Beowulf

The first verses of Beowulf ground us in a world of heroic kings, pagan traditions, and Christian belief. With a bold introductory “Hwaet” (“So” in Heaney’s translation), we are launched into the warlike world of the Spear-Danes.

The story begins with a genealogy, tracing the descent of the present prince Hrothgar through his ancestors Shield Sheafson, Beow, and Halfdane. These ancestors were heroic kings, as evidenced by Shield’s glorious funeral, in which his body was pushed out to sea on a treasure-ship: 

Far fetched treasures

were piled upon him, and precious gear.

I never heard before of a ship so well furbished

with battle tackle, bladed weapons

and coats of mail” (5). 

This is a culture that worships valor and ancestry, and that honors the dead in ways inflected by both pagan and Christian belief.

We come then to Hrothgar’s reign. A great prince, Hrothgar builds Heorot, a glorious mead-hall (a sort of combined fortress and gathering-place) as a testament to his own power and a gift to future generations. Everyone marvels at this mead-hall. 

However, all is not well. Out in the woods, a demonic creature named Grendel—according to the poem’s speaker, a monster from the lineage of Cain—is lurking. Lonely, outcast, deformed, and resentful of the camaraderie and beauty of Heorot,