traits that each possesses (e.g., generosityniggardliness, wisdom-arrogance) are seen as components of a unified • personality. 25 This device of characterization recalls-although it is not identical to-the device of fragmentation that Malone and Olrik propose was employed in the delineation of the Olof-Yrsa personality. It is not inconceivable, then, that as a balance for the Hygd-Modthrytho pairing, the polarized figures of Grendel's mother and Wealhtheow might also be a stylistic rendering of a single persona. As briefly remarked upon in the previous chapters (and to be noted again in the ensuing discussion), the diametrically opposed qualities and traits of the characters, rather than drawing them apart, act like the opposing poles of magnets and attract the ruling monster of the depths into a fusion with the queen of the high hall. It is understandable that the valkyrie-diptych does not appear in AngloSaxon literature outside Beowulf. since the Anglo-Saxon female character is an isolated, came.o figure, advancing momentarily into the spotlight and then receding out of view. The dual figure does appear, however, as an interesting configuration of twin divinities in the earliest extant evidence of the valkyrie tradition in England. Archeological finds from third-century

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52 I Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie 1Tadition Britain have disclosed what is believed to be the first indication of the worship of war-divinities by the English. Two excavations at Housesteads at the site of Hadrian's Wall (the first during the nineteenth century and the second in the 1930s) brought to light three ex-votos from Roman times (A.D. 222-235), evidently erected by Teutonic soldiers from Lower Germany who served as mercenaries in the Roman legions. The first two altars were erected to the male divinity Marti Thingso 'Mars Thineseus' and to the Alaesiagis, Bede and Fimmilene; the third, to the Alaisiagis, Baudihille 'Ruler of Battle' and Friagabi 'Giver of Freedom' . 26 In his study of the val.kyries, Krappe (concurring with Siebs) identifies the male figure as a war-god (he is armed and accompanied by a bird, possibly a goose or swan, and two hovering genii) and the female figures as his companions, in their own right twin goddesses of war and battle. The image on the tablets brings to mind the lines from Ulf Uggason's Hwdrtzpa, quoted in Skaldskaparmal (2.14): par hykk sigrunni svinnum I sylgs valkyrjur fylgja I heilags tafns ok hrafna 'I observe the val.kyries and the ravens following the wise granter of victory [Odin] to the drink of the holy sacrifice'. 27 For Krappe, the alaisiages lie at, or very near to, the "root of the Valkyrie myth." Of dioscuric origin, the Germanic counterpart to the Mediterranean "children of the sky," the battle-maids were originally "weathergoddesses," and apparently were worshiped in pairs. Like the other male and female dioscuric figures, the valkyries are associated with fertility, determine victory on land and sea, appear in accompaniment with lightning or other celestial phenomena, and assume a swan shape when they appear in animal form-all of which argues for a val.kyrie-dioscuri identification. 28 Moreover, Siebs 's name-etymology of alaisiages- 'the strongly storming ones', 'the strongly agitating ones' -derived from Gothic aisjan and evidenced in ON eisa 'to shower down embers', 'to dash about in the waves', 'to hurry, rush'-and the appearance in Old Norse literature of Helgi 's valkyrie-brides riding through clouds with blood-dew failing from their horses' manes (HHv) or accompanied by thunder and rays of lightning (HH I), Krappe feels in large part confirm his conclusions. 29 From the beginning the divinities were inseparably connected with war. It is Krappe's hypothesis that there was a collapse in authority of the skyand war-god, that the female goddesses either were associated with a skygod who was also a war-god, or allied first with the sky-god (*Tiwaz, Tyr), but when the war-god (Wodan, Odin) assumed his authority, they then became the latter's companions and emissaries. 30 As a further indication of the collapse of the authority of the war- and weather-deities, Krappe points to the half-goddesses Thorgerth Holgabruth and her sister, Irpa. Thorgerth and Irpa were both war-goddesses and weather-deities, as

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is evidenced by their aquatic environment. Objects of a flourishing cult that developed around Gudbrandsdal and Trtitndelag, they were regarded as guardians by the Jarls of Halogaland. 3 1 Fareyinga panr and Njals saga describe their temple, situated in a wood, as being bright, beautiful, and filled with gold and silver, and the goddesses themselves as wearing gold rings around their arms. Whenever a devotee of Thorgerth pleased her, she would offer him the gold ring. Also included within the treasure-temple was an image of a gold-adorned Thor. 32 Krappe allies the Norse trinity with the three divinities who inspired the Housesteads altars. These artifacts thus would testify to the emerging worship in England of the battledeities that provided a religious rationale for the warlike Teutonic tribes. 33 The figure of a female battle-spirit-whether twin, single, or in a groupwas a phenomenon of Anglo-Saxon culture spanning eight centuries from the female friezes of the third-century tablets to the slaughter figures of the glosses. As is suggested by meanings of their names-"Ruler of Battle," , "Giver of Freedom"-the nature of the twin figures on the altars is ambivalent-a nature that is both benevolent and destructive, that at once showers honors upon the warrior and robs him of his life. By the time of Wulfstan's Senno Lupi in the eleventh century, however, there seems little doubt that the valkyrie was viewed as pernicious: . . . and her syndan myltestran and beammyrOran and fule forlegene horingas manege, and her syndan wiccan and wa:lcyrian, and her syndan ryperas and reaferas and woroldstruderas, and hra:dest is to cwe}Jenne, mana and misda:da ungerim ealra. 34 (. . . and here are harlots and infanticides and many foul adulterous fornicators, and here are witches and valkyries, and here are plunderers and robbers and despoilers, and to sum up quickly, a countless number of all crimes and misdeeds .)

A Christian poet working within the Germanic heroic tradition that had the valkyrie-figure as one of its conventional character types would undoubtedly be constrained to use some care in selecting characterizing details for delineations of his warrior-saints or sympathetic queens. About midway between the third and eleventh centuries, another image of the valkyrie began to surface. Archeological artifacts of the North indicate that the gender of Odin's emissaries on the battlefield had changed. His female companions had been displaced by dancing youths, as the figures on the Sutton Hoo helmet and Torslunda dies would suggest. 35 Memorial stones and pendants represent the battle-maid transformed into a

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54 I Beowulrs Wealhlheow and the Valkyrie 1Tadition welcoming figure at the courtyard at Valhalla: she is silver-gilt, with cup or drinking-horn outstretched, the vessel itself emblematic of the joy, fulfillment, and abundance the warrior will enjoy in Odin's heavenly abode. To what extent the welcoming drink-bearing figure on the gravestones and pendants was an accurate representation of Old Norse religious belief or a graphic illustration of the valkyrie-figure formulaically constructed by the skalds is indeterminable. Yet some connection certainly exists between the celebrations at Valhalla memorialized in stone and the merrymaking of the einherjar, with the ever-present drink-bearing female figure, recounted by the poets. One of the indelible images in Beowulf-almost as impressive as Grendel's arm suspended from Heorot's rafters-is a gold-adorned Wealhtheow entering the banqueting hall bearing a ful 'cup'. 1be occasion is a welcoming feast for Beowulf. Her appearance and behavior are expressive of the royal largess and hospitality of Heorot. And although one cannot ally the queen with the figure of the gravestones on these grounds alone, these and other associative details already discussed-her resplendence, her stature, her necklace-make her iconographically (so to speak) reminiscent of Odin's warrior-maids. In addition, there is a spiritual force that surrounds her which calls to mind the authority of the Nordic half-goddesses, an association prompted by the dramatic event of her initial sequence, her action within it, and the vessel she carries. Although OE ful has the general meaning of "goblet" or "cup," ON full denotes a vessel used at heathen sacrificial feasts (blot) over which sacred oaths were pledged. The Norse term had spiritual potency and, according to Gr~nbech , conveyed the ideas of "fulness," "abundance," "a state of being filled"-in essence a state of completeness.36 The Beowulfianful (one of the poem's six terms generically denoting 'drinking vessel')37 makes nine textual appearances (in both simplex and compound forms), once in a kenning for sea (ofer ytJaful 'over the cup of the waves', 1208b), once referring to the toasting cup with which Hrothgar and Hrothulf drink to each other (1015•), once to a toasting cup emptied by Beowulf (1025•), and six times as the vessel borne by Wealhtheow, in four instances explicitly denoting an oath-cup (615b, 619-, 624b, 628b, 1169-, 1192•). Without exception, the term is found only in the ceremonial environment of the first and second banquet scenes and, barring its metaphorical use, is strongly associated with ritualized behavior. Thus, its meaning in Beowulfian context appears to coincide with that of ON full. At the blot, for example-the most important being those of Yule Eve and funeral feasts38-the full was brought forward, consecrated, a vow uttered over it, and the contents of the vessel drained. A description (one of several) of the ritual at a heathen Yule feast exists in Hakonar saga gotJa (chap. 14):

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The Vallcyrie-Figure in Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse I 55 Skyldi full um eld bera, en sa er ge~i veizluna ok hQtbingi var, J>a skyldi hann signa fullit ok allan bl6tmatinn, skyldi fyrst 6tsins fullskyldi J>at drekka til sigrs ok rfkis konungi sfnum en sf&n Nj~ full ok Freys full til ars ok fri&r. pa var mQrgum mQnnun tftt, at drekka J>ar n~st Braga full . . . 39 (The sacrificial cup [IUll] was to be borne around the fire; and he who had made the feast and was the chieftain then was to bless the full and all the sacrificial meat, was first to drink Odin's full (that drink was for victory and power for the king himself), then afterward Njorth's full and Frey's full , for good harvest and peace. Immediately following, there was many a man to drink the bragafull ... )

The blessing of the bragaifull-variously translated as "the cup of the king or the foremost," "the king's toast," "the promise cup" (that over which oaths were to be made)40-was the highlight of the feasts , for vows made over the bragaifull changed the course of a man's life. Ynglinga saga describes the climactic moment at Onund 's funeral feast and its effect on his son King Ingjald (chap. 36): . . . til er inn v~ri borit full, J>at er kallat var Bragafull; skyldi sa J>a standa upp I m6ti Bragafulli ok stren&Ja heit, drekka af fullit sm&n; sma.t skyldi hann lei& f hmti, J>at sem atti fatsir hans; var hann J>a kominn til arfs allz eptir hann. Nu var sva h~r gQrt . . . (.. . until a cup was carried in, that which was called the Bragafull; then he was to stand up facing [to receive] the Bragafull and make a vow, then to drain the full. Afterward, he was to be led to the high seat that had been his father's. He had then come into his entire patrimony after him. Now, thus was done here . . . )

The earliest record of the oath over the bragaifull-Hethin's vow in HelgakvitJa Hj{JrvartJssonar, 41 where it appears in both prose and verselikewise marks the turning point, not only of the vower's life, but of his brother's as well. Hethin's boast to take Helgi's wife, the valkyrie Svava, presages the death of the hero-king, for the bragaifull oath was unbreakable . In Gr~nbech 's words, oaths made over the bragaifull were "sealed in the gods"; they were markers of the future, of destiny. 42 · The ritual in both Old Norse episodes quoted above may well describe the formalized activity taking place in Wealhtheow's initial sequence. As in the Old Norse episodes, the queen's arrival occurs at what may be considered the height of the festivities. Moreover, the organization of the action is similar. The Jul is first borne to Hrothgar (the chieftain and giver of the banquet, 615-616); a toast is made over it (although by Wealhtheow and not Hrothgar, 617-618•); at the moment the chieftain partakes of drink and meat, the motif of victory is inserted (he is called sigerof ,

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', i'

•

kyning 'victory-renowned king', 619b). The temporal imperative of the Old Norse ritual is also present. Wealhtheow's approach to Beowulf with the medoful occurs at a specifically designated time (op pat siil iilamp, 623b-625). She meets Beowulf; they stand face to face with the Jul between them (62&); she blesses the cup by uttering a prayer over it (626b629-); he receives it from her hands (629b-630) and makes a vow (631638); and although his draining the Jul is not described, it is implied that he does so. What is missing from the Old Norse sequences, and is very prominent in the Beowulfian, is the female figure . Nonetheless, the structural and tonal similarities between the Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic ceremonies were probably what provoked Einarsson and others to associate Wealhtheow's first episode with the bragarfull and heitstrenging ceremonies of Old Norse literature. 43 As do the Nordic oaths, Beowulf's vow has religious and fatalistic force. When Wealhtheow holds out the Jul to the prince, she utters a prayer of thanksgiving to God in which she allusively identifies Beowulf as the purger of evil in Heorot. In receiving the vessel, he accepts this identity. His gilpcwide over the ful-the pledge to the future44-is a seal of destiny. Upon its execution, the gilp will not only change the course of the life of the Danes, but also separate Beowulf from the ranks of other men as the purger of Heorot 's evil. In the most extreme reading of the vow, it makes of Beowulf (to use Gr0nbech's phrase) a "blot man," that is, a consecrated warrior. 45 For at the moment of the oath's utterance, Beowulf allies himself with the idea of divinity. His vow to shape the future, to create an event rooted in a specific time and place out of the unknown, draws him away from the ways of mortals and toward those of the divine. The instigator of the gilpcwide, the bearer of the charge of heroic destiny, has been Wealhtheow.46 In Old Norse heroic poetry-in particular the Helgi lays of the Poetic Edda (to be examined in Chapter 5)-the figure with authority to present the challenge of heroic destiny to the hero is the valkyrie. On their initial encounter in each lay, the warrior-maid places a command upon Helgi that, should he accept it, will set him apart from other men, transform his personality and invest him with glory. In assenting to her charge, in pledging to fulfill her wish, the hero agrees to strive for and attain that·element of human personality which is akin to the divine-heroic glory. The religious aura that informs the relationship of the hero and the valkyrie of the Helgi lays is the quality that best elucidates the encounters between Beowulf and Wealhtheow. If at the first meeting she invests him with his identity as the purger of Heorot's evil, at the second she outlines in prophetic terms his life's duty. The words they exchange are holypledges of duty, promises of reward . The objects they touch-the cup,

..

r-.~ ....

: ........ 1

~... - -

The Valkyrie-Figure in Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse I 51

the necklace-are latently sacred. Thus, in addition to the external features that associate the gold-adorned queen with the valkyries, there is a distinctive spiritual energy that allies the character with Odin's warriormaids. Chapter 4 will concern itself entirely with Wealhtheow and the valkyriefigure. Through a lexical examination of the queen's name and her identifying and descriptive epithets, the chapter will give evidence for the view that, just as Grendel's mother is the earliest rendenng in Nordic and AngloSaxon literatures of the female warrior-figure as a battle-demon, so Wealhtheow may very well be the earliest representation of the other concept of the battle-maid: the nobly born valkyrie, human with supernatural attributes, that permeates the heroic lays of the Poetic Edda. . - .

-

11

4 Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie-Figure wzlriow wiga

He ~zt ful geticah, zt Wealht>Q>n . . .

(He took up that cup, the warrior fierce in battle, from the hands of Wealhtheow ... )

One of the most perplexing names in Anglo-Saxon poetry must be Wealhpeow. It has puzzled editors and lexicographers alike, for it obscures rather than illuminates the queen's identity. At first glance, it seems neither to accord with the queen's role in the poem nor to illustrate a dominant character trait, as do Gutsliic and Hygeliic, for example, as Robinson most recently has demonstrated. These, and other names in the Anglo-Saxon literary corpus, are examples of the strong tendency of Anglo-Saxon writers to engage in name-play. 1 A rhetorical device used by poets and authors of every historical period, name-play enables authors to convey information directly about their dramatis personae outside the strictures of plot. It thus affords them the opportunity to keep in continuous focus certain aspects of the character or theme which either decorum or the exigencies of the narrative would otherwise prohibit them from presenting. Anglo-Saxon practices relative to name-etymologies were, Robinson convincingly argues, habits of mind. From Bede to Aelfric, the AngloSaxon writers exhibited an "onomastic zeal" to interpret both fictive and historical names in poetry and prose, in Latin and the vernacular, which paralleled (and perhaps exceeded) the penchant for etymological interpretation of names by the exegetical writers. For the Anglo-Saxons, "nameplay" was a serious endeavor; it was an attempt "to discover within a name the ultimate fate and significance of the bearer." Nor were multiple etymologies considered stumbling blocks to interpretation. They were, in fact, put to useful ends, for it was the practice of "Anglo-Saxons and of medieval writers at large . . . to exploit multiple interpretations of names rather than to elect one and exclude all others." 2 Each etymology served as a departure point for investigating diverse characteristics that might comprise the bearer's spiritual essence. Investigating multiple etymologies of Anglo-Saxon names, then, provides the means through which reasonable solutions to textual cruces can be obtained. It is appropriate, there-

58

A ..: .... ;•..,..,,I {,.,,,.,...,.

Wealhlheow and the Valkyrie-Figure I 59

fore, that a study of Wealhtheow should commence with an examination of her name. The name is troublesome . To begin with, there is a contradiction between the meaning of the queen's name and her status in the poem. The anomaly is striking, for in Old English both elements of Wealhpeow carry significations of servitude. Although wealh does show primary meanings of "Celt" and "foreigner," it also has secondary meanings of "slave" and "servant." 3 The second clement, peow-one of the several servant words in Old English 4 -carries a particular meaning of "slave," and in its derived forms conveys the idea of "servile," "not free," or "in bondage."' Thus, the compound's most general meaning , "foreign slave,'' is a curious appellative for the queen of the Danes. The disparity between character and name widens when one notes that even in its primary, ethnic sense, wealh has negative connotations. As Margaret Lindsay Faull's recent study of the word reveals, in a legal environment the term invariably designates a people who are socially inferior. 6 The wealh or wealas in Inc's laws (where both the primary and the secondary senses are first recorded) and in the NortJl.eoda laga exist in the lower stratum of society. Although they are freemen, owning and renting land, their wergeld (and that of their household) is approximately one-half of a ftee Englishman's. 7 The social derogation associated with wealh in the laws is made particularly evident in the eighth-century Riddles. Riddle 52 (whose solution is either "two well-buckets" or a "ftail")8 d~picts a female, a wale, doing menial labor, an activity that suggests a coalescence of the ethnic and status senses of the term: le seah rzpingas in rzced fergan under hrof sales hearde twegen, ~a wzron genamnan, nearwum bendum gefeterade fzste togzdre; ~ara o~m w~s an getenge wonfah Wale, seo weold hyra bega si~ bendum fzstra. (I saw two hardy captives going into a house under a hall-roof. They were companions fettered fast together with straitened bonds. One of the two was pressing against a dark-skinned Wale. She controlled both of them with faster bonds.)

Riddle 12 (whose solution is "ox" or "ox hide")9 extends the disapprobation beyond the class stigma: like the wale of Riddle 52 above, the male and female wealas in the following piece are marred by what seems to be an unpleasant swarthiness. In addition, the female exhibits reprehensible behavior-drunkenness, silliness, promiscuity:

..

r....:-: ........ 1 h,.,.._

60 I Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition Forum ic fere, foldan slite, grene wongas, J>enden ic gzst bere. Gif me feorh los~. fzste binde sweane Wealas, hwilum sellan men. Hwilum ic deorum drincan selle beome of bosme, hwilum mec bryd triedeO felawlonc forum, hwilum feorran broht wonfeax Wale weg~ ond pyO, dol druncmennen deorcum nihtum, wzt~ in wztre, wynn~ hwilum fzgre to fyre; me on fzOme sticap hygegalan hood, hwyrf~ geneahhe, swif~ me geond sweartne . Saga hwzt ic hatte, J>e ic lifgeode lond reafige ond zfter deaJ>e dryhtum peowige . (As long as my spirit lives, I go rending the ground with my feet, the green plains. When life slips from me, I bind the swarthy Wea/as tightly, and sometimes better men. Sometimes I offer the warriors drink, the dear thing from my bosom; sometimes the haughty bride treads her foot on me. Sometimes the dark-haired Wale brought from afar lifts and presses me, in the dark night, silly drunken bondmaid; she wets me with water; sometimes she warms me, fair before the fire . Her wanton hand clutches me in an embrace, earnestly turns me, wends me through the swart part. Say what I am called, I who while living ravage the land, and after death am of service to the warriors.)

This dark-haired, and probably dark-skinned, wale (if the wonfah wale of Riddle 52 is seen as a parallel female slave-figure) is a foreigner, "brought from afar." Although the exact geographical location is unstated, the Continent may be meant here, for there is a particular meaning of Wealh-land (OHG Walho-lant 'Gallia') signifying Normandy in the Laud Chronicle entry for 1040: Com Eadweard hider to Lande o/Weallande 'Edward came hither to this country from Normandy'. 10 The location, however, need not be continental. In discussing the possible geographical location of Wealh settlements in England, Faull points out that the borders of Wales-a land the Anglo-Saxons would have considered foreign-were frequently raided for slaves. By extrapolation any geographical pocket in England that was a Wealh settlement might be considered foreign ground, that is, beyond the boundaries of the native English. 11 Riddle 72 (solution "ox") 12 speaks of the mearcpaj:Jas walas 'boundarypaths of the Walas'; or as Bosworth-Toller more generally defines the phrase. "paths leading through the country": 13

/""\.-~

.... :""'-' ...............

Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie-Figure I 61

le pzh on lust, oppzt ic wzs yldra ond pzt an forlet sweartum hyrde, sipade widdor, mearcpapas Walas trzd, moras pz&le, bunden under beame, beag hzfde on healse, wean on taste weorc prowade, earf~a dzl. Oft mec isem scod sare on sidan; ic swigade, nzfre meldade monna zngum gif me ordstzpe egle wzron. (I partook of all that with pleasure until I was older and surrendered that to the swarthy shepherd. I journeyed farther, trod the boundary paths of the Walas; traversed the moors, bound under a beam. I had a ring round my neck. I endured misery, work, my portion of suffering on the track. Often an iron sorely injured my side; I kept silent, never revealed to any man if the wound were painful.)

These mearcpajx:zs are evidently located in the vicinity of moors and fens, beyond the civilized settlement. The significant point about the Walas in these riddles is that whether indigenous or from foreign soil, freemen or slaves, they were regarded as people outside society-alien to the established moral, economic, and social norms. The aliens in Beowulf who inhabit moor and fen are the 'notorious boundary-stalker,' the miire mearcstapa Grendel, and his mother, that walg'iist w'iifre 'restless murderous spirit' who likewise wanders along the wasteland borders. 14 The other foreigner in the poem is Wealhtheow; and through the senses of the first element of her name, she is associated with these dark, restless, corrupt outcasts of society. The derogatory connotations of wealh spill over onto its derivative fonns. In his sermon for Ash Wednesday, Aelfric uses the verb wealian to mean "to be impudent, bold, or wanton": he cwatJ pat he no/de and wealode

mid wordum, I and sade pat he wolde his wifes brucan I on pam unalyfedum timan 'he said that he would not [receive ashes] and was impudent with words, and said that he would enjoy his woman in the unlawful time' . 15 "Wantonness" is also the sense of the adjectival form used by a penitent in a tenth-century fragment from a Latin penitential: le eom ondetta pat ic onfeng on minne mutJ wealworda 'l confess that I received wanton words on my mouth'. 16 And an eleventh-century manuscript glosses the Latin barbarus, which conveys the sense of "savage," "uncivilized," or simply "foreign," with walch siue ungerad. 11 The latter adjective, synonymous with walch, means "rude," "unskilled," "foolish," "ignorant." 18 Finally, in an Anglo-Saxon gloss of unknown date, Aldhelm 's protevorum

/""\.-~

.... :""'-' ...............

62 I Beowulf's Wealhlheow and the Valkyrie Tradition 'a shameless people' is glossed as walana. 19 Thus, in its primary and secondary senses, in its derived fonns, and in historical and fictional documents, wealh consistently refers to a people on the periphery of society and conveys the sense of reprehensible moral or social behavior. It would seem somewhat perverse, then, for the Beowulf-poet to choose Wealhpeow as the name for the queen of the Danes, the mother of kings, the regulator of court decorum, especially since in her introductory scene he identifies her as freolicu folccwen 'freeborn queen of the people', freolic wif'freeborn woman', ides Helminga 'lady of the Helmings', cwen HrotJgares 'Hrothgar's queen', beaghroden cwen 'ring-adorned queen', and goldhroden 'the gold-adorned one' -all in the space of thirty lines. Epithets he employs later in the -poem accord with his initial descriptions: she isfritJusibb folca 'pledge of peace of nations', tJeodnes dohtor 'daughter of a prince', and miiru cwen 'illustrious queen' of Heorot. The -poet's insistence on the royal and free status of Wealhtheow, particularly at her first appearance, may indicate that he was as sensitive to the disparity between the character's person and her name as commentators on the -poem were to be in later years. That he (and his audience) was aware of the derogatory sense of the term one can safely assume, given the frequency of wealh's appearance in a censurable context. That he probably employed name-play (that he partook of the "onomastic zeal" practiced by his contemporaries) as a mode of character delineation has been the consensus of scholars from Miillenhotf and Olrik to Kaske and Robinson.20 But whereas in names such as UnfertJ, MOdprytJo, Hygd, and Hygeliic (as Kaske and Robinson argue), there is a happy suiting of name to character, between Wealhpeow and the personage presented as the queen of Heorot, there is mismatching of an extreme kind. Miillenhotf and Olrik explain the anomaly by concluding that the name was a -poetic invention, not historical or legendary like all the other names in the -poem; that it was Anglo-Saxon in origin and completely disconnected from Old Norse; and that the character herself was a product of -poetic fancy. It is more probable, however, that the -poet was consistent in his use of name meanings as a characterization device, and that here, as in the other instances, he was employing the name dramatically-conceivably as a telling reminder of certain censurable qualities, moral or social, peculiar to the character that either aesthetic considerations or public or private censorship prevented him from revealing more explicitly in the narrative itself. In 1919 and 1935, two important, provocative etymological studiesErik Bjorkman's "Zu einigen Namen im Beowulf: Breca, Brondingas, Wealhpeo(w)," and E. V. Gordon's "Wealhpeow and Related Names"attempted to reconcile the character with her name, and in so doing yielded

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Wealhtheow and the Vallcyrie-Figure I

63

important insights into the queen's identity and function. 21 Briefly, both propose a specialized interpretation. According to Bjorkman, Wealhpeow has its roots in Proto-Norse, and evolved naturally from a Proto-Norse appellative *WalhapiwiR (-piujo), with the first element carrying the signification of "Romance." When *walha- developed into ON and OSw val, it retained the southern association of "Romance," appearing in compounds and in terms which refer to the Celtic peoples and their lands in northern France (ON valir [OE Walas or Wealas], Valland, Valskr [OE Wealisc; Ger Welsch]). 22 The first element of the queen's name, Bjorkman suggests, can be understood to signify a southern-more particularly, a Frankish-territory as her place of • • ong1n. As for the "slave" designation of the second element, Bjorkman offers a distinctive reading. He proposes that -peow (Proto-Norse *piwiR, -jJiujo, m.-pewar) be viewed in a particular sense, as not necessarily meaning "bondage," but rather "captive," and possibly as intended to specify a noble personage captured in the course of battle, a designation it had in Proto-Norse.23 Bjorkman's reading of the name-"Celtic or Romance slave, maid, or captive"-leads him to speculate that Wealhtheow may have been a southern princess, probably Frankish in origin, abducted and brought to Denmark by the Danes on one of their coastal expeditions, where she was subsequently set free . For Bjorkman, the speculation is made more probable since both the historical climate of the time ease of communications between the northern and southern nations as well as the frequency of harrying raids on the Frankish coast-and the prevalence of the motif in literary documents (see Chap. 5, p . 91) make feasible Wealhtheow's Frankish origin and subsequent status as queen .24 An objection to the argument was raised, not only by Bjorkman himself, but by Gordon and Meyer. 25 How can Wealhtheow be of southern origin if she is identified as an ides Helminga 'lady of the Helmings', a tribe located near the Danes? R. W. Chambers, Gordon, and others relate Wealhtheow's tribe with both the Beowulfian Wyljings of lines 461 and 471 and the Wuljingum of Widsi6 (29), the association being based on the inclusion of Helm as the ruler of the Wulfings in the scop's list of kings .26 The Helming-Wylfings, thus, were part of the Anglo-Saxon epic tradition, corresponding to the ON Yljingar and MHG Wuljinge. Although the original geographical location of the Wulfings is indeterminable, its general vicinity is thought to be the Baltic peninsula, possibly the southern coastal region . Bjorkman (in Eigennamen) postulates a more definite land boundary, placing the tribe south of today's Sweden in proximity to the Geats .27 A Swedish environment for the Wulfings was subsequently supported by

A ..: .... ;•..,..,,I {,.,,,.,...,.

64 I Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition

finds from the 1939 archeological excavations at Sutton Hoo.28 It seems highly unlikely, then, that a member of the Wulfing household could be considered wealh, a foreigner from Romance territory. To counter this objection, Bjorkman approaches Helminga, not as an identifying epithet, but as a characterizing one, translating it "helmetbearers," "helmet-wearers," "helmet-people." 29 The epithet then would not conflict with a possible Celtic or Romance origin for Wealhtheow. In fact, although Bjorkman does not make the connection, the poem itself evidences the existence of a southern Germanic tribe with a similar epithetthe Hetware 'helmet-bearers' or 'helmet-dwellers'-a people of the lower Rhine who were allied with the Franks. 30 They were ravaged by Hygelac, but retaliated and destroyed the reckless king, depriving him of life and treasure (1202-1214•, 2916). Bjorkman's alternative rendering for Helminga would therefore lie within the historical environment of the poem and would lend support to his argument of the character's southern and Romance origins. Bjorkman's final assessment of Wealhpeow is that it is a descriptive appellation, revelatory of the character's origin and marking a poignant moment of her life. Gordon is unsympathetic toward this postulation. His alternative etymology classifies Wealhpeow as a name of considerable antiquity, its meaning a construct of the character's function and status. His reading of Wealhpeow as "chosen servant" leads one to associate martial, masculine, and priestly qualities with Heorot's queen. Gordon's argument runs as follows: from early Germanic times, the name's second element -peow (ON -per, -pjofr; OHG -deo) frequently appeared in the names of kings and men of free and high birth, and very often it was found as a component of names whose first element referred to a specific god or power. This leads Gordon to conclude that the bearer of a -peow name had a priestlike function and was a "servant of a god or a supernatural power." The first element, moreover, although confused in later Germanic times with *walha- 'Romance' (ON val; OE wealh, wale) when recorded in personal names, in actuality descended from the Germanic *wala- 'chosen', ' beloved' (ON val; OE wale). Thus, Gordon interprets Wealhpeow and its cognates, ON Valpjofr and OHG Waladeo, as denoting a "person devoted to some god or power which was expected to show special favor" to its bearer. 31 This reading of Wealhpeow has particular relevance for the queen's first words in indirect discourse with Beowulf. The phrase Gode pancode I wisf~st wordum pas tJe hire se willa gelamp 'She thanked God with words rooted in wisdom, because the wished-for thing had come to pass for her' (625b-626) not only has a decidedly religious tenor, but, in addition, marks the queen as a recipient of special favor from an omnipotent being-her wish has been granted. Her last speech-the benison that

.

/""\.-~

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Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie-Figure I 65

concludes the second banquet scene-has also been described by Irving and others as having an incantatory quality.32 Wealhpeow is not the sole -jJeow name in Anglo-Saxon poetry with priestly coloration. Gordon notes two others in Anglo-Saxon literature that identify a religious servant or, by an extension of meaning, a quasi-religious "devotee" type-OngenjJeow (ON Angantjr; OHG Angandeo) and EcgtJeow (ON Eggper; OHG Agateus, Eggideo). Ongentheow in Beowulf is a powerful, revered monarch, and the Swedish king's name-"Servant of Love" or "Special Favor" (ON angan)-might appropriately describe his role in the Germanic community, since a heathen king and chieftain also functioned as a priest in public temples. 33 Although no mention of it is made in Beowulf, Swedish kings in particular were priests of Frey and their queens priestesses of Freyja, the brother-sister fertility cult that flourished in heathen Uppsala.34 EcgtJeow exemplifies the extended sense of -peow-from "religious votary" to "person devoted to an ideal," particularly to the military. 3' The etymological mean.ing of EcgtJeow 'devotee of the sword' directly agrees with the warrior's persona, whose fame was shaped by the edge of the sword (263b-264, 459-462). Thus, by analogy, Wealhtheow's name is perhaps illustrative of her function or role in the poem as "servant of the chosen." Gordon and Bjorkman also observe that, except in Beowulf, -peow unfailingly appears in men's names in Old English and Old Norse, as it does in Old High German, barring those few instances where it is recorded in a woman's name.36 According to Gordon, -peow evidently reaches back to very earliest Germanic times when -deo, signifying a religious votary, was used for both sexes, although distinctions between the masculine and the feminine forms were made. When -peow does appear in a woman's name, Gordon notes, it carries martial and religious associations, the first element referring either to the war-goddess Hild (OHG Hildithiu), the valkyrie Gunn (ON Gunnpjofr), or more generally to "battle." 37 The composite characteristics deriving from Bjork.man's and Gordon's readings of Wealhpeow create a portiait of a female of noble birth, southern in origin, who undergoes a period of enslavement, and who has martial and priestly attributes . In Germanic literature, the female figure that epitomizes these traits is the valkyrie in the heroic lays of the Poetic Edda . As already noted in the discussion of the figure in Chapter 3. one of the prime characteristics of the battle-maids-in both their grim and their benevolent aspects-is their southern origin. Another is their royal or aristocratic birth. In addition, the valkyries consistently share the experience of a momentary enslavement that subsequently leads to freedom and/or regained status. V {>lundarkvitJa describes an abduction of three of these alvitr 'all-wise', meyjar sunnan 'maidens from the south' (Intro. Prose,

..

r....:-: ........ 1 h,.,.._

66 I Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition 1-3), and apparently Brynhild endures a similar enslavement (Heir 6). 38 Called hjalmmeyjar 'helmet-maids' and hjdlmvitr 'helmet-aeatures', tenns that relate conceptually to Bjorkman 's rendering of ides Helminga, they are the chosen servants of Odin and, in the heroic lays, charge the heroking with his destiny. The female warrior-figures of the lays that deal with the Scylding legend-the "sun-bright southern ones," the Scylding Helgi 's valkyrie-brides, Sigrun and Svava-in particular correspond to these details of characterization and will be analyzed more closely in Chapter 5. There is, moreover, an etymological connection between Wealhpeow and the name of the valkyries. ON valkyrjur 'those who choose (kjosa) the slain (val) in battle' may be tautological. Grimm was the first to suggest that the first element, val-, may have had its roots in velja, valjan 'to choose' (OE wale; OHO weljan) and that originally val carried the sense of "selection" and "choice," in addition to its association with val(r). 39 When the first element began to lose its semantic distinction-resulting from a blending of val(r) 'slain' (OE walre, wal; OHO wal) and val 'choice' (OE wealh, wale; OHO *wala)-a second element, derived from a verb with an identical meaning, kjosa, was attached as support for semantic integrity. Following Grimm, then, and as demonstrated by Gordon, the first element of the general term for the Nordic battle-maids has the same etymological root as does the first element of Wealhpeow. Thus, Val- like Wealh- has a conflated etymological meaning. Further, the phonological blending that obtains between val 'choice' and val(r) 'slain' may likewise be operative between wealh 'chosen' (OHO *wala) and wt.el 'slain', 'slaughter' (OHO wal; ON valr; OS wal). Primitive Germanic [a] (if not followed by a nasal) always developed into[~]. but retained the original vowel sound if the following syllable contained a back vowel (e.g., wal, nom. sing.; wale, d. sing.; walu, nom. pl.). In tum, through a process of breaking, the sound of the ligature a c~1. when followed by I, r, or h + consonant, was diphthongized into ea [~a], the first element of the diphthong retaining the tE sound of the original vowel, and the second representing a vowel glide. 40 Thus, the difference in the pronunciation of the letters wal(h) in walhreow (with or without the h) 'cruel', 'barbarous', 'bloodthirsty' (or, as Klaeber glosses it, 'fierce in battle') and the letters wealh in Wealhpeow would be indistinguishable. In both words, the function of the h is to signal consonantal voicing. 41 The occasional spelling of the first element of walhreow as weal- (wealhreowe, wealhreowre, wealhro) in the glosses further substantiates a collapsing of the distinction of the sounds.42 An ·instance in the poem where a play of these sound similarities is employed for semantic ends (a stylistic device prevalent among AngloSaxon poets)43 occurs at the first confrontation between the queen and the

,.

r-.~ ....

: ........ 1

~... - -

Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie-Figure I 67

Geatish prince, when the poet alliteratively links Wealhpeow with the walreow wiga, Beowulf: wzlreow wiga ond pi gyddode

He pzt ful get>eah, zt Wealh~n.

guJ1c gefYsed ... (628b-630)

(He took up that cup, the warrior fierce in battle, from the hands of Wealhtheow, and then incited to battle, made a boasting speech ... )

In light of the above discussion, alternative translations for these lines

might be: "He took up the cup, the warrior with the rage (hreow) of the slain in battle (wal) from the hands of: (1) the chosen (wealh) servant (peow), or (2) the servant (/Jeow) of the chosen (wealh), or, encompassing the phonological similarities, (3) the servant of the chosen slain in battle." If one allows for a conscious awareness of the play of sound and meaning on the poet's part, it is possible to interpret this scene as the archetypal first encounter between a valkyrie and a hero. The acts of choosing the hero in battle, of laying upon him the task that will shape his heroic identity, of investing him with an unwearying, heroic energy that will secure victory in battle, and then, if necessary, of accom- j { panying him to the afterlife, comprise the authority and function of Odin's l"f servants, the choosers of the slain, the valkyrie-brides of the heroic lays of the Edda. 44 In es~~ce, this i~_~f?al!ttheow·~ acti~!!_&QQ ~u_th~!i~Y at her ___ first meeting with BeQwuit:_ ~t?_~tows on him the identity of "purger..of Heorot"; she readies him for, and miPlicltly ·riiciies-·iifiiitO,'._tlie·coming . battle"; and iike Odin's-baitle=-m&as:-·she iia5'a religious.signlficanee. . . .The phonological-liitli ides Helminga dugu)>e on~ geogo)>e dzl zghwylcne, sincfato sealde . . . (614-622•) (The gold-adorned one greeted the men in the hall. . . . Then the lady of the Helmings went around to the band of proven warriors and the troop of young retainers, gave to each one a portion of the jeweled treasure . . . )

This initial image of Wealhtheow as possessor and dispenser of treasure occurs in three other episodes in the poem. During the second banquet scene, she rewards Beowulf with the highly prized heirloom, the necklace she wears, as well as other state treasure (peodgestreona, 1215-122&). Again, when the Geatish hero recapitulates the events at Heorot for Hygelac, it is in her capacity as treasure-giver that Wealhtheow is recalled: secge (sealde),

oft hio beahwriOan zr hie to setle geong. (2018b-2019)

'

(Often she would give a twisted ring to a warrior before she went to the seat.)

The depictionjs complex in its implications. Not only does the passage present Wealhtheow as the consort of a comitatus leader, dispensing treasure to the warriors, but in addition the use of beahwritian summons up the image of the queen as beaghroden and the martial associations connected with that term. One is reminded of the gold rings th~t.warriors wore on their arms as a means of increasing the weight of their blows in battle, a custom that Olrik suggests might have produced an effect of the warriors' being plated in gold, 88 an image that fuses the epithets goldhroden and beaghroden . In a sense, then, Wealhtheow's activity in this sequence is evocative of a function commonly attributed to a warrior-king, a beaggyfan 'provider of rings'. This is not to say that .the queen is a female chieftain, but merely to illustrate that her action has a military dimension, a not inappropriate coloration for a character in a heroic poem. The poet's last description of Wealhtheow is as a dispenser of riches:

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Wealluheow and the Valkyrie-Figure I 83 Hyrde ic )>zt be &>ne healsbeah Hygde gesealde, Wl'Ztlicne wund~m, &>ne )>e him WeaIMeo geaf, tJCOO(nes) dohtor, )>rio wicg somod swancor ond sadolbeorht; byre syMan wzs zfter beah&ge br[e]ost geweor&d. (2172- 2176)

(I heard that he gave Hygd the necklace-ornamental wondrous jewel-which Wealhtheow had given him, the prince's daughter; together with three horses, graceful with bright saddles. After the receiving of the necklace, her breast was henceforth graced.)

The formula hyrde ic, which gives legendary scope and validity to the episode, the consummate beauty of the jewel previously compared with the Brfsinga men, and the elevation of Hygd's status once she has received the treasure (suggested by the verb geweortJian 'to honor', 'to exalt') indicate that the necklace is endowed with a potency excelling its value as material wealth, one that may be analogous to the religious significance that defines the Brfsinga men. The final image of Wealhtheow allusively connects her with a benevolent aspect of Freyja. The figure of a queen as a renowned source of riches is not unique to Beowulf. The Wids-m" scop describes the dryhtcwen F.alhhild (the only other goldhroden in Anglo-Saxon poetry) distributing treasure in her hall: ond me )>a Ealhhild

o)>eme forgeaf, dryhtcwen dugu)>e, dohtor Eadwines. Hyre lof lengde geond londa fela, )>onne ic be songe secgan sceolde, hwzr ic under swegl[e] selast wisse goldhrodene cwen giefe bryttian. (97- 102)

'

(And Ealhhild gave me a second ring, the noble queen of the chieftains, Eadwine's daughter. Her glory extended through many lands, when I would chant in song everywhere under the heavens, [that] I best knew a queen adorned in gold, dispensing treasure.)

The first armlet ring, the beag, was given to the scop by Eonnanric, her husband (90-92), and, although it is clearly of superior quality to Ealhhild's, it does not diminish her renown as treasure-giver. _ Accepting Chambers's proposed identification of Ealhhild as Eonnanric 's wife and hence the English counterpart of the Nordic Svanhild89 extends the concept of a gold-adorned female as the source and the recipient of sorrow beyond Beowulf. In the Nordic version of the Svanhild story, the maiden, whom Brynhild prophesies will be "whiter than the bright day

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84 I Beowulf s Wealhlheow and the Valkyrie Tradition

j

or the beams of the sun" (Sigsk 55), is sent to the Gothic king with bright and golden gannents (GutJhvt 16) only to become a victim of treachery and suffer a brutal death (GutJhvt 2).90 Although there is no explicit reference in Widsi~to these tragic events, that the English audience might have been acquainted with Eormanric 's murder of his son Randver, and the subsequent murder of his innocent queen is distinctly possible. 91 The goldhroden queen in Widsi~ might likewise have martial associations, as the last element of her name indicates. Furthermore, as Svanhild's Anglo-Saxon counterpart, Ealhhild would share affinities with the swan-maiden/valkyrie-figures of the Poetic Edda (Vkv l-5; Heir 6-7). 92 Finally, Ealhhild's Anglo-Saxon identity as dryhtcwen, usually interpreted as "noble queen," could conceivably be understood (alongside dryhtguma 'warrior') as "warrior-queen of the chieftains," a status that recalls Wealhtheow's authority over the dryhtguman. Thus, the semantic resonances of goldhroden distantly suggest that Wealhtheow was conceived in the tradition of the Nordic warrior-woman. The compound's martial associations in Beowulf and those of its Old Norse equivalent intimate that the character has a military dimension; the possibility that -hroden sometimes possesses a dual sense of "stained with blood" and "adorned" (analogous to fdh) likewise indicates a martial identity for the queen; and the existence outside Beowulf of a goldhroden who shares with Heorot's queen the role of treasure-giver lends external support to Wealhth.eow's probable status as warrior-queen. Moreover, the semantic richness of grene-which not only allows for a surface meaning "to greet," "to salute," but also for an extended meaning "to cause grief as a result of the greeting," a sense suggested both by the term's primary signification "to attack," "to approach" and by its phonological similarity to gretinvests the queen with an emotional quality that defines the valkyrie-brides and Freyja, and suggests that, like them,. she may embody the idea of woman as a source of man's joy and sorrow. Certainly, the other Beowulfian goldhroden reflect this view. Both Modthrytho and Freawaru are desirable, yet destructive, figures in their respective courts. The beauteous f!eotfuwebbe 'peace-weaver', Modthrytho, is goldhroden after she deprives a beloved warrior of his life, and the catastrophic end for the Heathobardians is caused by the presence at Ingeld's court of Freawaru, the beloved geong goldhroden 'young, gold-adorned one'. Finally, the correspondences in motif and epithet between the Anglo-Saxon queen and the valkyrie-figures of the Poetic Edda, specifically Freyja and Sigrun, provide idiosyncratic details that begin to define the queen more clearly as a valkyrie-figure. Wealhtheow's possession of the healsbeaga mtZSt, the necklace that the poet compares to Freyja 's Brfsinga men, is an identifying object that un-

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Wealhlheow and the Valkyrie-Figure I

85

questionably allies her with the chief valkyrie.93 Both objects have religious associations. The healsbeah has been identified by Magoun as a stallahringr 'altar-ring' upon which sacred oaths were made (see Chap. 7 below, pp. 169-71) and by Ellis Davidson as a possible symbolic ornament-like the great gold collars of Alleborg or Mone-worn by worshipers of Odin.94 Moreover, both Freyja and Wealhtheow are associated with the "peace-weaver" motif; they are symbols of amnesty, even if only temporary, between nations in Wealhtheow's case and between rival deities in Freyja's.95 Even the termfritJusibb 'pledge of peace', which describes a role that might be considered passive, has a militant connotative value that interlocks the ideas of love and strife (integral to Freyja's personality) in Wealhtheow's person. According to Gr~nbech, although both elements of the compound mean "peace," with sibb carrying the ancillary meanings of "kin" and "friendship" and associated notions of comfort, love, and security, Germanic fri3 had a sense distinctly different from the more modem notion of "peace" derived from Latin pax. Fri3 evidently signified a state that was "less passive," with less of a sense of "submissiveness and more of will," and that encompassed an "element of passion [which became] submerged in quietism" in the Latin term. 96 Rather than denoting a "laying down of arms," fri3, ~nbech notes, "indicates something armed, protection, defence-or else a power for peace which keeps men amicably inclined. Even when we find mention, in the Germanic of 'making peace,' the fundamental idea is not that of removing disturbing elements and letting things settle down, but that of introducing a peace-power among the disputants ."97 A character who is fritJusibb, then, would exemplify a state of peace marked by vigilant activity and a security brought about by action that has been armed and may again become armed. FritJusibb is the least potent of the terms that suggest aggressive energy in the queen like that in Freyja and Sigrun. Goldhroden, ides, and, more strikingly, Wealh/Jiow project latent militancy as an integral quality of Wealhtheow's character. Ides, like goldhroden, unites all three characters. Freyja is Vanadfs 'goddess of the Vanir'; Sigrun and Wealhtheow share a vitJkenning (ides Scyldinga; dfs Scic>ldunga) . Finally, Wealhtheow's name, with its multiple etymological meanings and associations, relates the queen to the valkyrie in point of origin (southern), in authority (as chosen servants of a supreme deity) , in function (to charge the hero with his destiny), and in the peculiar duality that constitutes the essences of the valkyrie-a fusion of the beneficent and the harmful, the masculine and the feminine, the martial and the erotic, the battlefield and the court. These dictional choices in description and identification constitute the primary evidence that removes Wealhtheow from her literary isolation and

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86 I Beowulrs WealhtMow and the Valkyrie Tradition places her within the company of the other major female figures of Germanic heroic poetry. This and the preceding chapters of this study provide examples of certain devices of characterization-lexical similarities, formulaic patterns in speech, metaphorical allusions, recurrent narrative motifs (character traits, physical objects, and activity)-that reasonably support the belief that Wealhtheow, rather than being an anomalous figure in the literature, not only is compatible with the female warriors of AngloSaxon epic, Elene, Judith, and Juliana, but like them is in harmony with the valkyrie-brides of the Eddie lays .

...

5 Wealhtheow and Helgi's Valkyrie-Brides grztr Jnl, gullvari~.

s6lbiQrt,

s~n

grimmom tU'om,

. . . -H~lgakvitla Hundingsbana

II

(weep, thou gold-adorned one, with bitter tears, sun-bright, southern maid . . . )

The postulation of Chapter 4-that Wealhtheow's character is related to the valkyrie-brides of Old Norse heroic poetry-is further substantiated by an examination of the warrior-women of the Helgi lays in the Poetic Edda. The poems pose textual problems for the student of Old Norse heroic poetry. They are disunified in nature and generically anomalous, the verse passages joined by prose units that at times confuse rather than clarify the story. 1 Only HelgakvitJa Hundingsbana I is composed entirely in verse eira Sigars oc HQgna (4) d6ttir HQgna (Prose before 5, 14, 48) mzr (9, 51) konungs (4) HQgna (13, 17) konungboma (48) vlf (14) valkyria (Prose before 5) sn6t

svinnhugu~

( 11)

~(nes)

dohtor (2174•) wif (615•, 639-) Wealh~w ('chosen servant' Gordon) cynna gemyndig; mooe geJ>ungen; wisfzst wordum (613b, 624•, 62&)

alvitr (26) bru~r baugvari~

(46) gullvari~ (45) s6lbiQrt (45) su~ra:n (45)

(35)

beaghroden (623b)

bru~ir

goldhroden (614•, 64Qb) Wealh- (Celts in Frankish territory)

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90 I Beowulfs Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition ides (16491>) ides Helminga (62()b); Wealh}1Cow ('foreign captive' -Malone; 'Celtic slave', 'captive'Bjorkman) ides Scyldinga (l 168b)

dfsir (46) Ylfinga man (4)

dis sci9ldunga (51)

The major trait in both the Old Norse and the Anglo-Saxon characters is profundity of mind. Sigrun is first characteriz.ed as a sn0t svinnhugu(J 'wise gentlewoman' (11), a quality recalled later in the poem when Helgi addresses her on the battlefield as alvitr 'all-wise' (26). The latter epithet is associated with the valkyries in V plundarkvitJa ( 1, 3), where it is used as a refrain to identify these "maidens from the south," the drosir sutJranar. These allusions to Sigrun 's mental endowments correspond to the cluster of epithets that characterize Wealhtheow on her initial appearance: Hrothgar's queen is not only cynna gemyndig 'mindful of custom' but also mOde gepungen ('virtuous or excellent of mind'), a woman who speaks wisfast wordum 'with words rooted in wisdom'. Her profound intelligence associates Wealhtheow with a trait intrinsic to the personality of a valkyrie. In addition, Gordon's etymological rendering of Wealhtheow's name ("chosen servant") and Sigrun 's designation as a valkyrie reflect the authority that each character exhibits in her respective poem. To approach a chosen hero and charge him with his heroic identity constitutes a potent religious act for both Odin's maid and Heorot's queen. Wealhtheow's regal position parallels Sigrun's. Both women are immediately identified as intimate associates of a royal prince, and both are daughters of kings (HH 114, 48; Bwf613•, 2174•). In addition, each presents a glittering physical appearance. Sigrun, the warrior-maid, is addressed as brutJr baugvaritJ 'ring-bedecked maid' and gullvari(J 'goldbedecked' , terms which, as noted previously, are the equivalents of the brace of epithets-goldhroden and beaghroden-that depict Wealhtheow on her initial entrance. These circumlocutions, of course, might be attributed to poetic convention. Snorri's instruction to the skalds that all female characters be personified as a valkyrie or dfs, with associative circumlocutions of gulls ok gimsteina 'gold and jewels' and phrases relating to their "conduct or property or family" (Skflldsk 31), is as suitable a working rule of female characterization for the Anglo-Saxon scop as it is for the Old Norse skald. The terms appropriately elevate and embellish both the Anglo-Saxon and the Nordic noblewomen into superior figures, thus fulfilling the generic demands of heroic poetry. Yet, although poetic convention plays its role in this general application, there are two epithets which go beyond the con-

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Wealhtheow and Helgi's Valkyrie-Brides I 91

ventional and suggest an affinity between the Norse and the Anglo-Saxon characters under consideration. One of Wealhtheow's appellatives is ides Helminga 'lady of the Helmings.' As already remarked upon in Chapter 4, the epithet may serve a double function: it locates the queen in the general enyironment of a warlike tribe and specifically associates her with the continental Wulfings, a historical tribe apparently identical with the Beowulfian Helmings. The inclusion of Helm Wulfingum in the scop's list of kings in Widsi~ (29) places the tribe within the Anglo-Saxon epic tradition. In Scandinavian literary tradition, these continental Wulfings are equivalent to the Norse Ylfingar, a people associated with Sigrun and Helgi in the poem under discussion. 13 In stanza 4, Sigrun is alluded to as Ylfinga man 'bondmaid or woman of the Ylfings ' , a reference to her relationship with Helgi, who is identified as nilfr Ylfinga 'son of the Ylfings' in stanzas 8 and 48. 14 This historical appellative forges links between Wealhtheow, the Danish heroking, and his valkyrie-bride. Moreover, ON man 'woman' or 'bondwoman', which answers to the masculine ON man 'bondman', is a term that in its feminine application refers to women who were captured in battle and who were later made mistresses of their captors . •~ The idea of thralldom is part of Wealhtheow's persona, as the semantic coloration of both elements of her name-wealh(with its secondary meaning of "slave," "servant") and -/Jiow 'servile' , 'in bondage' , 'not free'-demonstrates . Bjorkman's specialized reading of -/Jiow-referring to a noble personage captured in battle, placed in a state of thralldom, and subsequently set free-also points to a close association between the queen of the Danes in Beowulf and the captive valkyrie, the konungborna 'child of kings' who eventually bears heirs to the Danish throne (Prose before 30). 16 The abduction of noblewomen, of course, occurs frequently in Old Norse literature; and the valkyries partake of the motif (see Chap. 4, pp. 6566). Vplsunga saga (chap. 12) also contains an abduction. Hjordis, Sigmund's queen and King Eylimi's daughter, is captured during battle by Alf, but, when her lineage is discovered, she is freed and made his wife and queen. A similar change in status is experienced by Aslaug-Kraka, daughter of Brynhild and Sigurd. 17 And Yrsa, the renowned Scylding queen, who appears as King Helgi's daughter-wife in the sagas, is likewise incorporated within this literary convention.18 It is interesting that Olrik's etymological study of Yrsa's name reveals that her origin is also southern, more particularly, Frankish. 19 The motif occurs in Beowulf as well: Hildeburh is shown to have been numen 'carried off' by the Danes (1153), as was Ongentheow's queen by the Geats (2930); and the same fate is prophesied for the unprotected Geatish

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women following Beowulfs death (3016-3020, 3150-3155). The prevalence of the literary motif suggests a basis in historical reality. Both Bjorkman and Olrik propose that from about the end of the third century through the sixth, there were frequent harryings of the coasts of France and Britain-Hygelac 's expedition against the Hetvarii (Bwf Hetware) 'Helmetbearers' on what was apparently Frankish territory (ca. A.D. 516-530) being only one example. The milieu (argues Bjorkman) allows for the probability that Wealhtheow, "the Celtic or Romance slave or captive," was a princess abducted by the Danes during one of their raids into Frankish territory. 20 Wealhtheow and Sigrun are linked by still another historical appellation. Ides Scyldinga is the Old English equivalent of dis Skipldunga, a title belonging to Sigrun and interpreted by Grimm as meaning "divil)e lady sprung from the Skioldung stock." 21 The term also identifies Brynhild in Brot af SigurtJarkvitJu (14), but, in this latter instance, it perhaps indicates a more generalized understanding of skipldunga as "warriors" or "shield-warrior kings," 22 since Brynhild, unlike Sigrun and Wealhtheow, is not associated with the Danish hero-king Helgi or any of his race . In the early eleventh century, however, as Frank recently demonstrated, the term still had the more particular usage, in skaldic poetry referring specifically to Cnut, Olaf Haraldsson, and Magnus the Good. 23 In addition to the martial and priestly designations noted in Chapter 4, dfs has a familial sense as indicated by Grimm. The kinship denoted by dfs is sister, its primary sense in Old Norse. 24 It is, moreover, a convention of Old Norse poetic diction that sisters are to be called dis and jOdfs-an older form of dis (Skaldsk 68). Accordingly, Sigrun would emerge, not only as the beloved of Helgi, but as his sister as well. Although the relationship does not have immediate significance in the poem, it is not entirely unrelated to the legendary facts concerning Helgi. In the Scandinavian versions of the Scylding legend, Helgi, unaware of the relationship, was enamored of his daughter Yrsa, whom he abducted while on a viking expedition and later made his queen. To what extent the epithet alludes to these legendary circumstances is impossible to ascertain. It may be of interest, however, to note that in the Beowulfian version of the Scylding tale (to be examined in Chapters 6 and 7), Yrsa conjecturally appears as Helgi 's sister, an alteration that.re~ects a tendency in northern literatures to substitute a father-daughter relationship for one between brother and sister (see Chap. 6, p. 116). As noted in Chapter 4, in Anglo-Saxon literature, ides holds the primary denotation of "lady." When it appears in the context of birth and inheritance, however, it can carry a secondary meaning of "daughter." Ides in the sense of "daughter" is used in formula twice in Old English poetry,

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Wealhtheow and Helgi's Valkyrie-Brides I 93

once referring to Lamech's daughters (Gen 1234•. eaforan ond idesa) and once possibly suggesting Sarah's filial relationship to God (Gen 2764•. eaforan ond idese), the referent of eaforan being Abraham. 25 This secondary sense of the term is also possible in its Beowulfian context. Ides can mean either "daughter" or "sister.. in the phrase ides Helminga, since Wealhtheow has been traditionally viewed as a Helming princess. Nor is it inconceivable that it carries a similar semantic force in her vitflcenning, ides Scyldinga, for as will be argued in Chapters 6 and 7, Wealhtheow's position in the Danish court may very well be that of Healfdene 's daughter and Helgi 's sister. Ides Scyldinga is the last of the epithets that associate Heorot's queen with the valkyrie-bride of the second lay of Helgi. The characters partake of similarities in physical and mental qualities, position and authority in the court, and historical appellatives. These likenesses in personality provide the first measure of evidence that suggests that Wealhtheow and the Sigrun figure of the Helgi lays descend from a common poetic stock and share a mutual legendary heritage.

HelgalcvitJa Hundingsbana I The Sigrun of HelgakvitJa Hundingsbana I is not as closely allied to Wealhtheow in descriptive epithet as is the warrior-maid of HelgakvitJa Hundingsbana II. The character retains her regal status, and continues to be identified (and identifies herself) as King Hogni's daughter and maiden (17, 18, 56). But in this lay, her identification as a valkyrie, a hialmvitr 'helmet-creature' (54), and her dual function as erotic bride and battlemaiden are stressed. The first epithet employed to describe her is dis sutJ. ranar 'southern dfs' (16), an identifying term for the valkyries. In addition, her three appearances occur on the battlefield, where she is shown not only in martial dress, but actively engaged in battle (15-16, 30, 54). Where HelgakvitJa Hundingsbana I manifests an additional bond between the Sigrun-figure and Wealhtheow is in similarities of narrative sequence and speech. In both poetic documents, the female character appears in two structurally balanced scenes that fulfill major narrative functions. The first concerns itself with the exaction of a formal vow from the hero and the second with the bestowal of the victor's rewards (HH 114-20, 55-56; Bwf 611641, 1159'>-1232•, esp. 1215-1231). The episodes are apparently set pieces, and the manner in which the characters are introduced is similar. In both instances, there is a break in the narrative, and the poet ushers in the character by a sensory appeal to

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94 I Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition sight and sound. In the Old Norse lay, Sigrun first appears to Helgi after a scene of carnage, during which he has slain the Hunding race and from which he has emerged victorious. In an entrance signaled by flashes of lightning and accompanied by a troop of valkyries, the warrior-maid descends from Loga.fic>llom 'Aame-Mountain' . The appearance is a spectacular one-the valkyries' blood-stained byrnies glitter, their spears spark, their shields clash. · Although considerably softened in quality, Wealhtheow's first entrance is also accompanied by a clash of sound (as is suggested by the tautological coupling of hlyn swynsode 'the din resounded', 61 lb), even though it is the clamor of laughter and talk rather than the clattering of battle gear. Likewise her appearance follows episodes of violence-Beowulf's triumphant struggle with the niceras and his verbal battle with Unferth, passages that emphasize the superior qualities of the hero, his eloquence, and his physical prowess. In addition, the women control and instigate the action of their respective sequences; it is they who incite the hero to make his formal beot. This command is presented in the guise of a desire long held by each character, whose fulfillment will bring personal satisfaction and freedom. Helgi 's vow to battle Hothbrod will eventuate in Sigrun 's release from an abhorrent marriage with the fierce, grim son of Granmar. Correspondingly, Beowulf's beot. will effect Wealhtheow's deliverance from the evil-ravager Grendel. Balancing these oath-making episodes are the scenes of the bestowal of rewards. With these scenes, too, subject and mood are strikingly alterecl, and the entrances of the female characters are elaborately anticipated. It is Sisam's belief that the Beowulf poet deliberately shifted the mood and theme: in order to replace the sense of doom and tragic defeat which pervaded the Finn episode, he created an atmosphere of ''national rejoicing."26 Finn's hall, hroden I feondafeorum 'adorned with the lifeblood of the foe' (115lb-l I52), is juxtaposed to Hrothgar's, where warriors crowd the mead-benches to celebrate victory: Leon wres isungen, gleomannes gyd. Gamen eft istih, beorthtode bencsweg . . . (1159"- 1161•) (The song had been sung, the tale of the gleeman. Mirth rose up again, the bench-noise brightened . . . )

To accompany the change of scene (from battle to celebration) and mood (from sorrow to rejoicing), the Beowulf poet signals the start of a new

11

Wealhtheow and Helgi's Valkyrie-Brides I 95

narrative episode through the use of synesthesia and through a distinct change of meter, from the normal to the hypermetric line. In both the first and second banquet scenes, Wealhtheow enters the narrative on an otfverse with a B-type line. An entrance on the second half-line is in itself not unusual. Germanic verse shows a marked preference for introducing new elements on the otf-verse. 27 The added element of a B-type line, however, serves to embellish metrically the queen's entrances. As Pope has demonstrated in his systematic analysis of the poem's rhythmic patterns, a rest characteristically begins the first measure of a B-type line. The rest, substituting for the downbeat of the measure, introduces syncopation into the rhythm of the verse, and in performance was possibly marked by the strum of a harp or lyre.28 This musical accent would presumably call attention to the introduction of a new element. The poet's employment of hypermetric lines further suggests an intention to place added emphasis on the queen's appearance, especially since expanded verse is used so rarely in the poem. 29 The effect, according to Pope, tends to retard the reading of the line , and in context "presents an interesting and agreeable contrast" to the normal verse. 30 With regard to Wealhtheow's entrance, retardation not only would impose a gravity and stately elegance to the queen's progress into and across the room, but would lend additional import to her presence. In Sigrun's entrance into the celebration scene in HelgakvitJa Hundingsbana I (st. 54), an equal display of rhetorical embellishment conveys a similar contrast in mood and scene. Immediately after a scene of carnage and mayhem, Sigrun descends from heaven into the assemblage of warriors on the battlefield: K6mo par 6r himni -6x geira gnyr-,

hialmvitr ofan )>~r er grami hlff&

(They came there out of heaven-the helmet-creatures from above, they who sheltered the warrior-king; the clang of spears resounded.)

Amid the din of spears, the valkyrie arrives to bestow on Helgi the victor's rewards . Like Beowulf, who fulfilled his beot to Wealhtheow by killing Grendel, Sigrun's hero-king has discharged his obligations to her by slaying the grim Hothbrod. The celebration scenes are placed in analogous settings. Although in Beowulf the scene is a mead-hall and in HelgakvitJa Hundingsbana I a battlefield, both are-like Valhalla or heaven-locations where victorious warriors assemble to receive their due rewards . For like Valhalla, heaven, and the battlefield of HelgakvitJa Hundingsbana I, Heorot, too, is a site of battle and celebration. It was to retain possession of the hall, to free it from God's adversary, that Beowulf engaged in single combat with Gren-

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96 I Beowulfs Wealhlheow and the Valkyrie Tradition

del; and the second banquet scene is an occasion of thanksgiving commemorating, on the very site of battle, both the victory and the superhuman effort of the hero. The action of each character in her respective sequence is largely ritualistic. The valkyrie, in this instance, evidently functions as a priestess, blessing the hero, conferring on him wealth, and prophesying his fame, actions which are identical to those performed by Wealhtheow in the second banquet scene. The speech each character makes when bestowing the gifts, moreover, shows similarities in tone, theme, and structure. They are quoted here to ease discussion: 55.1

"Heill scaltu, vfsi, virOa ni6ta, attstafr Yngva, oc una lffi, er pu felt hefir . inn ftugar traut5a iQfur, pann er olli regis daut5a.

56.1

Oc per, but5lungr, samir bret5i vel raut5ir baugar oc in rikia mrer; heill scaltu, but5lungr, bret5i ni6ta HQgna d6ttur oc Hringstat5a, sigrs oc landa; pa er s6cn lokit."

("Fortunate Prince! It shall be for you to enjoy the king's men, offspring of Yngvi, and to be happy in life, since you have slain the bold prince who brought death to all the foe. And for yourself, Prince, both the red-rings and the powerful maiden are rightly yours. Fortunate Prince! It shall be for you both to enjoy the daughter of Hogni and the Ring-Stead, victory and lands now that the battle has ended.") 1215

1220

1225

Wealht5eo mapelode, heo fore prem werede sprrec: "Brue t5isses beages, Beowulf leofa, hyse, mid hrele, ond pisses hrregles neot, J1Co(d]gestreona, ond geJ1Coh tela, cen pee mid crrefte, ond pyssum cnyhtum wes Iara Ii&! le J1C pres lean geman. Hafast pii gerered, pret t5e feor ond neah ealne wideferhp weras ehtigat5, efne swa side swa sre bebiiget5, windgeard, weallas. Wes penden pii lifige, repeling, eadig! le J1C an tela sincgestreona. Beo pu suna minum dredum gedefe, dreamhealdende ! Her is reghwylc eorl oprum getjwe, mOdes milde, mandrihtne hol[d], pegnas syndon gepwrere, J1Cod ealgearo, d~ncne dryhtguman dM swa ic bidde." Eode pa to setle.

Wealhtheow and Helgi's Valkyrie-Brides I 97

(Wealhtheow discoursed; she spoke before the host: "Enjoy this necklace, Beowulf, dear one; young man, with good fortune, and make use of this corselet, the people's treasure, and prosper well. Make yourself known through strength, and to these youths be kindly in counsel. I will remember to reward you for this. You have attained all, that which men will esteem far and near for a long time, even as wide as the sea surrounds the elevated shore, the courtyard of the wind. As long as you live, be thou blessed, Prince! I shall grant you many jeweled treasures. Be thou to my son31 gracious in deeds, blessed one. Here every noble is to every other true, with a mild heart, loyal to the lord; the thanes are united, the people are willing, the warriors flushed with drink do as I bid!" Then she went to her seat.)

If one excludes the last four lines of Wealhtheow's address, the .frameworks of both speeches are similar. Each is roughly divided into three parts, the first of which deals with the motifs of enjoyment and prosperity, participation in the king's retinue, and the blessings of good fortune (HH / 55. 1-2; Bwf 1216-1220-); the second part recognizes the difficulty.of the deed accomplished and the superhuman effort expended by the hero (HH / 55.3-4; Bwf 1221-1224•); while the third returns to the motifs of enjoyment of the treasure and the blessing of the prince (HH I 56.1-5; Bwf 1224b-1227). The tone of each speech resembles that of a benison. The hero is exhorted to prosper and to enjoy life and the treasure won. The prophetic sense of Heil/ scaltu, vfsi 'Fortunate Prince! It shall be for you ... to be happy in life' and Wes faenden pa lifige, I tefaeling, eadig 'As long as you live, be thou blessed, Prince' suggests that the gifts bestowed are auspicious, that the treasure-giver has oracular powers and authority, and that the recipient is under her special patronage. Wealhtheow's promise to Beowulf-ic pe pas lean geman-indicates such a relationship between the queen and the hero. Other of the queen's actions have religious overtones . The passing of the cup, the act of gift-giving, the unshakable faith in kin-loyalty have all been rightly interpreted by Irving as forms of incantation . Irving also notes that the dictional and rhythmic pattern of the last four lines are incantatory, attaining the quality of prayer (1228-1231). 32 Several other correspondences suggest an affinity between the two speeches. The device of repetition, common in Germanic formulaic verse, is used. In each speech, the blessing for good fortune is given twice (HH / 55. l, 56.3; Bwf 1217, 1225) and in all instances the statement comprises an A-type (HH, A3-type) line, falling on an on-verse. The exhortation to prosper and enjoy life appears three times: Niota, una, niota in HelgakvilJa Hundingsbana I (55.1, 55.2, 56.3) and Brue, neot, gepeoh in Beowulf (1216, 1217, 1218), with identical terminology used in one instance (OE neotan 'to enjoy'; ON njota 'to enjoy'). Two other identical terms

...

98 I Beowulf's Weallu~ow and the Valkyrie Tradition that appear are baugar:beages ('ring', 'necklace', 'jewel'). Conceptual similarities are also present: heill:hiile (adj. 'fortunate', subst. 'luck', 'good fortune') allude to the good fortune of the hero; attstafr and hyse, to his youth; hringstalJa, peodgestreona, and sincgestreona, to the quality of treasure given to him; vfsi, butJlungr, and apeling, to his princely status; and virlJa and cnyhtum, to the king's household. One could argue that the similarities of both speeches are a result of a conventional pattern used for "reward speeches." In Grfmnismlzl (3) , for example, an identical salutation, Heill scaltu, is used by Odin as he rewards young Agnar for his kindness; and the enjoyment motif appears with darker overtones in another reward speech, that given by Brynhild to Gunnar after the murder of Sigurd (Brot 8-10). One would expect these Norse addresses to reflect a thought pattern similar to that found in Sigrun 's speech, but they do not. Except for the conventional opening and the isolated motif of enjoyment, the utterances are highly dissimilar in structure and spoken by disparate characters in entirely different narrative situations. The correspondences between the Anglo-Saxon and Eddie addresses, on the other hand, are numerous and specific. The speeches appear in a comparable narrative situation (after a battle), are celebratory in nature and incantatory in tone, and yield similarities in structure and dictional resonance. They are, moreover, spoken by queens affiliated with the Scyldings, who have similar personal traits and whose relationship to the hero is analogous. These likenesses argue for the assumption that the speeches go beyond conventional utterance and are specific addresses that are assigned either to a fixed character type-the valkyrie-or to a particular legendary character, Helgi 's wife. Before considering the narrative and thematic ramifications of this supposition in regard to Beowulf in general and to Wealhtheow's identity in particular, it might be well to examine the remaining lay for distinctive features that would further relate the Anglo-Saxon Scylding queen to Helgi 's valkyrie-brides.

HelgalcvitJa HjQnartJssonar The dfs who functions as both erotic bride and warrior-maid in HelgakvilJa Hj{JrvartJssonar is Svava, daughter of King Eylimi. Svava and Sigrun are apparently the same character: Sigrun is Svava reborn (HH II Prose before 5). 33 Identified as the beloved of Helgi (unnusto Helga, Prose before 31), as a princess (konungborno, 32), and as a sorrowing bride (bruhr, gratattu, 41), Svava is the most glorious of the valkyries (g{Jfugligust, Prose before 6). As do Sigrun and Wealhtheow, she possesses the standard

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Wealhlheow and Helgi's Valkyrie-Brides I 99

attributes of the battle-maids: she originates in the south and carries descriptive qualities of brightness and radiating gold (bl'Ubr biartlitu"· 7); margullin mar, 26), and her fairness manifests itself beneath the valkyrie helmet (hvft und hialmi mar, 28). Except for these affinities in physical description and origin, specific correspondences between Svava and Wealhtheow are not so numerous or explicit as are those between the two Sigruns and Heorot's queen. Svava does appear in two structurally balanced scenes, both ritualistic in nature and both following scenes of carnage; yet these do not include the likenesses to Wealhtheow in speech and action that were present in HelgakvitJa Hundingsbana I . 1be occasion of the second scene, for example, rather than being a celebration of the hero's victory, is a death scene on the battlefield, in which Helgi bestows his prospective widow on his brother Hethin. In the first scene, however, similarities between the characters do arise in character action and narrative motif. The episode between Svava and Helgi is essentially a formal naming ceremony, a nafnfestr 'name-fastening'. which has been brought about by Helgi 's slackness of character, a trait which contrasts sharply with his noble and mighty physical stature. The prince was a silent man and ..no name clung to him," a phrase implying either that he was so psychologically withdrawn that he could not respond when addressed, or that he was so indolent that he could not perform deeds that would make him worthy of a formal epithet. Svava's role in the scene is twofold: she incites the hero to action and bestows on him his rewards, a coalescence in one scene of the actions performed by Wealhtheow (and Sigrun) in two separate episodes. Svava's speeches. like Sigrun's and (although muted) Wealhtheow's, are characteristic of a hv()t-an exhortation to action-and a benison. The valkyrie first admonishes the youth for his sloth, exhorts him to accept a warrior's life, names him Helgi 'the hallowed one' (in a sense consecrating him to Odin), and offers him the twin gift of herself and the most valuable of damascened swords. a gold-encrusted shield-destroyer with magic runes carved on the hilt and a twisted serpent on its blade. By its very nature, a hv()t contains the element of reproach. Usually uttered in a state of excitement. it is motivated by a desire to incite the hero to his duty.34 The speeches of Svava and the two Sigruns on their initial appearances are clearly hvatir-Svava chastises the hero for his indolence, and the Sigruns criticize him for questionable behavior. his reveling (RH I 17) and his eating of raw meat (RH II 7). Wealhtheow's behavior on her first meeting with Beowulf is likewise generated by a wish to incite the prince to heroic action. Consonant with the courtliness of the vow-making episode, the reproach element in the queen's exhortation speech is replaced by implied praise (the berating of Beowulf having already been

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100 I Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition

accomplished by Unferth). Yet the result of the queen's exhorting action is the same. For it is not until Wealhtheow confronts Beowulf and indirectly lays on him the charge of purging Heorot that he becomes gape getysed 'incited to battle', although he has stated previously that he would do the task. Wealhtheow and Svava, then, are similar in their relationship to the hero and in their performance of inciting actions. Wealhtheow is also tenuously associated with the motif of the "indolent youth blossoming into productive maturity," central to the Helgi-Svava episode. In Beowulf, this narrative detail is set forth in the homecoming scene at Hygelac's court (2163-2199). 35 The background action of the Beowulfian passage is the exchange of treasure. Beowulf presents the gifts given him by Hrothgar and Wealhtheow to Hygelac and his queen Hygd. In tum, he is endowed with his rightful inheritance: Hrethel's legacy, the gold-encrusted sword (an apparently unparalleled treasure) and the gifts of land and rank. The particulars of this exchange of treasure correspond to those that arise in the naming ceremonies of the Helgi lays, where the hero not only assumes his rightful social position, but, in addition, is entrusted with an occupation that gives purpse to his life. Sigmund, for example, bestows such treasures on his son Helgi, and the boy develops into a mighty, generous chieftain (HH I 7-8); and, as just noted, Svava executes a similar action with like results. After the valkyrie's gifts and exhortation, Helgi turns from a slothful youth into a productive, noble, and doughty warrior. Beowulf apparently undergoes a similar transformation: Swii bealdode beam Ecg~owes, guma giiOum ciiO, gooum da:dum, dreah a:fter dome; nealles druncne slog heorOgeneatas; na:s him hreoh sefa, ac he mancynnes mreste cra:fte ginfa:stan gife, ne him God sealde, heold hildedeor. Hean wa:s lange, swii hyne Geata beam goone ne tealdon, ne hyne on medobence micles wyrOne drihten Wedera gedon wolde; swyOe (wen)don, ~a:t he sleac wrere, a:Oeling unfrom. Edwenden cwom tireadjgum menn toma gehwylces.(2177-2189) (Thus the son of Ecgtheow, a man renowned in war, displayed himself bravely in virtuous deeds, acted in the pursuit of glory; never did he strike down the hearth-companions in drink; his mind was not fierce. But he, brave in battle, greatest in strength among mankind,

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Wealhlheow and Helgi's Valkyrie-Brides I 101 preserved the liberal gift God had given him. He had been humiliated for a long time, for the sons of the Geats did not count him worthy; nor did the lord of the Weder-Geats want to render him much honor on the mead-benches; they strongly believed that he was slothful, an impotent prince . But to the man blessed with glory, a reversal of all afflictions arrived.)

The introduction of the motif is unexpected, momentarily interrupting the gift-giving activity of the scene, and seemingly has little to do with the action. Yet there appears to be a causal relationship between it and the unit immediately preceding, between gift-giving and transformation of personality. Having been endowed with glory, the hero is released from material and spiritual bonds; and the bestower of the fame was Wealhtheow. Wealhtheow is absent from the passage in question; yet her presence is perhaps meant to be felt. The passage immediately follows the evocation of an image of We.alhtheow as a treasure-giver in the second banquet scene, and more particularly as the bestower of the consummate jewel, the "wondrous , curiously fashioned" necklace: Hyrde ic J1ret he &ne healsbeah Hygde gesealde, wr.etlicne wund1,U111~um , &ne J1e him WealMeo geaf, &od(nes) dohtor, Jnio wicg somod swancor ond sadolbeorht; hyre syMan wres refter beahOege br[e]ost geweorlk>d. (2172-2176) (I heard that he gave Hygd the necklace-ornamental wondrous jewel- which Wealhtheow had given him, the prince 's daughter; together with three horses, graceful with bright ·saddles. After the receiving of the necklace, her breast was henceforth graced.)

The stress the poet places on the magnificence of the gifts and the method he employs to recount the event inti~ate that the figure of the queen might control this particular narrative sequence. The hyrde ic formula, for example, signals a broadening of perspective that places the events that occurred at Heorot and the immediate happenings at Hygelac's court in juxtaposition. The indirectness of the poet's approach, moreover, has a distancing effect upon Beowulf's immediate activity, and implies a view of the hero as the agency, the bridge linking the two gift-giving episodes. Finally, the act of transference itself serves to intensify the sense of parallel time and place, for it permits simultaneity of perception: Wealhtheow 's bestowing of the jewel and Hygd's receiving of it. It suggests a momentary coalescence of the two characters, so that Hygd, "graced" with Wealhtheow's necklace, may be seen as her surrogate. In addition, the descriptive matter of the inserted passage may be asso-

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102 I Beowulfs Wealhlheow and the Valkyrie Tradition ciated with the Scyldings, used here to stress further the presence of the Danes. The reprehensible characteristics that pointedly arc not part of Beowulf's personality arc reminiscent of traits belonging to Helgi, who, in Saxo and to a lesser extent in the Leire Chronicle, is depicted as a perpetrator of cruel acts, a man possessing a savage temper and bestial appetites.36 In the Scylding legend, the figure of a feeble prince may be represented by the hero-king Hrolf, the Beowulfian Hrothulf. His epithet, kraki, is rendered by Olrik as "a small, feeble figure, a stunted person." 37 Hrolf, the greatest and last of the Scylding warrior-kings, was the son of Helgi and his daughter-wife Yrsa, a woman whose name (as already noted) associates her with southern, Romance peoples in Frankish territory. 38 Finally, the apparent causal relationship between the two units-the gift-giving and the personality transformation-suggests that the queen's presence is meant to be evoked. As in the naming ceremonies of the Helgi lays, the bestowal of gifts on the hero is correlated with the acceptanc~ of heroic duty. In this regard, it is pertinent to recall that, along with the necklace, Beowulf was also presented with what might be considered his life's purpose. Wealhtheow had entrusted the hero with the responsibility of instructing the youth corps and supporting her son. In the second part of the poem, Beowulf fulfills his appointed duty, although it is Hygd's son and not Wealhtheow's who receives his loyalty and love. Wealhtheow and Svava apparently arc united in another narrative motif, in that each holds a complementary relationship with a supernatural female of a dark, sinister type. The creature is corrupt, as evidenced by her half-bestial, half-human physical form, is a night-raider, and is insatiable in her desire for revenge. Hrimgerth, the Norse giantess, seeks to avenge the murder of her father Hati 'the Hated One', while Grendel's mother, the Anglo-Saxon one, seeks compensation for the killing of her son. The Norse giantess has qualities and traits reminiscent of the merewif mihtig 'mighty mere-woman' of Beowulf. Hrimgerth is characterized as a witch (13, 15), a dusk-rider (15), a corpse-hungry giantess (16, 18), loathsome to mankind (25), as having claws (22), a powerful wrestling grip (22), and a tail (20, 21). The aquatic environment of the episode suggests that Hrimgerth 's tail might be that of a lamia or a mermaid.39 Her actions would corroborate her identity as a sea-wife. During the sea battle, Hrimgerth fought in the water, attacking the vessels and killing the men who fell into the sea ( 18). On her night visit to Atli, she is again portrayed in the water, for Helgi 's guardsman accuses the foul witch of having come up beneath the ship's keel (23). Finally, at the end of the Hrimgerth episode,40 she is transformed into a stone harbor marker (30), an image that recalls the rocky lairs of the Lorelei or Scylla.

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Wealhlheow and Helgi's Vallcyrie-Brides I 103

Svava and Hrimgerth are adversaries. Both vie for possession of the hero; the sea-giantess attempts to destroy him, the battle-maid to honor and seek protection from him. The relationship is analogous to that between Wealhtheow and Grendel's mother. Svava is the last valkyrie-figure in the Poetic Edda directly connected with the Scyldings. With her, then, the examination of the valkyrie-brides of the heroic lays concludes. In each of the lays. Helgi's valkyrie-bride exhibits distinguishing characteristics that also typify Hrothgar's queen . Svava and Wealhtheow not only share similar physical and psychological traits, but, in addition, are associated with the motif of an "indolent youth blossoming into a productive maturity" and hold an analogous antithetical relationship to a fierce, corrupt female creature with aquatic attributes. Sigrun, the Scylding bride of the first and second lays, displays more minute and meaningful correspondences. Wealhtheow and Sigrun of HelgakvitJa Hundingsbana II are aligned by epithet and formula: grene goldhroden and gratr pu gullvari~ (as argued in Chapter 4) imply an ambivalence of personality and offer an abstract representation of each character as the embodiment of magnificence and sorrow. Ides Helminga and Ylfinga man associate them with an identical Germanic tribe , the Wulfings: ides Scyldinga and dfs scipldunga more immediately connect them with the Danish royal line. The terms ides (in its specialized filial sense) and dfs (in its primary signification) point to a specific identification of the characters as sisters to the Scyldings. Other terms relate the two conceptually: man and Wealhj>eow (in its tautological rendering, 'slave', 'servant') associate them with the bondmaid motif; sutJran and Wealh- (in its primary ethnic and etymological sense of ' Romance') intimate southern territory as their place of origin, an attribute shared by the other valkyrie-figures as well. All four characters have superior mental qualities, imposing stature, and physical radiance, and their primary authority is to invest the hero with his heroic identity and bestow on him his earned rewards. Lastly, the appearance of Wealhtheow and Sigrun of HelgakvitJa Hundingsbana I in somewhat similar narrative sequences, performing analogous actions of blessing and rewarding the hero, and uttering speeches that, although structured on the pattern of traditional Germanic verse, are nonetheless interestingly alike in tone, dictional choice, and matter, substantiates the postulation that Wealhtheow is a character conceived and constructed in the tradition of the Nordic warrior-woman. It further suggests that Wealhtheow and the valkyrie-brides of the Helgi lays represent the Anglo-Saxon and Old Icelandic poetical versions of a single legendary personality, the Scylding king Helgi 's wife.

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104 I Beowulr s Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition

The contradiction arising from such an observation is evident. Wealhtheow is assuredly Hrothgar's wife; and Helgi himself is mentioned once in the poem, in the genealogical passage (53-63), where he is given the epithet til 'good', and is neatly dismissed from the story. Thus, the narrative itself would appear to preclude a relationship between them parallel to that observed in the Helgi lays. Still the paradox is not entirely irreconcilable. Wealhtheow's position as Hrothgar's wife need not render impossible an association with Helgi. Through a situation analogous to that which occurred at the end of HelgakvitJa Hj(JrvartJssonar, for example, the queen, upon the death of young Halga til, might have become the wife of his brother, staying on at the Danish court with the infant Hrothulf. The speculation deserves some consideration. Certainly multiple treatment of a basic legendary figure would not be uncommon in a literary tradition that was characterized by its "reciprocal free-trade" in subject matter (see Chap. l, pp. 15-16). The Scyldings of Beowulf are an immediate case in point. Their story is extant in six Scandinavian prose documents of varying genre and literary quality, and, in poetic tradition, they are the main concern of the Helgi lays and Beowulf. With the exception of Beowulf, where the venerable Hrothgar is presented as the Scylding chieftain and Beowulf as the young warrior-king, all the other versions show Helgi as the prominent Scylding and, upon his death, Hrolf as the rising hero-king. In all the other versions also, there is a female figure of magnitude who is Helgi's beloved wife. In the Icelandic poems, she is called Sigrun and Svava; in the prose documents, Yrsa. Yrsa's character, like Helen's and Brynhild's, lends itself to heroic exaggeration. She is beautiful and accomplished, an abducted princess, and southern in origin. Helgi's love for her is as immoderate as Antony's for Cleopatra, as Paris's for Helen. Her passion for him is reciprocal. Both the events of her life and the essential extravagance of her temperament make her a suitable character for portrayal in either a heroic lay, a saga, or an epic. In a narrative that encompasses the rise and fall of the Scylding dynasty, it would not be entirely unreasonable to assume that the Anglo-Saxon poet might include in his dramatis personae the legendary Scylding queen at another stage of her long and illustrious life. In this regard, at the end of the last century, Bugge postulated a connection between the Helgi lays and the Anglo-Saxon epic. Lexical correspondences and similarities in theme and narrative detail led him to conclude that the lays had been composed by Norwegian poets who had been influenced by the Beowulfian rendering of the Scylding material. Bugge admits variances in treatment. The Anglo-Saxon epic-because of its scope, its inclusion of narrative material, its gnomic passages, its historical ori-

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Wealhtheow and Helgi's VaJ/cyrie-Britks I 105

entation-by its very nature differs from the direct, dramatic, and objective presentation of the lays. Whether the relationship between Beowulf and the lays was as direct as Bugge proposes is , for the moment, indeterminable, but the results of the comparative character analysis of Wealhtheow and the Svava-Sigrun character of the lays lend support to his thesis.

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6 Wealhtheow and the Scylding Queens of the Sagas Koouogr ~t Nor&i . . . bans d6ttir ~t Qgo.

"Ek em lwlsd6ttir ot heiti ek Yrsa."

- Hr6lfs saga lcraka ("I'm a peasant's daughter and I'm called Yrsa.")

-Hr6lfs saga lcraka (There was a king named Northri . . . his daughter's name was Ogn .)

In the Scandinavian prose versions of the Scylding legend, the woman who appears as Hroar's (Hrothgar's) wife is Ogn. A minor figure, recorded in only two of the documents that deal with the Scylding kings-Hrolfs saga kraka (chaps. 5, 8, 9) and the abstracted Skjc>ldunga saga (chap. 11)1-she is of relatively little consequence to the plot. In Hrolfs saga kraka she provides a kingdom for Hroar to rule (Northumbria), one of sufficient importance and remove from Denmark, and she gives birth to the legendary hero Agnar. Skj c>ldunga saga devotes one sentence to the character without mentioning her name. The formal treatment of Ogn in Hrolfs saga kraka is distinctly different from that given Wealhtheow in Beowulf. Ogn has no significant scenes, no set speeches, no elaborately prepared entrances. Her role is essentially passive; she is a faithful widow, refusing to marry her husband's murderer (Hrok),2 although she is desirable enough for him to want to possess her (Hsk, chap. 8). Her temperament and disposition, moreover, lack poetic dimension. She has neither superior intellect, beauty, nor manner, and she wields no political or military power. Thus, the character operates primarily as a functional device, used by the sagaman to facilitate his storytelling. Of interest in this regard is Malone's conjecture that Ogn is a later addition to the tale, inserted by the sagaman simply to introduce Agnar, the famous legendary son of Ingjald, without having to include the father in the plot. 3 Malone's supposition is tenable, for once Agnar is born, matures, and performs the feat of diving for and retrieving the famous Scylding ring-events that occur in chapter 9-both he and his mother disappear from the story. Because the two Scandinavian documents represent Ogn as being of

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Wealhlheow and.the Scylding Queens of the Sagas I 107

English stock-daughter of Northri, King of "Northumberland"-it was once felt that England was also the place of origin for Wealhtheow,• a supposition subsequently disputed by Bjorkman, Malone, and Olson,' primarily because of the suspect historicity of Ogn's name. According to Malone, the character's name is an authorial invention, "obviously derived [through alliteration with the first element] from that of her· son Agnarr." 6 For Bjorkman, it is explicable only as "a Noi:se epithet for a princess of foreign birth";7 he likewise views the name of the princess's father as historically invalid, possibly being constructed from a "folk name in Nordic territory." 8 Even the conjecture regarding the character's homeland is unsatisfactory for Bjorkman, since an "English Northumbria barely existed at the end of the fifth century." 9 Clearly, then, Ogn offers little that can elucidate Wealbtheow 's legendary origin and character; except for her . marriage to Hroar, Ogn has neither formal nor contextual affinities with Hrothgar's consort. Another Scylding queen does. Helgi's wife, Yrsa (whose conjectural appearance in Beowulf will be discussed presently), has correspondences with Wealhtheow in several areas. In temperament, in her descriptive and formal status in the documents, in peculiarities of speech and action, and in her position as an important figure in the legend, Helgi's daughterwife-mother .o f his son, the hero-king Hrolf-strongly evokes the Beowulfian queen. A compelling, complex personage, Yrsa appears in all the documents (except Bjarkamll[) that deal with the fall of Hrolf and hence of the Scylding dynasty. She makes important, although brief, appearances in the earliest and latest poetic pieces-Grottas(>ngr (ca. 950, st. 22) and Bjarkar£mur (ca. 1400, r£mur 5.36, 8.13)-but is presented as a fully delineated character in the prose works. Heterogeneous and fragmentary, the latter works consist of two Danish chronicles, Chronicon Lethrense (ca. 1170, chap. 4) and Saxo's Gesta Danorum (ca. 1200, Bk. II); three reduced renderings of the lost Skjc>ldunga saga (ca. 1200)-Snorri Sturluson's Ynglinga saga (ca. 1223-35, chaps. 28-29) and Sk/Jldskaparmal (chap. 43), and Amgrfmur J6nsson's Latin abstract of the earlier Icelandic saga (1596); and Hrolfs saga kraka (ca. 1400), the one complete extant literary prose treatment of the rise and fall of the Scyldings. The last is a compilation 9f six jxettir, some of which betray signs of having evolved out of a declining oral tradition, while others show the considerable influence of fairy tales and myth. 10 The heterogeneity of the time lapse between the sources produce variation in both the focus and the length of the narratives, as well as in the selection and arrangement of thematic units. Snorri's handling of the material is interesting in this regard, for although the historian is apparently

11

108 I Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition aware of the legend in its entirety, he includes only those incidents which serve his immediate narrative purpose. In Ynglinga saga, for example, the whole of the Helgi-Yrsa-Hrolf story (which in Hrolfs saga kraka spans the entire work) is compressed into two paragraph-size chapters (28-29) that function as a prelude to the climactic event of Athils 's violent death in the temple of the dfs during a dlsar blot 'sacrifice to the dis'. In Skalds· kaparmal (chap. 43), on the other hand, because his purpose is to explain the circumlocution satJ Kraka 'the seed of Kraki', a kenning for gold, and to illustrate Hrolf's generosity, Snorri recounts only the nafnfestr 'namefastening' episode and the visit to Uppsala. Amgrimur's summary and the Danish documents reflect analogous variances. 11 Yet despite these divergences in length •and treatment of incident, the works do agree on the larger narrative events and, what is of particular interest here, on the presentation of Yrsa as an indispensable figure to the legend. The character has heroic dimension, analogous to that possessed by the heroines of the Volsung cycle, by Sigrun and Svava in the Helgi lays, and by Wealhtheow in Beowulf. Like them, she is portrayed as an ambivalent figure, potentially benefieient and injurious, with martial and pagan associations, and she is affiliated with two royal houses, the Scylding and Scylfing dynasties. As queen of Sweden, she is pictured as a Thryth-type character, wielding military and political power in the Scylfing court, a fatal maiden to Athils and his berserkers. She is vengeful, avaricious, cunningly manipulative, and (according to Saxo) a thief. Contrarily, in her relationship with the Danes she is depicted as a beneficent treasure-give~-:­ comely~- generous, sexually enticing-a yielding lover to Helgi, a ·doting mother to Hrolf. Like the valkyrie-brides of the Helgi lays and Wealhtheow of the Anglo-Saxon epic, Yrsa possesses traits of idealized womanhood: wisdom, acumen, beauty, generosity, eloquence, and a regal bearing commensurate with her status as queen of Denmark and Sweden. Like the other female figures, she is also a character of volition. In Sax.o's render.. g of Hrolf's visit to Uppsala, for example, Yrsa ageears as a prime de · action, initiating and dominating the events that lead to the_. imactic flight across yrzsve zr t e·prams-Of'{thc ri\t~] _Ey1i' . 'fttis iSa nota e orma unction for the character, fngr 'the song of Grotti' or 'the Quern song' (st. 22), Hrolf is identified solely by his relationship to his mother-sister through the matronymic Yrsa sonr 'Yrsa's son' and through the formulaic expression burr ok br6lfir 'son and brother': "MQlom eon framarr! mun Yrso sonr viO HaJfdana hefna Fro&; sa mun hennar heitinn verOa burr oc brMir; vitom baOar ):>at." ("Let us go on grinding. Yrsa's son will avenge the slaying of Frothi on the Halfdanes. He who will come to be called her son and brotherwe both know that.")14

The stanza, representing the culmination of the giant-maidens' curse upon Frothi and his descendants, is remarkable (as Olrik has observed) both for the prominence it accords to the Scylding-Scylfing queen and for the allusive manner with which it deals with the final moral outrage-the incestuous birth of the hero-king Hrolf-that led to the extinction of the Scylding dynasty. 15 This referential treatment is an indication that the relationship between Yrsa and her son (morally corrupt at its center) had beCome part of the poetic consciousness and a conventional component of the Scylding narrative. Hrolf's continued identification as Yrsa's burr ok brotJir in later prose documents supports such an interpretation. The formu)aic expression is found in Saxo and Amgrimur asfratri etfilio, alongside a complementary phrase identifying Yrsa as matri et sorori 'mother and sister' to the young king. In Saxo's rendering of Hrolf's visit to Athils's court in Uppsala, moreover, the initial meeting between Yrsa and her brother-son contains considerable wordplay which stresses their unnatural kinship: He was not recognized by his mother owing to his long absence and the cessation of their common life; so in jest he first asked for some victuals to appease his hunger. She advised him to ask the king for a luncheon. Then he thrust out a tom piece of his coat, and begged of her the service of sewing it up. Finding his mother's ears shut to him, he observed, "That it was hard to discover a friendship that was firm and true, when a mother refused her son a meal, and a sister refused her brother the help of her needle." ... Athislus, when he saw him reclining close to his mother at the banquet, taunted th.em both with wantonness, declaring that it was an impure intercourse of brother and sister. Rolfo repelled the charge against his mother by an appeal to the closest of natural bonds, and answered that it was honorable for a son to embrace a beloved mother. 16

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Although Saxo's account dates from the early thirteenth century, Olrik has proposed that Hrolf's remark about a mother who will not offer her son food and a sister who will not sew for her brother-cum filio mater epulum, fratri soror suendi obsequium neget-is one which "bears the mark of antiquity," for it contains what may be the remnants of an alliterating pattern based on ON motJir-matr 'mother-food', systir-syja 'sister-sew', a rhythmical combination which points to the early existence of a stock poetic formula that identified the queen through her association with her son. 17 The Scylding queen is similarly represented in Skllldskaparmlll and the Leire Chronicle. Snorri relates that Athils atti Yrsu, m0tJur Hro/fs kraka 'had as wife, Yrsa, the mother of Hrolf kraki'. This is shortly followed by what may be considered a redundant identifying tag, m0lJir hans 'his mother', attached to the queen's name, a collocation which also appears twice in the Leire Chronicle, apparently with a comparable tautological function: Mater uero eius Ursula 'his mother was Yrsa'; sue matris Ursule 'his mother, Yrsa'. Malone strongly proposed that the constancy with which these reciprocal identifying phrases occur argues that, at the beginning of the legend-making process, an interdependent relationship existed between the characters, and that this continued to be so tenaciously a part of the story that it determined changes in the legend during the process of • • transnuss1on: •

. . . it remains true that Hr6lfr and his mother-sister are very closely knit together in the old stories. The stories that we are now studying are a striking exemplification of this. Hr6lfr's personality was so bound up with that of Yrsa that the savor carried over to his substitutes and the sagamen could not put Hra:rekr or Helgi in place of Hr6lfr without binding to him a mother or a sister (or both) whose name or deeds would rouse associations akin to those which Yrsa's name evoked. 18

In the consciousness of the Scandinavian storytellers, then, the characters were apparently inseparable. Where the mother was, there very often was the son. The Beowulf poet departs from this tradition. Although he includes Hrothulf in his dramatis personae, he seems to omit Yrsa from the text altogether, a deletion tantamount to a sagaman 's rendering the story of the Volsungs without an allusion to Brynhild, or to Homer's relating the fall of Troy without a mention of Helen. Moreover, although it is quite likely that he knew of the prince's identification as "Yrsa's son," familiar as he was with other details of the Scylding tale, he nevertheless deprives Hrothulf of the matronymic that had clung to him throughout the legend-making process. The poet, in fact, avoids associating the Danish prince with either

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Wealhtheow and the Scylding Queens of the Sagas I 111

of his parents. This is an oddity in the poem, since epithets expressing specific lineage are given to even the most minor characters: Aeschere is Yrmenliifes yldra bropor 'Yrmenlaf's elder brother'; Wulf is sunu Wonredes 'son of Wonred' (Bwf 1324, 2971). Hrothulf is denied this heroic convention. When first introduced, he is coupled with Hrothgar as magas 'kinsmen', a relationship specifically defined subsequently by the term suhtergefa!deran 'nephew-uncle' . This compund, however, may be linked with the Old Norse formula burr ok brotJir, as its literal translation (according to Hoops and others) is "brother-son, father-brother," the first element thus serving to identify Hrothulf in terms of his legendary persona. 19 Except for these joint circumlocutions, no other epithet denoting family ties is attached to the Danish prince. The omission of Yrsa from the text and Hrothulf's disassociation from either parent may have been determined by the circumstances of the prince's conception and birth as set forth in the legend; for had the poet allied Helgi and Yrsa with their son, he would have implanted into the poem's thematic structure the motifs of rape and incest, narrative features that, on the one hand, might have made the poem's "Christian author" 20 liable to censure and, on the other, might have violated the decorum of a poem whose focus is heroic virtue and conduct. An immediate intimation of the poet's sensitivity to the motifs may be found in his alternative treatment of Helgi 's traditional character. When Hrothulf's father is mentioned in the genealogical passage (53-63), the king's essential trait is significantly altered, and the licentious Helgi of legend whose tragic ftaw was uncontrollable lust is characterized as til 'good' . Whether the poet used care or irony in thus describing a personage of unbridled appetite is indeterminable, but that he did refine and soften the Scylding sea-king before removing him from the narrative proper seems evident. That the poet was hesitant to make direct reference to incest is likewise demonstrated by the absence of the motif from the scop's song of Sigemund and Fitela (Bwf 86?b-897). A fixed feature of the Sigmund-SignySinfjotli sequence of the Volsung cycle is the incestuous mating of Sigmund with his sister Signy, a union which resulted in the birth of Sinfjotli (OE Fite/a) . In the lay of Sigemund's fight with the dragon, however, the Beowulf poet glosses over the dual kinship shared by the two Waelsings , and Fitela is referred to only as Sigemund's nefa 'nephew' (Bwf 881•) when in fact he is both nephew and son to the dragon-slayer. 21 Although it is impossible to determine the poet's knowledge of this feature of the Volsung legend, the change in authorial perspective at this point in the narrative suggests that he was aware of it. It is not insignificant that the poet places the tale in the mouth of Hrothgar's scop, rather than , as is the

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112 I Beowulfs Wealhlheow and the Valkyrie Tradition case in the Eormenric-Hygelac digression (Bwj 1197-1214), relating it himself. The alteration is an interesting one, for it further removes the poet from the morally objectionable motif and simultaneously reveals his knowledge of it: Hwnum cyninges ~gn, guma gilphlzden, gidda gemyndig, se & ealfela ealdgesegena worn gemunde, word o~r fand sO& gebunden; secg eft ongan sm Beowulfes snyttrum styrian, ond on sped wrecan spel geride, wordum wrixlan; welhwylc gecw~. pzt he fram Sigemunde[s] secgan hyroe ellendredum, uncii~s feta, Wzlsinges gewin, wide smas, pira ~ gumena beam gearwe ne wiston, ~h& ond fyrena, biiton Fitela mid hine, Jx>nne he swulces hwzt secgan wolde, am his nefan, swi hie a wieron zt nma gehwim nydgesteallan; hzfdon ealfela eotena cynnes sweordum geszeged. (867"-884•)

(At times, a thane of the king, a man laden with speeches, bearing songs in his mind, who could call to mind many, a great many, of the old sagas, devised new words, artfully joine«;t. In tum, the man began to recite [a song about] Beowulfs adventure, and successfully to declaim, to exchange with words, the appropriate tale. He related everything he ~ad heard told about Sigemund, [about his] valorous deeds, many an unknown struggle of the Waelsing, the far-reaching adventures-of the feud and evil deeds-which the children of men knew not at all, except for Fitela (when he [Sigemund] wanted to speak of such a thing with him, the uncle to his nephew), since they were always comrades-in-need at each battle; many a kin of the giants had they slain by the sword.)

The portrait is of a skilled scop working in a highly controlled oral tradition, with a stock of tales ready to be performed at instant recall. His particular knowledge of the stories affixed to Sigemund-the subject of his immediate performance-is comprehensive; he is even privy to incidents known only to the Waelsing and Fitela. It seems unlikely, then, that the scop would have been ignorant of a central event in his hero's life. The semantic congruency in the alliterative linking of ffehtJe, fyrena, Fite/a, in fact, stylistically details the event: the ffehtJe 'feud' between the

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Waelsings (Sigemund and Signy) and Siggeir (Signy's husband) leads to thefyrena 'evil deeds' (the union of brother and sister), the fruit of which is Fitela. 22 It would follow, then, that what the scop of the lay knew regarding Sigemund, the poet of the poem did also; and his avoidance of the incest motif signifies that some type of self-imposed or general censorship was at work. Further evidence that either censorship or artistic selection may have operated in the poet's departure from what apparently were conventional motifs of the Scylding legend-Helgi's licentiousness, Yrsa's rape, Hrolf's improper birth-surprisingly arises in the monster narrative. There the symbiotic relationship that characterizes Yrsa 's association with her son and figures so prominently in the Scandinavian sources emerges in abstract form in the structural coupling of and intimacy between Grendel and his mother. Like Hrolf in the Scandinavian documents, Grendel also was irregularly conceived (no one knows his sire, Bwf 1355h-1357•). Like Yrsa and Hrolf, mother and son help to define each other. The characters are interlinked in human attributes (each has cognition),23 in epithet,24 in action, 2' in social status (he is ironically a heallJegn 'hall-thane'; she is ides 'lady'),26 and in genealogy.27 Finally, they are kinsmen (Bwf 1339h, 1391•). The mighty mere-woman's very identity is derived from the name of her son-Grendles mOdor is the inverse of the ubiquitous matronymic found in the Scandinavian sources. Both pairs of mother and son, moreover, are moral outcasts, and the moral corruption that is at the core of the Yrsa-Hrolf relationship has been transformed and objectified into the monstrous shapes of Grendel and his mother. Whatever wickedness comprises the inner nature of the Nordic pair is manifested in the outer nature of the Anglo-Saxon one. By the transformation, the poet effectively has disengaged himself from literally rendering a motif that could have brought him only disapprobation, and at the same time has freed himself to present allusively a critical commentary on the relationship itself. 28 The emergence of the legendary mother-son motif in the monster narrative has formal significance, for it raises the possibility that the poet organized his narrative through a fusion of historical and folktale matter and, what is of more immediate concern here, that he employed fragmentation as a method of characterization. One can, for example, perceive Grendel as a parody of Hrothulf: Grendel's.physical abnormality (his massive frame and superior strength) is the inverse of the malformed body of the legendary Hrolf. It will be remembered that Hrolf's nickname in the old stories was kraki, a characterizing epithet rendered by Olrik on the basis of his etymological investigations as a "small, feeble figure," "a stunted person." 29 Furthermore, like the great Danish hero-king, the renowned monster also subdues a kingdom; and like Hrothulf, he jointly

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114 I Beowulf's WealhlMow and tM Valkyrie Tradition rules Heorot with Hrothgar, while his mother lies waiting in shadow to support him. 30 The device of fragmentation especially of mirroring-was not foreign to the consciousness of the Anglo-Saxon artist. The key to understanding the essential nature of Anglo-Saxon art lies, as D. M. Wilson argues, in recognizing that its artists abhorred naturalistic renderings of subject matter: "'The Anglo-Saxon artist never attempted accurate portrayal of a human or animal form. He approached his subject in an abstract manner, breaking the surfaces and lines into a kaleidoscope of broken, twisted, tortuous and dismembered animal forms, which are completely divorced from the naturalism of his Mediterranean contemporary." 31 Extant metalwork and jewelry reveal that the artisans habitually employed some form of abstracted mirroring, particularly in the treatment of their animal figures; the elongated and interlinked boar-figures on the Sutton Hoo shoulder clasp are an example. Anglo-Saxon literature offers instances of the device in both epic and lyric forms. The Juliana-Demon pairing, as a case in point, illustrates the employment of fragmentation to delineate psychological disquietude in the saint; for in epithet, action, and in the nature of their conflict, Juliana and the Demon hold a positive-negative relationship that is merged at its core. Fusion of character is also essential to the form and emotional substance of The Dream of the Rood. Although the cross and Christ are portrayed as separate personae at the inception of the poem, through their joint experience of the passion they become unified. The method was apparently a common device of characterization in Germanic poetry. As previously observed, an obverse-inverse pattern of characterization appears in Icelandic literature, of which the Helgi lays offer an example in the bipolar relationship of the radiant maiden Svava and the dark sea-hag Hrimgerth. An antipodal relationship informs the Yrsa-Olof configuration as well. It is this type of character-pairing-whereby two opposing characters are placed in juxtaposition, one serving as the double of the other-that is reflected in the Hygd-Modthrytho and Wealhtheow-Grendel 's mother patterns discussed in Chapter 3. It would not be artistically incongruous, then, to find fragmentation as an organizing principle of characterization in Beowulf. 32 Postulating a fusion of the characters in the main and monster narratives, however, does pose difficulties. If Grendel is to function as a shadow of Hrothulf, then Grendel's mother requires the persona of Yrsa as a complementary identity; but it has already been noted that Yrsa is absent from the manuscript. There is nevertheless reason to suspect that the omission resulted not from poetic intent but from scribal error. Continuing reconstruction of the metrically defective MS line 62 leads to the speculation

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that Yrsa, like Helgi and Hrolf, may indeed have been included in the dramatis personae of the poem. Although conjectural and incidental, the incorporation of the character into the narrative line would make possible the notion that the poet used a fused narrative frame and the device of fragmentation in characterization. The brief summary of the major reconstruction arguments which follows points to the likelihood that in Beowulf the persona of the Scandinavian Yrsa is represented by Wealhtheow, and by extrapolation that the illustrious queen of Heorot functions as the positive side of the grim mere-wife, Grendel's mother. The deficient line appears in the genealogical passage and reads as follows, the omitted name standing for Healfdene's fourth child: -E>zm feower beam fo!'Ogerimed in worold w6cun, weoroda l'Zswa[n], Heorogir ond Hrf>Ogir ond Hilga til, hyrde ic pret [..... . wres On]elan cwen, Hea&:>-Scilfingas healsgebedda. (59-63) (All told, four children were born into the world to him [Healfdene], the leader of the hosts: Heorogar and Hrothgar and Halga the good; I've heard that ... was Onela's queen, the dear bedfellow of the Battle-Scylfing.)

MS 62 reveals no break or mutilation in the parchment, merely an omission which represents a metrical inconsistency and appears thus: hyrde ic p [ . .. ] elan cwen, the lacuna most probably occurring before elan, and p presumably being an abbreviation for jxet. The first step in the reconstruction process which produced the Klaeber arrangement shown above was generated by Grundtvig in 1841. Observing that the narrative requirement of line 63 demanded that the missing princess's husband be a Swede, Grundtvig noted that the only known Swedish king whose name would have had the -ela ending in Old English , was Onela (ON Ali). Accordingly, he completed the fragment to Onelan, taking -elan as a genitive singular agreeing with HeatJo-Scilfingas in line 63. 33 This emendation was accepted by Bugge, who in tum proposed the following arrangement: hyrde ic pret [N .N. wres On]elan cwen HeaOoscilfingas healsgebedda. :i.

Virtually all of the poem's subsequent editors and commentators have followed this reconstruction. 3~ The first to insert Yrsa as the name of the missing princess was M. G. Clarke in 1919. Clarke argued extensively (apparently with Chadwick's

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116 I Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition

backing) not only that Yrsa answered the historical requirements of the passage-that the character be allied to both the Scylding and the Scylfing dynasties-but that, in addition, her name fulfilled the exigencies of vowel alliteration of line 62. The queen, moreover, was a dominant figure in the legend, and although inconsistencies existed between the English version of the story and the Scandinavian one-in which Yrsa was Helgi's daughter rather than his sister and no marriage to Onela was recorded-these, Clarke reasoned, might be explained. The first, for example, might represent the tendency in northern tradition of substituting a "marriage between father and daughter for one which was originally between brother and sister." 36 A brother-sister mating between Yrsa and Helgi would have been more consistent with heroic tradition and would have brought Hrolf "into line with the long roll of heroes [Cuchullin, Gawain, Roland, Sinfjotli] . . . so many of whom sprang from an illicit union of brother and sister." 37 The second variance between the northern and southern versions, Clarke suggests, may point to the greater authority of the English text; and she proceeds to posit a historical situation whereby Yrsa could have been the wife of Onela prior to her marriage to Athils.38 In 1921 (and later more elaborately argued in 1929), the insertion of Yrsa as the character in line 62 was likewise proposed by Kemp Malone. And although he did depart from Clarke's hypothesis in one particularClarke believed Yrsa to be a true daughter of Healfdene, while Malone held that she was Healfdene's daughter-in-law-Malone's examination of the legend led him to assert unequivocably that "Yrsa, and Yrsa alone" fulfilled the historical and literary requirements posed by the genealogical passage. 39 Malone's argument for his daughter-in-law theory ran as follows: Yrsa could not be Healfdene's daughter as stated by the poet, for the queen's name did not follow the h-alliterating pattern used by the Scyldings in the formation of their family names. Moreover, none of the Scandinavian sources provided a historical basis for the existence of a daughter of Healfdene, the character of Signy in the FrotJaPQnr episode of Hrolfs saga kraka being a late authorial addition, derived from Vc>lsunga saga.40 Rather, the consistent structural feature in the northern stories-Helgi's abduction of Yrsa from a foreign land-as well as Olrik's etymological study of her name (see below, pp. 119-20), clearly indicated that the character was a captive princess with a historical origin in Romance territory. Finally, Malone concluded, the appearance in Beowulf of a second daughter-in-law of Healfdene-Wealhtheow-whose name in its most general meaning, "foreign captive," was descriptive of the Scylding-Scylfing queen of the northern documents, suggested that the Beowulf poet knew of the Yrsa legend and the princess's Frankish origin, but that his knowledge was

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obscure and incomplete, thus leading him to take Yrsa mistakenly to be Healfdene's daughter rather than his daughter-in-law.41 According to Malone, the poet's insufficient grasp of the legendary facts led him into the further error of misnaming one of his leading female characters: I take it that Wealhpeow is a nickname properly belonging to Yrsa, and that the English poet, by mistake, applied it to the wrong daughter-in-law. He probably did not remember the true name of HroOgar's wife, but did remember that a daughter-in-law of Healfdene was known by the nickname Wealhpeow as well as by her proper name. But the supply of daughters-in-law was distinctly limited. Indeed, since the poet took Yrsa for a true daughter, the only daughter-in-law left was the wife of HroOgar. The poet, therefore, needing a name for the lady, gave her that nickname which was all he could remember. We must assume, I think, that the nickname was historical, and originally applied to Yrsa. If so, the English poem gives us a notable confirmation of the Scandian accounts of the origin of Yrsa:42

The confusion Malone ascribes to the poet regarding his source material, although possible, seems highly unlikely, for Yrsa-as Malone's comprehensive studies testify-was not a subsidiary figure overshadowed by other more vibrant personalities, but rather a pivotal personage whose identity determined the evolution of the legend itself. If one assumes that the poet had any knowledge of the legend at all, this character would be one about whom he would most likely have accumulated facts with some degree of accuracy, at least as t~ey pertained to her familial associations. Moreover, if (as Malone himself points out) the poet followed traditional procedures in the naming of the Healfdenes and the other tribes represented in the poem, then it is questionable that he would have been unaware of breaking the pattern in the naming of Yrsa, particularly since hers was an unfamiliar one, evidently unknown to the Anglo-Saxons until after the Norman conquest (see below, p. 119). It might therefore justifiably be assumed that if the poet altered the family relationship, he did so not through error, but by intent-that is, if the authority of the Scandinavian documents in rendering Yrsa as Helgi's daughter is accepted. Even Malone, however, offers an alternative to his "error,. theory when he depicts a situation in which, after the death of Helgi, Yrsa remains at Heorot where, to all intents and purposes, she enjoys the status of a daughter of the household. 43 Malone's conjecture as to the poet's bewilderment in the naming of Wealhtheow is equally dubious, although certainly Hroar's wife in the Scandinavian analogues was nebulous enough as a personage to produce confusion. Yet everything about the formal treatment of Wealhtheow be-

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118 I Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition lies the idea either that the poet was unfamiliar with aspects of her character or that he would name her in the haphazard way Malone proposes. The character's stature, the stylistic treatment of her scenes-anticipated entrances, intricate rhetorical organization and metrical embellishment, contrastive positioning with the aggrieved mother-figures-all point to extreme care and deliberation on the poet's part in delineating his queen . Further, as noted in Chapter 1, that Wealhtheow is included in the dramatic action at all points to considered authorial choice, as the queen's scenes are so discretely constructed that they can be removed from the poem without disturbing either the metrical or the narrative line of the first half of the work. It is more reasonable to conjecture that if the poet gave his queen an appellative belonging to Yrsa, then he did so not by chance, but with purpose. A natural extension of this supposition is that his purpose in doing so was to establish a connection between the historical, legendary Yrsa and Wealhtheow, but that he chose to do so allusively to avoid imbuing his illustrious queen with the taint of incest. If one sets aside Malone's hypothesis regarding poetic intent and error, his amplification of Clarke's original proposition-that Yrsa is the missing Scylding princess of line 62-has significant consequences for the narrative; for by juxtaposing Wealhtheow and Yrsa, Malone gave direction to the establishment of Wealhtheow's legendary identity and provided the basis for an evaluation of the Beowulfian queen as the legendary heroic Yrsa, widow of Helgi and mother of Hrothulf. The argument is open to skepticism, for inherent in it are certain assumptions regarding the extent of the Beowulf poet's knowledge of the legendary materials connected with the Scyldings. The presumption here is that the Beowulf poet was as privy to the legendary events relating to Yrsa as he was to those regarding the rest of the Scyldings. The premise is not invalid, for, as argued above, Yrsa is ubiquitous in the extant Scandinavian documents that concern the Scylding dynasty, and it is unlikely that the Beowulf poet would be ignorant of a personage who was mother to the greatest of the legendary Scandinavian hero-kings, a prince who in his narrative is heir to the Scylding throne. It is also assumed here that the Beowulf poet had access to the same cluster of tales about Yrsa and Hrolf as did the Scandinavian storytellers. The earliest Scandinavian source that shows Hrolf in the relationship of burr ok brot1ir to Yrsa is GronasQngr, composed around the mid-tenth century, a date that is contemporaneous with the Beowulf manuscript, and their relationship of brother-son, sister-mother continues to appear in Old Norse documents that extend to the early fifteenth century. In England, Hrolf appears in Withi~. traditionally thought of as being a poem of the late seventh century, and in Beowulf. On the surface, Yrsa seems to be

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• Wealhtheow and the Scylding Queens of the Sagas I 119

absent from the epic. In her stead, there is another Scylding queen with personal traits that answer to those of Hrolf's mother in the legend and that cannot be set aside as coincidental. Frank has recently demonstrated how the Beowulf poet adapted Norse narratives and motifs known to the skalds about Sigemund and Fitela, Sigemund and Heremod, Balder, and the Odinic heroes in a skillful and untraditional way.44 It has been generally accepted that he showed like invention in his handling of the Scylding legend as a whole. It would not be imprudent to suggest that in his rendering of Y rsa, the Beowulf poet was once again adapting an aspect of the legend in a unique and artful manner. A comparative analysis of the characters in the Icelandic sources and in Beowulf, to be undertaken in the following chapter, marshals textual evidence that argues for a single identification for Yrsa and Wcalhtheow, for the Nordic and Anglo-Saxon queens share a remarkable number of formal and descriptive elements. The remainder of this chapter will be concerned with exploring what indications arise in Beowulf itself-textual and extratextual-that point to the consideration that the missing princess of line 62 and Heorot's queen are the same figure. For the gebeddan 'bedfellows' of Onela and of Hrothgar are associated not only through name, place of origin, and dynastic lines, but also through their relationship to Hrothulf. An attribute of Wealhtheow most frequently noted by commentators is the disparity between her name and her regal status. Malone's reconciliation of the anomaly-that Wealhpeow was a nickname originally belonging to Yrsa, and that the historical Scylding-Scylfing queen was known by both her real name and her appellative-is a reasonable one, since the names point to related geographical origins. As noted above, the specific significations offered by Bjorkman ("Celtic or Romance slave, maid, or captive"), by Meyer ("maiden, servant girl of the foreigners [Frisians]"), and by Malone himself ("Gaulish slave") presume a Romanized (specifically Frankish) origin for Wealhtheow (see above, Chap. 4, p . 63). Olrik's etymological investigations posit a similar birthplace for Yrsa.•s The possibility of Yrsa's Frankish origin first occurred to Olrik when, during his inquiry into the Yrsa-Helgi legend, he began to suspect that the queen might have been a historical personage. Hers was the only surviving name from the line of real-life Scylding queens. Ogn 's name, as well as Sigrith's (Halfdan's wife and widow) and Signy's (his daughter) were late authorial inventions with no historical validity, whereas Yrsa's was one of considerable antiquity, being derived from the Latin ursus 'bear'. Olrik discovered, moreover, that the name was unique in the north. Except for those sources which dealt with the Scylding tale, the name was absent from other Scandinavian documents and was unknown among the AngloSaxons prior to the Norman Conquest. Among Teutonic peoples, rhowever,

120 I Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition

names fonned with the Latin urs- were popular, although restricted to certain geographical areas. As place names they occurred only in ·the southernmost part of Gennany, and as personal names they were borne solely by members of the southern Gennanic tribes whose lands bordered the Roman Empire. Thus, Olrik concluded, if Yrsa were a historical character, as seemed to him likely, she belonged to a Romanized tribe, probably Frankish, since the highest frequency of urs- names appeared among the Franks. Furthennore, the name had martial and masculine associations. It was "precisely the name corresponding to Yrsa (Ursio), the man's name Ursio ... unknown elsewhere [that] ... in the earliest instance [was] . . . borne by a Frankish chieftain who played a prominent part in the civil war of the sixth century, and who had his fortified castle in the neighborhood of Verdun." 46 The results of Olrik's etymological inquiry duplicate those reached by Bjorkman from his examination of Wealhpeow. Yrsa's name has two characteristics in common with Wealhtheow's. Both Scylding queens have names that presume a Romanized territory as their place of origin. Furthennore, like Wealhpeow-whose second element either habitually appears in men's names or has reference to battle-Yrsa is also found in a martial and masculine environment. As Bjorkman was to argue later, Olrik pointedly noted that historical conditions of the time-com.merce between Danes and Franks, in particular-made a Frankish origin probable. Gregory of Tours's account of Hygelac's raid against the Hetvarii 'Helmet-bearers' further corroborated the theory that Yrsa was a foreign captive of Frankish origin whom a Danish king abducted in the course of a plundering raid and later made his queen. 47 In addition to possessing names that are anomalous to their environment (a point to be discussed further in Chapter 7), the queens are also apparently associated with the same dynastic lines. In all the Scandinavian sources Yrsa owes allegiance to both the Danish and the Swedish royal houses. As wife of Athils, she is ruler of the palace at Uppsala; as wife and widow of Helgi, she is queen of Denmark. If Yrsa is considered as the ..missing princess" of line 62, this dual allegiance would apply in Beowulf, although in the southern text Yrsa would appear as the .wife of the Swedish Onela and the sister of Helgi, and only through extratextual association as Helgi 's wife and widow. Wealhtheow, too, holds loyalty to two separate dynasties. As Hrothgar's consort, she is ides Scyldinga and reigns over the magnificent Danish hall, while as ides Helminga, she is kindred with the Wylfings, a dynasty which archeologists tend to see as a branch of the royal house of Uppsala (see Chap. 4, n. 28, p. 210). It should be remembered, moreover, that through front variation of her name, Wealhtheow is

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Wealhtheow and the Scylding Queens of the Sagas I 121

connected with both Ecgtheow (whom Malone identifies as a Wylfing) and Ongentheow, the Scylfing king. Although front variation need not suggest any closer relationship than that of kin, the specter of some familial alliance among the three characters arises and with it the possibility that Wealhtheow is related in some way to the Swedish royal house, a supposition recently voiced by Farrell.48 Finally, the traditional understanding of Wealhtheow 's relationship to the Wylfings-that the queen functioned as daughter in the Wylfing household-corresponds to Yrsa's familial association with the Scyldings. Wealhtheow's identifying epithet, ides Helminga, emphasizes her role as daughter, since one of the Old Norse meanings of dis 'sister' (as well as the sense of "daughter" of OE ides) may be applicable here (see Chap. 5, pp. 92-93). Thus, Wealhtheow and Y rsa maintain similar structural relationships with the Danish and Swedish royal houses. Gebedda 'bedfellow' provides a common lexical reference for the two queens. An Old Norse kenning for woman (ON be~ja, Slcaldsk 68), the term is employed in the poem only to describe the two women-Wealhtheow and Yrsa are gebeddan to their warrior-kings (Bwf 63, 665)-and its appearance is not determined ·by demands of alliteration. In addition, the epithet used to characterize each of their husbands offers one more lexical connection. The Scylding leader, Hrothgar, is depicted as a wigfruma 'war-chief' at the moment he seeks out Wealhtheow, and Onela's heroic epithet is 'Battle-Scylfing' HeatJo-Scilfingas. 49 The mother-son motif that figures so prominently in Yrsa's story is also associated with Wealhtheow's person. Although the tenn "mother" is never employed to describe the queen (except for the single reference to Ongentheow 's wife, the word is reserved for Grendel's mother), her actions in the second banquet scene align her with the mother-son motif which spans the narrative's structure. Commencing with the reference to the anonymous figure of Beowulf's mother, the mag~ 'maiden' blessed in her childbearing (Bwf942h-94&), and concluding with the image of the mother of Onela and Othere, the anonymous gomela iomeowlan 'aged maiden of long ago' bereft of her gold (Bwf 2931), the motif includes four other females: the aggrieved figures of Hildeburh and Grendel's mother, and the queen-mothers , Wealhtheow and Hygd, who are concerned with the dynastic succession of their sons. Structurally, Wealhtheow is placed between the mother-victim Hildeburh, and the mother-villain Grendel's mother. The juxtaposition is suggestive. For it is precisely at this moment in the narrative-when the character is flanked by the drihtlic wif and the agliicwif-that Wealhtheow marshals her persuasive energies to secure the welfare and dynastic succession of her son. Her resplendence and serenity not only emphasize, but in a sense subsume, the horror experienced

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122 I Beowulfs Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition

•

by the two aggrieved mother-figures. And although Wealhtheow is not shown to feel the sorrow or rage of either, she is, nevertheless, the central and unifying element in the mother-triptych that is positioned in the approximate center of the narrative. In her augmented maternal aspect, Wealhtheow functions as a link between referential and immediate action, between historical and fantastical narrative. Through the person of the queen-mother Wealhtheow, Hildeburh's tragedy (the loss through treachery of a son) is connected with the _ calamity (the fatal mutilation of a son) that has befallen Grendel's mother. Wealhtheow is the unifying element in a two-part action performed by , these two mother-figures-the dual movement of outrage and response inherent in the heroic imperative of revenge. 50 The design of the revenge action in Beowulf worked out through these three figures as a unit is interlaced and antithetical, and in the motif-structure of the poem disregards chronological and generic limitations.'' This design may be outlined as follows: without having received compensation for the mutilated body of . her son (for although the killing of Hildeburh 's brother has been answered by Hengest, no vengeance has been exacted for the prince's life), the drihtlic wif 'noble-like woman' , Hildeburh (with driht carrying an associative value of "military" or "warrior" in context) voyages by sea to Denmark, with only lamentation to requite her for the loss (Bwf 1157b-1159-). The first part of the revenge action pattern thus completed, the second part is carried out in a countering movement antithetical in design, when the necessary response to the outrage of "the killing of a son" is effected not by Hildeburh, but by Grendel's mother. Harboring sentiments similar to Hildeburh's, the agtiicwif ' monstrous warrior-woman' , brooding on her misery (yrmpe gemunde), comes ashore from cold waters to make a sorrowful land-journey to Heorot to exact vengeance for the fatal mutilation of her son (Bwj 1258b-l278). With the subsequent killing of Aeschere, recompense is gained and the "revenge of the mothers" is fully realized. In her maternal aspect and in her role as queen of the Danes at Heorot (the destination of each sorrowing mother) , Wealhtheow serves as the_structural center where these alternating thematic actions , as well as two extreme aspects of the mother-figure-the monstrous and the noble-intersect. Wealhtheow's attribute of motherhood, her maternal concern-especially as it manifests itself in her relationship with Hrothulf-provides the final resemblance that argues for the queen's identity as Yrsa. A consequence of the Clarke-Malone emendation in line 62 is that it inserts Hrothulf's mother into the narrative line. And even though , by relegating her to Sweden, the poet has removed Yrsa from the environs of Heorot, the character nevertheless retains her identity as aunt-mother to Hrothulf, a

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dual kinship analogous to the unenunciated relationship between Signy and Fitela that informs the Sigemund digression. In the immediate action of the poem, the poet clearly establishes Wealhtheow as Hrothulf's aunt, ostensibly through her union with Hrothgar. But in addition to this familial connection through marriage, the queen and prince are evidently related by blood as well. From extratextual evidence in Old Norse literature, the possibility arises that in Beowulf Wealhtheow and Hrothulf are members of the same tribe (although this is not made explicit). In Ynglinga saga (chap. 37), for example, Hrolf is identified as chief-ruler of the Wylfings, Wealhtheow's kin. During a welcoming banquet for King Hjorvarth, as a tribute to the Wylfing race, a toast is offered in memory of King Hrolf by Hildigun, King Granmar's daughter:

pa t6k hon silfrkatk einn ok fyldi ok gekk fyrir HjQrv~ konung ok mzlti: "Allir heilir Ylfingar at Hr61fs minni lcraka . . . .. (Then she picked up a silver goblet and filled it and walked up to King Hjorvarth and said: "Health and good fortune to all Ylfings, in memory of Hrolf Kraki . . . ")

As a Wylfing in the Danish court, Hrothulf thus would hold a special relationship with·his aunt, distinct and separate from that which they share through her marriage to his uncle . As Wylfings, aunt and nephew would have ties of blood which in the immediate action of the poem would obtain between them and them alone. Although this consanguinity would not necessarily point to a more intimate familial relationship between the two, it would make it reasonable to speculate that if Wealhtheow were Yrsa renamed, the widow of Helgi and the present wife of Hrothgar, then her relationship to Hrothulf, like Yrsa's, would be the dual one of aunt and mother. With this in mind, the segment of the second banquet scene in which the prince and queen jointly appear then becomes especially pertinent. It is not without significance, for example, that in the one instance in the poem where Hrothulf is pointedly removed from the periphery of the action and thrust into the narrative spotlight for a considerable period, he is presented as the object of the maternal affection of his aunt. Fifteen of the thirty-eight half-lines that constitute Wealhtheow's speech to Hrothgar, for example, directly deal with the young prince's admirable qualities and his competence as future ruler of the Danes. The implied intimacy and stated length of their kinship, moreover, promote a view of the queen as surrogate mother to the prince. Hrothulf has been the beneficiary of his aunt's love and goodwill from his infancy (umbqrwesendum), 52 a favored posi-

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124 I Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition tion he continued to enjoy even after the queen had given birth to Hrethric and Hrothmund. Equally noteworthy is the distinctive expansion in character status Wealhtheow undergoes at the precise moment she is placed in proximity to Hrothulf. Whereas elsewhere in the poem the queen is portrayed as an illustrious sovereign and treasure-giver, she is depicted here for the first and only time as a supreme mother-figure-an originator of a heroic race, participating in the shaping of its dynastic succession and expressing a jealous, maternal regard for its future ruler. It is, moreover, of some interest to observe that the uniqueness of relationship between We.alhtheow and Hrothulf suggested by the Ynglinga saga reference is subtly substantiated by the Beowulf poet's dictional choices. His use of personal pronouns in the queen's first speech, for example, emphasizes an exactness of kinship between them that seems to go beyond the obvious aunt-nephew alliance they have through her marriage to Hrothgar. When Wealhtheow urges her husband to leave his kingdom to his kinsmen ( 1178), she uses the second person pronoun Jiinum instead of the first person plural ure or the dual uncer that is subsequently employed in line 1185. Neither the exigencies of alliteration nor the meaning of miigum need prevent her from expressing her own kinship with her nephew at this point, yet she refrains from doing so. In line 1180, however, it is Hrothgar who is excluded from the family group. At the time Wealhtheow proposes the nephew as the inheritor of the Danish throne, she refers to him as minne . . . gladne Hropulf, a phrase implying intimacy and exclusiveness of relationship, particularly in context, for five lines later, a precise kinship that again includes Heorot's king is indicated. When alluding to Hrothgar's and her sons, Wealhtheow speaks of the youths as uncran eaferan; and by using the dual form, she is stressing their joint possession of the boys. The narrator, too, seems to imply their mutual parentage. Upon identifying the princes in lines 1189-1190, he refers to them as hyre byre, and although the pronominal phrase is commonly translated as "her boys," it also calls forth an alternative meaning of "their boys." Because of the collapsing of the final unstressed vowel sounds (-a, -e > [~]), a listening audience could interpret hyre 'her' as hyra 'their', the feminine singular genitive and the plural genitive carrying a similar, if not an identical, sound. s3 This alternative meaning is perhaps preferable, since it continues to designate Wealhtheow and Hrothgar as mutual parents of the boys, and hence does not deflect narrative focus. The queen's use of jiinum and minne to define the familial connection she and Hrothgar share with Hrothulf, however, clearly points to a nonmutuality of relationship. To the aged Scylding, Hrothulf is one of /Jfnum miigum 'your kinsmen' (and the prince is assuredly the referent here, for, as Sisam has argued, a substitution of bearnum 'children' or sunum 'sons'

Wealhtheow and the Sey/ding Queens of the Sagas I 125

would have easily eliminated Hrothulf as a contender for the throne). 54 Prior to this sequence, when the prince was first mentioned in passing, he was likewise characterized as being miigp to his uncle. But to the radiant queen, Helgi's son is neither ~gp 'kinsman' nor nefa 'nephew' but rather minne . .. Hropulf'my ... Hrothulf', with the pronoun holding the most important syntactical and metrical position. The semantic weight minne carries in defining the exact nature of Wealhtheow and Hrothulf's family association is, of course. difficult to assess, although the term denotes intimacy and possession. But that its use emphasizes the existence of a particular kinship between them is unmistakable. Through its utterance, the queen, publicly and with warmth, associates herself with the dead Helgi's son. But it is precisely Wealhtheow's tender cordiality toward Hrothulf that seems to counter and confuse the logical development of her character, and that has led the poem's commentators to seek a rationale for her behavior. When in discoursing on the dramatic function of the queen's speeches in the second banquet scene, Schiicking remarked in passing on how "untypical" the insertion of the mother-motif was during the queen's first speech,55 he was expressing an uneasiness many have experienced with the text at the moment Wealhtheow shifts from her role of beloved consort to Hrothgar to that of queen-mother (Bwf 1175). Yet it is not the assumption of the mother-role itself that is perplexing, but rather (as Schilcking mentioned but did not fully explore) the seemingly contradictory behavior Wealhtheow begins to exhibit the moment she takes on this maternal aspect, action that places her in opposition to her king and husband, and that seems to undermine her credibility, since it implies a lack of wisdom and foresight, and an ungenerous character. But, as will be argued below, only the traditional view of Wealhtheow's relationship to Hrothulf (and, by extension, of her identity) causes this character disjunction . If Wealhtheow is understood to be aunt-mother to the prince, then the inconsistency between character and action disappears. The sequence under discussion reads as follows: U«>O wa:s asungen, gleomannes gyd. Gamen eft astah, beorhtode bencsweg, byrelas sealdon win of wunderfatum. Pi cwom WealhJ100 fo~ gin under gyldnum beage pier pi gOdan twegen 8Zton suhtergefa:deran; pi gyt wa:s hiera sib a:tgzdere, ieghwylc Orum tljwe. Swylce pier Unferp pyle a:t fotum sa:t frean Scyldinga; gehwylc hiora his ferhpe treowde, pa:t he ha:fde moo mice), peah pc he his migum na:re

11

126 I Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition irfzst zt ecga gelicum. Spr~ M ides Scyldinga: ·omoo J>issum fulle, frCodrihten min, sinces brytta! pu on selum wes, goldwine gumena, ond to Geatum sprzc mildum wordum, swi sceal man U 'Ilii hafast. Me man szgde, J>zt J>U l5C for sunu wolde hereri[n]c habban. Heorot is ge~lsod, beahsele beorhta; briic )>enden J>ii m0te manigra mCdo, ond J>inum migum lzf folc ond rice, Jx>nne nu for'O scyle, metodsceaft s&n. le minne can glzdne Hro)>ulf, )>zt he J>i geogo& wile irum healdan, gyf )>ii zr tx>nne he, wine Scildinga, worold oftztest; wene ic J>zt be mid gOde gyldan wille uncran eaferan, gif hC J>zt eal gemon, hwzt wit to willan ond to wor'Omyndum umbQrw.esendum zr ima gefremedon.' Hwearf J>i bi hence, )>zr hyre byre wzron, Hrenric ond HrOOmund, ond hzle)>a beam, giogol5 ztgzdere; )>Zr se gooa szt, Beowulf Geata be )>zm gebrMrum twzm. (11591>-1191)

(The song had been sung, the tale of the gleeman. Mirth rose up again, the bench-noise brightened, the cupbearers poured wine from wondrous vessels. Then Wealhtheow went forth advancing under the golden crown to where the two good ones sat, the nephew and the uncle; then was her kin still together,57 each to the other true. Unferth, the spokesman, likewise sat there at the feet of the lord of the Scyldings; all of them trusted in his spirit, that he had great courage, even though he had not been honorable to his kinsmen at the play of swords. Then the lady of the Scyldings spoke: ..Take up this cup, my lord and chief, dispenser of treasure. Be joyful, generous friend of men; and speak tender words to the Geats. So should one do! Be gracious to the Geats, mindful of the gifts you now possess from near and far. It has been mentioned to me that you would have the warrior as a son. Heorot, the glorious ring-hall, is purged. Enjoy the many rewards as long as you have the opportunity, and when you must go forth to face de_stiny's decree, bequeath the people's army and the realm to your kinsmen. I know that my gracious Hrothulf will honorably rule the band of young retainers, if you, friend of the Scyldings, relinquish the world before him. I expect that he will wish to requite our sons with goodness, if he bears in mind all that we two

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Wealhlheow and the Sey/ding Queens of the Sagas I 127 in willingness and in glory-what honors-bestowed on him when he was still a child." 1ben she turned to the bench where their children were, Hrethric and Hrothmund, and the children of the warriors, the band of young retainers together; there the good one, Beowulf of the Geats, sat alongside the two brothers.) ~ealhtheow 's

intent in the speech is ~J~?:f_;_ ~~e.. i.1.!IPlicit!.Y.