For thousands of years, man has been plagued by an inevitable reality, an inescapable fate, with an uncertain point in time. Through the ages, man has developed strategies for coping with mortality; e.g., religion has been an effective way for man to accept his eventual demise. Christianity and the literature of the Holy Bible offers man the ideas of salvation and eternal life with God in Heaven. However, the literature of Beowulf treats mortality a bit differently. The Beowulf poet compresses time to emphasize man’s ignorance of his own mortality.
The compression of time is an issue from the start of the epic poem. In "Prologue: The Rise of the Danish Nation," Beowulf depicts the blood line of kings and the family tree of Hrothgar. This section of the poem is a hurried glimpse through time; four generations of Spear-Danes are introduced within the course of about eighty lines of poetry. The purpose of this compression of time is to quickly establish Hrothgar's royal roots; Hrothgar is given little or no praise until the pace of the epic begins to slow-down around line sixty-four:
"The fortunes of war favored Hrothgar.
Friends and kinsmen flocked to his ranks,
young followers, a force that grew
to be a mighty army." (Beowulf, 35)
By lines 26-27, the compression of time and the idea of man's short lease on life (mortality) are important themes in Beowulf:
"Shield was still thriving when his time came
and he crossed over into the Lord's keeping." (Beowulf, 34)
The "Prologue" expands upon the theme of the ephemeral lease on life by discussing the legacies of kings. Shield Sheafson's token on lines 24-25 is his realization, "Behavior that's admired / is the path to power among people everywhere." (Beowulf, 34) Beo "was [merely] well regarded and ruled the Danes for a long time after" Shield died (Beowulf, 35). Halfdane perhaps leaves the greatest legacy of all--he fathers three sons and a daughter to carry on the royal blood line. Hrothgar chooses to alter his idea of a legacy; perhaps he is the first in his family to realize that the power to rule and the riches of war victories are both ephemeral. By lines 67-68 "his mind [turns] to hall-building." Hrothgar decides that the greatest legacy he can selflessly bequeath to the people of Heorot is a "great mead-hall ... to be a wonder of the world forever." (Beowulf, 35) Hrothgar is, at this point, the only Danish king to realize that man cannot take anything with him upon his death.
Beowulf "ruled [Geatland] well / for fifty winters." (Beowulf, 80) While many readers understand fifty years to be a long time, the Beowulf poet treats the Geat king's transitory rule with compressed time to emphasize how easily man (even the wisest of kings) ignores (or avoids) his own mortality. By line 2341 Beowulf still does not realize how fast his life is passing by, although "After many trials, / he was destined to face the end of days, / in this mortal world." (Beowulf, 83) Only as he takes twelve men "to come face to face with the dragon" that destroys "the throne-room of the Geats" does Beowulf sense that the speed of time is too fast. At line 2414:
"He was sad at heart,
unsettled yet ready, sensing his death.
His fate hovered near, unknowable but certain
it would soon claim his coffered soul,
part life from limb." (Beowulf, 85)
When King Beowulf receives news that his throne-room is burned to the ground by a fire-breathing dragon, he gives a long speech; he remembers "the death of King Hrethel and his sons, Herebeald and Haethcyn." (Beowulf, 85) As he speaks, Beowulf seems to comprehend Hrethel's own realization that "the wisdom of age is worthless" since every man's life must end (Beowulf, 85). According to Beowulf, time does not heal all wounds--the high price of vengeance and "the glory of winning" does (Beowulf, 86). Beowulf does think about the progression of time; i.e., as long as there is time to fight wars (as long as he still holds a lease on life); there is time to claim a victory.
With time comes great wisdom to King Hrothgar. This valuable knowledge influences Hrothgar to end a blood-feud between Danes and Wulfings "by paying ... a treasure-trove." (Beowulf, 43) Hrothgar learns that riches are able to satisfy men, but he also discovers that no treasure-trove can stifle the fury of Grendel's mother--perhaps this is why Hrothgar does not tell Beowulf about a second monster. Still, Hrothgar is wise to welcome Beowulf--the Geat is the only man who can save Heorot.
Time has had little effect on Hrothgar's understanding of the concept of a lease on life. When Beowulf defeats Grendel, Hrothgar tells him "you have made yourself immortal / by your glorious action." (Beowulf, 53) Hrothgar bestows a similar compliment upon Beowulf when Grendel's mother is killed, "Forever you will be / your people's mainstay and your own warriors' / helping hand." (Beowulf, 70) Overall, Hrothgar--as a main character--is a difficult, old man to understand; he teeters on any understanding of man's ephemeral mortality. He tells Beowulf that he has "wintered into wisdom", and he warns the Geat warrior that one day, he is going to die (Beowulf, 70). Like a father advises his son, Hrothgar says to Beowulf, that all the riches in the world cannot buy a king immortality--time moves so quickly, "illness and old age mean nothing." (Beowulf, 70) He goes on to warn Beowulf not to become like Heremond, do not "[ignore] the shape of things to come." (Beowulf, 71) It seems like Hrothgar makes a case for Beowulf to become Christian, asking him to "choose ... eternal rewards." (Beowulf, 71) All of this advice is part of an attempted transferal of Hrothgar's wisdom to Beowulf; he wants Beowulf to embrace his mortality and to know that "For a brief while [his] strength is in bloom /... [but] it fades quickly." (Beowulf, 71)
Like Hrothgar, Beowulf, ruler of the Geats, expresses an interest at ending blood-feuds. He tells Hygelac that he hopes the marriage of Hrothgar's daughter to the king of the Heatho-Bards "will heal old wounds / and grievous feuds." (Beowulf, 76) Beowulf is an intelligent man, and he is growing wiser with time; he sets up alliances with neighboring kingdoms for increased power. Beowulf must remember Hrothgar's tale of Heremond--he presents King Hygelac with gifts: "the battle-topping helmet, the mail-shirt gray as hoar-frost, / and the precious war-sword." (Beowulf, 79) Then he gives Hygelac "four bay steeds" and "he [presents] Hygd with a gorget, / the priceless torque that the prince's daughter, / Wealhtheow, had given him; and three horses." (Beowulf, 79) However, the Beowulf poet implies, despite all evidence to the contrary, that the ruler of the Geats does not follow all of Hrothgar's advice; time has slipped away, and Beowulf "grew old and wise," just like Hrothgar. (Beowulf, 80)
Once Beowulf finishes telling King Hygelac of his battles with Grendel and mother, the epic poem's narrative voice changes--the narrator continues the story, but switches from third-person to first person, and information is passed on (apparently) by hearsay:
"I heard four horses were handed over night." (Beowulf, 79)
The poet goes on to say:
"I heard he presented Hygd with a gorget,
the priceless torque that the prince's daughter,
Wealhtheow, had given him; and three horses,
supple creatures brilliantly saddled." (Beowulf, 79)
Although this shift may be a manuscript flaw, readers could speculate that the final pages of Beowulf are indeed penned by a different author. Footnotes in the Norton Anthology of English Literature indicate other sections "are so damaged that they defy guesswork to reconstruct them." (Beowulf, 81) However, this anthology indicates no cause for a change in narrative voice.
When the poet establishes Beowulf to be ruler of the Geats, he chooses to ignore more than just fifty years of his reign from the narrative. The compression of time--what the poet ignores--is treated as the most important theme in the epic to emphasize what Beowulf, himself, ignores--his mortality. It is only when faced with the total destruction of his homeland and people that time slows down for Beowulf, just long enough for "the war-king [to plan] and [plot] his revenge." (Beowulf, 83) This ploy for vengeance is too high priced for Beowulf.
The compression of time and the ephemeral rule of Beowulf (discounting Beowulf's fifty years as king) leaves a lasting impression on the other Geat warriors. Before he becomes king, Beowulf learns from Hrothgar about the importance of alliances and ending blood-feuds with other tribes, and he shares his wisdom with King Hygelac. Fifty years into his reign over the Geats, Beowulf's legacy continues with Wiglaf, and the victory over the dragon is "bought and paid for by Beowulf's death." (Beowulf, 93)
Time slows down for Wiglaf--it is as if he absorbs some of Beowulf's residual power--and he chastises the warriors who abandon Beowulf in his time of need. Wiglaf goes on to warn the men that when time allows rival tribes, like the "Franks and Frisians," to learn of Beowulf's death, "peace or pact-keeping of any sort" is gone (Beowulf, 94-95). In Beowulf, time slows down for rulers nearing the end of their lease on life. However, the slowing of time—the lack of compression—does not necessarily indicate an understanding or accepting of mortality on the part of the next Geat ruler (readers might infer that Wiglaf becomes the next Geat king, given his blood-relation to Beowulf and the coincidental slow-down of time). Perhaps Beowulf should be read as a companion to the Holy Bible (either Old or New Testaments), so that a different perspective on mortality can be made.
Works Cited
"Beowulf." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol A. 8th Edition. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: Norton, 2006. 34-95. Print.
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