![]() The manuscript reading for line 84 is as follows: þ se secg hete aþum swerian. It should be mentioned that these verses have inspired controversy. Andersson ( 1984, pp. 506–507) explains the introduction of a thief as an indication of »some slippage toward the end of Beowulf’s fifty-year-rule«, of »civil disorder« thus he (like other scholars) considers the theft in a general sense instead of viewing the particular stolen cup to be an object of special significance. It would have been simpler to state, without further explanation, that a dragon began to waste the region« (Andersson 1984, p. 506). Other scholars ask if this motif makes any sense at all: »dragons generally require no special encouragement. Helder ( 1977, pp. 317–323), reads the theft of the cup as a reference to biblical images of Christ coming like a thief on the Day of Judgment and, in Matthew 12:29, of Christ’s healing as stealing vasa from the devil’s house, which does not have much in common with the theft in Beowulf. But it seems best to read and understand the poem as a story of its own without any hints of a banquet of the dead given in the text, this is unlikely to be the central meaning of the scene. Lecouteux 1993, p. 183), from a layer almost lost in the Beowulf poem (cf. The cup itself, in Lecouteux’s eyes, is a residual symbol of the first function, kingship and priesthood (cf. Lecouteux ( 1993, pp. 182–183) interprets the theft of the cup as a residual motif of the (allegedly) widespread legend of a stolen cup of the feasting dead. Marshall ( 2010, p. 15), the drinking vessel is »the very symbol of the community« angering the avaricious dragon as Grendel has been angered by the community’s music. In general, scholars suppose that the dragon’s cup could have been replaced by any other piece of the treasure. Die fehlende Dynastiegründung Beowulfs lässt sich symbolisch identifizieren mit dem fatalen Fehlen jenes Kelches im Schatz, Katalysator des Endes von Beowulf und des nachfolgenden Untergangs der Gauten. Rhetorisch und metonymisch wird die goldgeschmückte, Trinkgefäß-reichende Braut sowohl mit diesen unrechtmäßig besessenen Objekten auf dem Fest als auch mit dem gestohlenen Trinkgefäß des Drachenschatzes in der nun folgenden Episode verbunden. ![]() Obwohl er den Dänenkönig und sein Volk gerettet hat, blieb die Gabe der Königstochter – höchste Ehre und traditionelle Sippenverbindung – aus diese Spannung findet in Beowulfs Erzählung von Freawarus Hochzeit im dort dominierenden Motiv gestohlener Kostbarkeiten Widerhall. Die hier von Beowulf digressionsartig erzählte Handlung um Ingeld und die dänische Prinzessin Freawaru ist als bedeutend für Beowulf selbst zu verstehen. Beowulf’s lost chance to secure a dynasty is symbolically identified with the dragon’s missing cup as the catalyst of Beowulf’s end and the subsequent decline of the Geats.ĭer vorliegende Beitrag stellt die Frage nach der Kohäsion des Dänemark-Teils und der Drachen-Episode im Beowulf neu, indem er Beowulfs zwischen diesen Teilen platzierte Rede vor Hygelac analysiert. Beowulf’s description of the gold-adorned, cup-passing bride is linked to both the unrightfully possessed treasure at the feast and the later motif of the dragon’s stolen cup. The resulting tension is reflected in the topic of stolen treasures that dominates Beowulf’s narrative of Ingeld’s and Freawaru’s feast. Although he saved King Hrothgar and his people, Beowulf was not given a bride, which would have been the highest honor and the traditional way of establishing political bonds. Here, in a so-called digression, Beowulf tells the story of Ingeld and the Danish princess Freawaru, which can be understood as being of importance to Beowulf’s own story. This article focuses on the issue of the degree of coherence between the Denmark plot and the dragon episode in Beowulf through a close-reading analysis of the transitional text – Beowulf’s speech to Hygelac – between these two parts.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |