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Hostess In Beowulf

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There are many more women in Beowulf, than you might think: Queen Wealhtheow, Hildeburh, and Grendel's mother are just a few. They all fall into three categories: hostesses, peaceweavers, and monsters, and, even though these three roles are very different, each role is important for the story. The first role is hostess; Queen Wealhtheow and Queen Hygd fall into that category. Queen Wealhtheow is Hrothgar's wife, so while Beowulf is at Heorot, feasting and getting ready for the fight with Grendel, she cames out with mead* for the thanes. She hands Hrothgar the first cup, showing Beowulf that Hrothgar is the 'boss' of the house; she is keeping the order of statues. Likewise, Queen Hygd, is a good hostess. She is the wife of King Hygelac, who …show more content…

Queen Modthryth is a mythical human queen, and she is famous for her pride and cruelty. She is brought into the story for a comparison for Queen Hygd, Modthryth's pride and cruelty to Hygd's sweetness and compassion. Likewise, Thyrth is an evil human princess, who kills anyone who enters her hall. But, even the most evil women can fall in love; she fell head-over-heels for Offa, and married him (Literature.wordpress.com). On the other hand, Grendel's mother, or as I call her Volk-komma, is not human at all, she is pure monster, a descendent of Cain. She is cruel and won't hesitate to kill, just like the other two. At the end of the poem, "the widow old, her hair upbound,"(Chapter 41, line 14b-15a) is mourning Beowulf, she might be his wife. Bugge said that she may be Queen Hygd, after King Hygelac was killed. Her role would be hostess. There are at least eight women in Beowulf, each with her own identity and purpose. Some Queens are the hostess, some princesses are the peaceweavers, and some women and creatures are the monsters. Each woman has her own purpose, either as a comparison or as an active part in the

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In the article, Beowulf’s Androgynous Heroism, The author tells us that Beowulf is one of the “most memorable in his capacity as the masculine warrior and king.” (Robert Morrey, Beowulf’s Androgynous Heroism, University of Illinois Press) Even though he had no feminine companion beside him, he still fulfilled his roles, as he should have. Beowulf was authentically strong and unquestionably capable of standing up, even when nobody else could. He was able to stand up and arrest control when need be. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, he was struggling to be the best he could be until Enkidu died, his best friend.

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1492 Words | 6 Pages

Beowulf, a strong warrior from the tribe of the Geats, being a part of the gay community would be hard to believe. Although it is difficult to consider, applying queer theory to Beowulf is simple when the epic poem demonstrates various situations as to apply queer theory. In the work Beowulf, the anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet utilizes coded language, paradigms of hetero-culture, and unsuccessful hetero-normativity to demonstrate how the fight between Grendel 's Mother and Beowulf caused Beowulf to be uncomfortable, how the heterosexual married men had a lot of failures compared to the never married Beowulf. During one scene, the poet used "coded" language in a hetero culture to explore the heroism of the queer warrior.

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603 Words | 3 Pages

The “Monstrous ogress” was “savage in her grief,” and her actions become even more beastly than her sons (Beowulf 1258-76). Women in this Germanic Warrior society were meek, so the actions of Grendel’s mother greatly contrast with the typical behavior of a woman in this time period. Grendel’s mother’s gruesome actions are beastly in nature, but her emotions of outrage and grief for the murder of her son are human. Once again, Beowulf’s victory of the savage monster shows the overall theme of good winning against evil.

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792 Words | 4 Pages

Another side of the story where people fails to perform their duty. Unlike other queens, Queen Modthryth was a queen that would “punish the innocent” thus failing to perform her duty as a peacemaker or a hostess. “A queen should weave peace” and not “perpetrated terrible wrongs”. She frightens the people of the land because of her unqueen-like behavior. She was married off to Offa and became “less of a bane to people’s lives.

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308 Words | 2 Pages

Antonio Martinez Dr. Rajan English 2111: World Literature 1 Various female characters in Beowulf receive a lot of attention for their dynamic characteristics and their rounded personalities. Hygelac’s only daughter seems to be the only female character in Beowulf that has not been studied in recent years. Alaric Hall, the only person I’ve seen to write about her, wrote an article describing Hygelac’s only daughter and what she represents to the story. Hygelac is the king of the Geats and is Beowulf’s lord. Hygelac has three children, two males and only one female.

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949 Words | 4 Pages

In Beowulf women are seen a force of destruction: 8the action or process of killing or being killed, the cause of someone's ruin. 4They are mainly characterized as a monster avenging her son. In doing this she manages to destroy not only a kingdom but the king himself (lines 1321-1344). Leaving him brooding over a friend’s death not to mention the many innocent people she killed when she attacked his throne room. Even Beowulf-the

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595 Words | 3 Pages

The characters that illustrate this function in the narrative poem are Wealhtheow, queen of the Danes, and Hygd, queen of the Geats. As stated by lines 612 – 618, Wealhtheow organized the welcoming feast for the Geats and served her husband, Hrothgar, and the crowd. For this reason, the queen of the Danes might symbolize hospitality. Another example of hospitality and propriety is Hygd, the wife of King Hygelac. Lines 1926 through lines 1931 describes the thoughtful queen of the Geats, and she is contrasted with her opposite, queen Modthryth, whose behavior is improper for a royal.

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1333 Words | 6 Pages

First of all, despite the fact that men are highly emphasized in Beowulf, women are highly absent in the story. Even within the first couple of sentences, the style and wording create an atmosphere in which

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650 Words | 3 Pages

Beowulf reflects the traits that conformed to their masculine norms . While sorrowful Hrothgar laments the deaths caused by Grendel’s mother, Beowulf urges him to “not grieve” and to “avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning” (1384-5). However, earlier the epic alluded to a story about a princess named Hildeburh who after losing her husband, child, and brother, was “waylaid by grief” (1081). There is a definite contrast between how men and women are expected to confront loss- according to the patriarchal values, men avenge and women weep. Therefore, Beowulf is even more of an ideal masculine hero because he adheres the the Anglo-Saxon gender roles.

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209 Words | 1 Pages

uccessful peace weaver, for she plays an active role in society through words of encouragement to her people and handing out of treasure to her heroes. On the other hand, Queen Hildeburh essentially fails at this role and is presented in contrast to Wealhtheow as Hildeburh is more passive, for example she fails to say anything throughout the entire poem. Regardless of whether the queens succeed or fail in their role, their gender has an impact on the narrative of the poem. Wealhtheow is the glue that holds the relationship between the Scyldings and Beowulf intact, and Hildeburh remains the central part to the lay song which depicts her account. Wealhtheow is also the perfect model of a good hostess.

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580 Words | 3 Pages

Her actions do seem cruel and evil, but she is also a grieving mother that wants to avenge her son. After Grendel’s death, “Grendel’s fierce mother” begins to exhibit human-like characteristics such as her caring and protective nature for her child. This can be shown when she carried “off the claw that Beowulf tore from her child” to demonstrates her anger and grief for her son’s death. While she is characterised to be a “she-wolf,” she is also a “mighty mother” that just wants to protect her child. Her whole purpose of killing Hrothgar’s friend and wreaking in Heorot is was to avenge Grendel’s death.

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846 Words | 4 Pages

There are significant women who play integral parts in Beowulf. This study gives attention to Hildeburh as a woman of value. In fact, her values are not only limited to the explicates in the piece of literature, but can be related to the Anglo-Saxon society at

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467 Words | 2 Pages

n both the excerpt about Unferth from Beowulf and the poem “The Wife’s Lament”, the themes of betrayal and anger are shown within the stories; however, they are expressed differently. To begin with, Unferth shows his anger towards Beowulf by attempting to embarrass him in front of all the men, including King Hrothgar. For example, Unferth states “No one, neither friend nor foe, could keep you from your sad journey, when you swam out to sea… Breca outslayed you, he was stronger” (427-435). Unferth is trying to say that Beowulf is weak and can’t compete with anyone or anything.

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1090 Words | 5 Pages

The movie Beowulf is about the story of a man who saves the day in the town of Herot that takes place around 700-1000 CE. Many different elements went into making this film such as camera angles, actors, costumes, and sets. In the movie, Herot is in a time of misery because an evil creature named Grendel is coming to the town at night and killing the kings’ army. Hrothgar, the king, is tired of this monster coming and ruining his home, so he calls for Beowulf, who is known for being a warrior, to come and defeat Grendel. Beowulf comes to Herot with some of his army and waits in the town hall for Grendel to come.

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603 Words | 3 Pages

Medieval literature portrayed women as either proper or monstrous. Lanval, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Beowulf all carry the pattern of women’s roles throughout the period of time. In Beowulf, women are portrayed in two ways, confined and unconfined. The women that adhere to the roles of wives, mothers, and

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