I. INTRODUCTION
The epic poem Beowulf begins and ends with a burial scene. The hero is praised at death. Treasures are placed in the ship that bears Scyld Scefing's corpse, as he asked, swa he selfa baed [29]. Similarly, a great hoard of wealth is piled on Beowulf's funeral pyre. The respect earned is proclaimed at the end of the poem in words which become emblems that recall the memory of a dead hero, kindest, mildust [3181], and most eager for praise, lofgeornost [3182]. Glory depends on the performance of heroic deeds. The monarch earns the right to govern and counts on support from his indebted vassals. Consequently, governance is aligned to the giving of gifts. The throne is gifstol [168], the palace is gifhealle [838]; the monarch is a giver of treasures, beaggyfan, sincgyfan, goldgyfan [1102, 1342, 2652]. Pervasive use of "gyfan" compounds stresses the duties of king and subject. The heroic code depends on the combination of rights and corresponding duties. Syntactic structures reflect the lexical expressions. Conceptual semantic analysis of the hypothetical statements reveals that the balance of rights and duties depends on the exercise of social, religious and political intentions. The boast before an antagonist becomes a challenge; a warrior's prayer for victory turns into a curse for the enemy, and an oath of loyalty opens liability for betrayal from other members of a tribal society. Historical and legal implications of this study remain possibilities for further development and research.
At the opening of the poem the poet asks the audience to heed exploits of bygone princes. The glory of the kings, "beodcyninga brim," is the performance of princes, "hu ba ae belingas ellen fremedon" [2-3]. Such concern for posterity, imminent from the start, is explored subsequently in the tale of Scyld Scyfing who a) was picked up as castaway [6b-7a], b) found consolation for this misfortune [7b], and c) eventually overcame kingdoms which paid him tribute [9,11]. The warrior prince himself becomes the heroic king. By giving gifts the young prince earns support from men for times of need:
So should a (young) man, in his father's hold, do good by giving splendid gifts, so that later in life his men stand by him in turn, his people fast by, when war comes. By glorious deeds in any tribe a man prospers [20-24].
Swa sceal ge(ong) guma gode gewyrcean, fromun feohgiftum on faeder (bea)rme, baet hine on ylde eft gewunigen wilgesibas, bonne wig cume, leode gelaesten; lofdaedum sceal in maegba gehwaere man gebeon. [20-24a] From the very beginning of the epic we see that the king, Scyld Scefing, answered the crisis of leaderless anarchy, "aldorlease" [15], and, while fulfilling the people's needs, he is justified in expecting support in return. Thus each party has the right to the promise of performance. The magnanimity of the prince who dispenses gifts is dependent on the promise of support by the subjects at a time of need. Since their society subsists among warring pre-feudal tribes, loyalty is tested by courage in battle. The phrase which introduces the six lines quoted above is "Swa sceal ge(ong) guma," a formula recurring with slight variation:
1172b – when Queen Wealtheow asks Beowulf to give a discourse on friendship, for so should a man do, while she hands him the drinking cup [1169];
1534b – then in the scop's description of a Beowulf fearless against Grendel's dam, and ready to trade life for glory, as becomes a man;
2166b – also in Beowulf's speech to Hygelac about Hrothgar's recompense to him before leaving his court, as befits a kinsman;
2708 – evidently, as Wiglaf's assistance proves vital in the final encounter. So a thane should be to a lord in need;
3174 – and, finally, at the end of the epic, in mourning a dead king it is fitting for a man to speak praise.
These scenes of giving and acceptance show that remembrance is meaningful; yet, among our examples, the most gruesome encounters, the Beowulf-Grendel's dam duel and the hero's death in the final battle, show that expectation itself can prove useless because the future is unpredictable.
The oral epics in the Western World at times share parallel schemes of symbolic representation. The prevalent influence over different cultures across geographic borders is Homer. In order to achieve proper interpretation for the plot of Beowulf we recall the three roles for the Homeric god which Hugh Lloyd-Jones outlines in his The Justice of Zeus. Zeus Xeinios is the protector of guests and hosts; Zeus Hikesios is the god of suppliants, and Zeus Horkios is the lord presiding over oaths. The functions of the divinity are derived from the words for guest, xenos, suppliant, hikete, and oath, horkos. These three categories reveal respectively a social, religious, and political perspective. Since in the oral epic the reader encounters a society of warriors, the three socio-cultural functions for the role of the divinity are manifested in human behavior as boast, prayer and oath. In his Structural Anthropology Claude Lévi-Straus has pointed out how opposing binary structures reflect tribal customs in a primitive society. Consequently, we may view the three linguistic categories boast, prayer, and oath, as including their three corresponding adverse counterparts, challenge, curse, and betrayal. The most basic oscillation between the positive and the negative meaning for each thematic role may shift, depending on the speech situation. For instance, a boast at the mead hall remains a boast, but when formulated at a scene of confrontation with an antagonist, the boast becomes a challenge. Likewise, a hero's prayer for victory is a curse for his opponent. Finally, formulating an oath of alliance opens the possibility for breach of trust, or cruel betrayal. In the military context of the oral epic, we perceive that double possibilities within each role expand plot motivation and character development. We refer to the serpentine movement between positive and negative social, religious, and political behavior along the plot of Beowulf as the heroic code.
The conditional statement with the gif adversative conjunction is found in the hero's first recognition scene. Beowulf, having heard of Grendel's deeds, leaves the fold to secure future alliance for his king. When the coastguard of the Scyldings asks the Geats for identification, in order to grant right of passage, he recognizes the hero as outstanding, unless his countenance belies him, naefne him his white leoge [250]. The hero, in turn, asks the warrior to judge his knowledge of affairs: "you know if it is, as we truly hear say."9 The gif clause [272b] introduces ravages perpetrated by the "mysterious persecutor," deogol daedhata [275]. The actual remedy proffered follows suit:
I may offer Hrothgar, through boundless spirit, good advice,
how he, old and good, may overcome his enemy, if reversal should ever come to him,
remedy from evil trouble.
Ic ßaes Hrodgar maeg
Burh rumne sefan raed gelaeran, hu he frod ond god feond overswyđeb –
gyf him edwenden aefre scolde bealuwa bisigu bot eft cuman – [277b-281]
After asking the coastguard whether report of the crisis is true, the hero alleges that he can advise Hrothgar how change may be brought about if relief is to come. Since Beowulf and his men are strangers, the statement is crucial and daring enough when considered as means for armed men without password, leafnesword [245b], to gain safe passage. The noun edwenden, reversal, is in apposition to bot, remedy; the reversal implied, to be acknowledged as remedy, is the very relief to be attained through projected success of the mission led by Beowulf. Should help be refused, chances are Hrothgar may suffer sad necessity as long as Heorot stands. Although the hero's boast allows for failure, since he does not say that he will surely succeed, the immediate responsibility for the decision to grant safe passage to the troop of sailors rests with the coastguard.
The burden on the sentinel is heavy. He responds with an aphorism:
Each of us both shall know a sharp shield bearer,
from his words and deeds, he who thinks well.
Aeghwæbres sceal scearp scyldwiga gescad witan,
worda ond worca, se be wel benced. [287b-289]
The phrase worda ond worca is a universalizing doublet. This combination of two dissimilar terms which complement each other becomes a metaphor for the decision to maintain the spoken word as a man's intention to perform accordingly. We agree with Stanley B. Greenfield that the maxim discriminates between words and deeds, and does not combine both in the province of heroic prowess, since Beowulf has not yet performed. A coastguard should know the difference between someone who lies, and one who speaks truthfully. Words have strong significance in human action when spoken by a man who keeps them. As an inclusive metaphor with general significance in the poem the principal symbolism of the doublet becomes entwined in context with the development of a boast to vow progression; the latter is heroic consequence of the former. The tendency to insure that words are kept draws in the poem a relation between axiom and experience; provisions must be made for the elements of risk. In his monumental grammar Otto Jespersen defines a conditional statement as "the preparation for a possible contingency." Beowulf's original boast was knowledge of dreadful events and belief that he could remedy the situation at Heorot. Diplomatic tact is the norm when the hero speaks his name to a nobleman, Beowulf is min nama [343]. He will help the king if Hrothgar allows the heroes to enter his court: "if he will grant us/that we may greet his kind self." The boast is toned down in order to further his mission inland and reach the crown.
Disorder in the realm remains pervasive even among the ruling class. Unferth, a counselor at Hrothgar's court suggests in a notorious digression that, since Beowulf had lost once a swim match to Breca, he may lose if he seeks an encounter with Grendel:
I expect from you a worse settlement, although you have availed yourself everywhere in battle,
hard struggle, if you dare wait for Grendel close-by all night long.
Donne wene ic to be wyrsan gebingea, deah bu headoraesa gehwaer dohte, grimre gude, gif bu Grendles dearst nihtlongne fyrst nean bidan. [525-528]
Unferth's challenge suggests that the "attempted settlement with Grendel will be worse than what was dealt to Beowulf in that foolish episode with Breca."14 The hero justifies his loss to Breca in the swim match by revealing his strife with water monsters along the way. To answer fully the impudent challenge, Beowulf must unveil the root of decadence in the governing body. The hero then proceeds to identify Unferth as killer of his own brother, beah du binum brodrum to banan wurde, [587]; and adds that Grendel would not attack Heorot if the nobleman's military stamina would match his words:
Never had Grendel caused so much slaughter, fiendish monster, to your lord,
humiliation at Heorot, if your mind were, your spirit in battle, as fierce as you suppose.
baet naefre Gre[n]del swa fela gryra gefremede, atol aeglaeca ealdre binum, hyndo on Heorote, gif bin hige waere, sefa swa searogrim, swa bu self talast; [591-594]
The hero's response to the insult relates the etiology for disorder at Heorot directly to the envious Unferth. In his Cain and Beowulf David Williams remarks that: "the prediction of the Fall of Heorot through parricide and the stories, for instance, of Heremod and Unferth extend the image of a socially ever present Cain to the past and future of the Danes, yoking time and space in the universalization of the theme." Grendel as allegorical figure, descendant of Cain, is a projection of a deep rooted social evil which apparently afflicts the royal court. Slaying of a brother is an over-looming symbol for high treason. Beowulf's reproach to Unferth suggests that through decadence at the royal court a counselor's advice may degenerate into a curse. Hrothgar's noble thane fails to discern a balance between true words and actual deeds.
We are now in a position to account for the Finn Lay's relevance in the plot of the epic. The story tells how Queen Hildeburh loses her brother, Hnaef, when Frisians battle Danes; Finn himself, the lady's husband, is later inevitably slayed. She was of Danish stock and her spouse was Frisian. Hengest, after taking over command, is persuaded to abide by a treaty whereby Finn's men cannot mention to the Danes their equivocal position. The crisis the treaty purports to solve is the bitter slaughter of kinfolk, mo borbealo maga [1079], a most serious offense. The Frisians swear to uphold the peace, ge bingo budon [1085b]; provided that there is no grudge on either side. Both tribes should receive an equal share of the treasures, feohgyftum [1089]. Spanning prohibition, the treaty includes a penalty clause:
They confirmed by treaty on both sides a firm peace, Fin declared to Hengest undisputed zeal by oaths, that the survivors, by decision of the wise, held fast with honor, so that any man who would break the truce by word or deed, or through enmity ever complain, though now they follow their ring giver's murderer, deprived of chief, what to them was imposed, that if any Frisian by audacious speech were to bring remembrance of the murder-hatred, then the edge of the sword should settle it.
dwindled host, swears by oath, adum benemde, to hold in honor the Danes and kill any man on either side who would break the truce by word or deed, wordum ne worcum [1100]. But the Danes resent their equivocal position as thanes loyal to the slayer of their leader; and, eventually, Finn, who never reaches a suitable bargaining position, is killed; then Hildeburh, Finn's widow and Hnaef's sister, is taken to Denmark [1057-1059a]. The penalty clause included in the edict does not ameliorate Finn's downfall, rather, it is a sign that disturbance will recur. As Fabienne Michelet notes: "Of course, these fragile arrangements fail." The negative elements of the boast-vow progression, a challenge which, through curse, ends in betrayal, prevail over the penalty clause. In the context of the Beowulf epic, the Finn Lay exemplifies the case of an oath which fails to secure permanent loyalty. The slaying of a brother in law is a metaphor for high treason and reminds us of the crisis without peaceful remedy wrought in Heorot by the descendant of Cain, Grendel.
In contrast, Beowulf exhibits loyalty, courage, and strength. He is so strong that he can afford courtesy. When Beowulf announces his mission to Hrothgar our hero wishes to display, along with valor, the discretion that will endear him to his lord back home, Hygelac. The boast is tempered by caution when he weights the grim balance of war before facing Grendel:
I expect he will, if he may reach control in the wine hall, eat unafraid the Geat people, as he oft did the glorious host. Never need you bury my head, for he will devour my slaughtered corpse, if death takes me; nor bear away the slain he likes to savor; solitary, he eats without mourning, stains his moor retreat; never you need to sorrow much over my corpse. Send to Hygelac, if battle takes me, the best of mail shirts which guards my breast.
Wen' ic baet he wille, gif he wealdan mot, in baem gudsele Geatena leode etan unforhte, swa he oft dyde, maegenhred manna. Na bu mine bearft hafalan hydan, ac he me habban wile d[r]eore fahne, gif mec dead nimed; byred blodig wael, byrgean benced, eted angenga unmurnlice, mearcad morhopu; no du ymb mines ne bearft lices feorme leng sorgian. Onsend Higelace, gif mec hild nime, beaduscruda betst, baet mine breost wered, [442-453]
The repetition of gif clauses stresses the stern pessimism of three potential consequences ensuing from Beowulf's hypothetical defeat: a) the monster will continue feeding at Heorot, b) the beast's cannibalism obviates the need for burial, and c) the hero's byrnie should go to Hygelac as Hrothgar's last respects to a dead champion. This triple gif clause speech exposes the negative side of the encounter's outcome. The antagonist presents a boast expressing deep regret. Grendel has eaten Danes before; precedent dictates that he may eat Geats too, if he prevails in the encounter. Denial of burial represents the tragic curse of a cruel fate, if death takes the hero. Beowulf then closes the initial boast with the sad final request to honor the alliance between Geats and Danes: his armor should go back to Hygelac if the hero dies in battle. The request includes the hope that the feud against Grendel does not break the Geat-Dane alliance. Submission to an uncontrollable fate funnels choices into a personal decision. Courage is mastered by a subdued but mature will since the speech opens and closes with acceptance of the ineffability of destiny "he shall trust/ the judgment of God, he who death takes" [440b-441b]; and then follows the aphorism: "fate always goes as it shall" [455b]. The tone of the speech is to let the audience ponder over whether a boast could approximate a prayer by observing the possibility for failure.
In the plot, Hrothgar, rising to the occasion, promises by oath to his guest that if he survives he will lack nothing: "There will be no lack of reward for you/if you survive this courageous deed with life" [660b-661]. Before the actual encounter Beowulf proclaims in defiance that he shall fight Grendel without weapons, since the monster scorns them, a boast tempered by honor:
but we both in the night shall forsake swords, if he dares to seek war without weapon; and then let wise God to whichever side grant the glory, as is deemed proper.
ac wit on niht sculon secge ofersittan, gif he gesecean dear wig ofer waepen, ond sibdan witig God on swa hwaebere hond halig dryhten maerdo deme, swa him gemet bince. [683-687]
We may consider a positive meaning for the hypothesis of unarmed struggle: if the fiend dares to seek battle without weapon they will fight, and the balance of an even match shall be tilted by God alone, a boast well within the prayer framework.
Hope in the wake of a harsh fate is expressed by Wealtheow during celebrations after Grendel's defeat. In a double gif clause speech the queen tells Hrothgar that, if the king should die before his own son comes of age, then his younger brother's son, Hrothulf, shall rule the young men with honor [1182b]. The king's nephew should repay prince Hrethric with kindness if he remembers all graces bestowed on him while growing up at court [1185a]. Wealtheow caps her view of fate with the hope that loyalty may keep the kingdom together. Again we sense in the use of the hypothetical phrase a desire to provide hope that a personal decision projected into the future may alter the fatal outcome of an uncontrollable fate. A sincere intention and the proper remembrance of past favors meet the challenge of an unknown destiny.
As the plot unravels the Grendel adventure brings temporary success. Although the hero is confident to have restored order in Heorot, nevertheless, Grendel's dam attacks to avenge her son. She wreaks havoc at Heorot. The ravages include the loss of Aeschere, Hrothgar's dear counselor. Vile turmoil at Heorot affects the high echelons of society at the royal court. Subsequently, the scop quotes Beowulf in indirect discourse to outline the hero's trusting incredulity of a crisis he believed ended. We are told the hero asks Hrothar, in a presumptuous boast, "if the night had been/agreeable according to his desire" [1319b-1320]. The negative response shows Beowulf that, sadly, the relief obtained by heroic prowess does not endure. Hrothgar henceforth exposes on the revenge of Grendel's mother and ends his speech with a request for Beowulf:
seek if you dare! I shall reward you for this battle with riches, with ancient treasures as I did before, twisted gold, if you come back. sec gif bu dyrre! lc be ba faehde feo leanige, ealdgestreonum, swa ic aer dyde, wundnam golde, gyf bu on weg cymest. [1379b-1382]
The king pleads with the hero, as he did before [660b-661], to risk his life if he dares, and gifts will follow, if he returns alive. Hrothgar's vow again shows the promise of reward for specific performance. Beowulf answers with an equivalent set of double gif clauses. The hero repeats his previous request to Hrothgar in parallel contractual fashion:
if I at your service should lose my life, you be to me, when dead, in the position of a father. Be you protector to my young retainers, close companions, if battle takes me.
gif ic aet bearfe binre scolde aldre linnan baet du me a waere fordgewitenum on faeder staele.
Wes bu mundbora minum mago begnum, hondgesellum, gif mec hild nime. [1477-1481]
Half-line 1481b is identical to 452b. The text expresses the recurring echo of a deal struck anew. Starting with the coastguard scene, and on to the scene of departure from Horthgar's court, closure for speeches negotiating promises is provided by a characteristic gif clause.
After the successful encounter with Grendel's mother, involving submersion and subsequent rebirth from deep waters, Beowulf prepares to sail. In the hero's farewell speech to Hothgar the non-truth conditional clause solidifies into a semantic framework for an oath of contractual alliance:
If I may earn in any way on earth your affection further, Lord of men, than I have yet with war prowess, I am prepared immediately. If I hear over the expanse of the waves that a nearby terror threatens you as these enemies formerly did, I shall bring a thousand thanes, warriors as help. I know from Hygelac, lord of the Geats, though he be a young guardian of the people, that he will further me in words and deeds, since I praise you well, and I should bear the spear shaft as help for you, military support, when you need men. If thence Hrethric to the court of the Geats should betake himself, as child of princes, he may there find many friends, distant lands are better sought by he who is strong himself.
Gif ic bonne on eorban owihte maeg binre modlufan maran tilian, gumena dryhten, donne ic gyt dyde, gudgeworca, ic beo gearo sona. Gif ic baet gefricge ofer floda begang, baet bec ymbsittend egesan bywad, swa bec hetende hwilum dydon, ic de busenda begna bringe, haeleba to helpe. Ic on Higelace wat, Geata dryhten, beah de he geong sy, folces hyrde, baet he mec fremman wile wordum ond worcum baet ic be wel herige ond be to geoce garholt bere, maegenes fulltum, baer de bid manna bearf. Gif him bonne Hrebric to hofum Geata gebinged beodnes bearn, he maeg baer fela freonda findan; feorcybde beod selran gesohte baem be him selfa deah. [1822-1839] In this leave-taking gif clauses head three lines outlining a sealed pact. The first gif clause is the hero's pledge of future service, guđgeweorca [1825], if he hears about trouble from abroad while at home. The second clause outlines the promise of additional reinforcements from overseas in case of need, the hero's own reliance on his king; Hygelac proffers aid according to his usual pledge by words and deeds, wordum ond worcum [1833]. The doublet conferring desert of safe-passage for the troop through conviction of good faith, used in the coastguard scene [289a], expresses reliance on a promise; its use here again represents firm trust on human intention. Beowulf closes the speech with an oath of future alliance and a concern for posterity in the form of an invitation extended to Hrethric to visit Hygelac's court and find support as suppliant in adversity.
Appearing regularly in speeches framing contractual relations, the conditional statements introduced by the gif particle represent a character's commitment to the development of events in the plot. Beowulf is a character prominent enough to include a sequence of three consecutive gif clauses in two of his speeches [cf. 442b, 447b, 452b & cf. 1822a, 1826a, 1836a]. A notable difference between these two triple "gif clause" speeches is that in the first instance all three apodoses precede the protases, outlining a twinge of fatalism which could be interpreted as humility on the part of the hero. Stanley B. Greenfield finds tripartite subsequent responses by Hrothgar to both Grendel adventures:
"... reward for such favors rendered is obviously implicit in the heroic ethos, and Hrothgar makes it explicit when he finally accepts Beowulf's offer [660-661]. When Beowulf performs as promised, Hrothgar not only wishes to adopt him as a son, but again states that he will give him treasure [946b-950]; and at the banquet that evening he does so, the poet describing the gifts in detail [1020-1049]. The same pattern holds in the Grendel mother's episode: promise before action in 1730-1732, promise after action in 1706b-1707a, and 1783b-1784, and actual giving in 1866-1867."
In plot development, the king answers the boast-vow progression in kind. But, whereas Beowulf's speech preceding the Grendel encounter contains, with ascending pessimism, provisions for valiant death, the later farewell speech strikes a more hopeful note: in the wake of need, Beowulf will come with one thousand men as aid; and Hrethic will find friends at Hygelac's court, if he decides to go, gebinced. [1837]
Hrothgar replies with recognition of the hero's unrivaled integrity. There is no wiser young warrior [1842b-1845a]. Beowulf can bargain with words, Bingian. The recognition of the hero has progressed considerably. Now he is the mature speaker who can settle disputes. Decorous rhetoric is vital to tribes engaged in constant warfare since an alliance is maintained through the promise of support. Hrothgar seals the Danish farewell to Beowulf acknowledging that an uncontrollable fate should be dealt with through the strong commitment of a personal decision. The King recognizes that the hero's maturity is essential for the Geats:
I consider the fact that, if it happens that the spear take, in fierce battle, the son of Hrethel, your lord, or either illness or steel, guardian of the people, and you are still alive, the Seafaring Geats do not have any better king to choose, to be guardian of treasure for heroes, if you would rule the kingdom for kinsmen.
Wen ic talige, gif baet geganged baet de gar nymed, hild heorugrimme Hrebles eaferan, adl obde iren ealdor dinne, folces hyrde, ond bu bin feorh hafast, baet be Sae-Geatas selran naebben to gceosenne cyning aenigne, hordweard haeleba, gyf bu healdan wylt maga rice. [1845b-1853a]
The double gif clause speech discloses tension between an unpredictable destiny splayed broadly in future time and an indomitable human will: a) if your king should be killed and you still live, I expect the Geats will choose you king; that is, b) if you decide to rule your people as guardian of wealth for heroes. The first protasis postulates the death of Hygelac. Beowulf should be the next king upon death of the monarch. The Geats would certainly choose an appropriate giver of treasure, if Beowulf should undertake the task to rule over their dominion. The second apodosis is subdued; the term "king," cyning [1851], is in apposition to "guardian of the treasure for heroes," hordweard haeleba [1852]. We may heighten the strength of this suggested apodosis with the verb "to be" by viewing haleba as an objective, rather than as a partitive, genitive; since clearly, grammatically, it may be both. Beowulf as king is a guardian for the heroes' wealth, not just a keeper of treasure. Hrothgar presents a hopeful prayer, and seals the course of destiny with the possibility of a pact to assure the hero's future. A cruel fate can be dealt with through a bright prospect. The prowess of Beowulf as hero, and the uncompromising gratitude of Hrothgar as ruler, bring the Geats and Danes to remain reconciled in brotherhood. [1855-1857]
The contractual nature of the conditional statements, oscillating from boast through prayer and on to oath in the speeches of characters, indicates a keen appreciation for human intentions on the part of the poet. However, upon return to Hygelac's court, absence of dramatic dialogue accounts for scant gif clauses. Historical narrative in indirect discourse predominates in the last part of the epic. Beowulf's relationship with his king is perfect and needs no further development in confrontational dialogue. A conditional statement, after all, is a pre-empted provision for the future dependent on behavioral contingencies unfulfilled in the present. Nevertheless, there is dramatic tension in plot development because in the poem "nothing can stand except in negation," as J. D. Niles says:
The dominant mood created by this recurrent play of joy against sorrow, creation against dissolution, may strike some readers as fatalistic, and it may well be; but, if so, the poem's fatalism stems from a realistic under-standing of the limits that bound earthly success. The Beowulf poet seems to have lived enough of life to appreciate the awful ease with which time and an indifferent fate blot out even the most glorious of human achievements.
We do not know how Beowulf, who reigns for two lines, has trouble after fifty years [2207-2211]. The unpredictable quality of human life engulfs Beowulf as an absolute contingency.
Although, as he approaches his last adventure, Beowulf is guiltless, the aged king ransacks his soul to find cause for the dragon crisis: "the wise man believed that he had angered bitterly the eternal creator God, over an old law" [2329-2331a]. He, nevertheless, relies on the experience of past exploits to confront the new evil. Yet the hero is now an old man and his boast has weakened. The scop tells how the hero speaks boasting words for the last time: beotwordum spraec/niehstan side [2510b-2511a]. Beot, a word often translated as boast, also means promise. Beowulf wishes to draw the dragon from his lair:
I waged many
I waged many battles in youth, yet I, old folk guard, shall seek a fight, perform a glorious deed, if this evil ravager out of his earth hall attacks me.
'Ic gendde fela guda on geogode; gyt ic wille, frod folces weard faehde secan, maerdu fremman, gif mec se mansceada of eordsele ut geseced.' [2511b-2515]
Apparently, old age is not an acceptable justification for inaction; he must perform as before; but there is a melancholic tone in the challenge. We sense that the hero expects that the antagonist may not leave his abode. If the dragon comes out, he shall engage him. The present general condition presents a lamentable probability. The tone of regret deepens as the hero gives up his emblematic grip;
I would not bear a sword, a weapon for a serpent, if I knew how to contend with might against this dragon, to grapple bravely, as I did formerly with Grendel.
'Nolde ic sword beran, waepen to wyrme, gif ic wiste hu wid dam aglaecean elles meahte gylpe widgripan, swa ic gio wid Grendle dyde; [2518b-2521] In this mixed condition the apodosis prominently precedes the protasis. Curiously enough, Beowulf is sure that he does not know how to grapple boastfully, gylpe wötgripan [2521a]. The result clause is in the optative mood. The statement here seems to be a future less vivid condition which may be interpreted as present contrary to fact: "I would forsake weapons if I knew how to grapple with the monster according to my boast." He does not know how to grapple, so he will not forsake weapons. The great leader is wavering: "I am courageous, so I shall forego boasting against this war flyer" [2527b-2528]. By skipping the boast altogether Beowulf trusts destiny. This encounter is his last adventure. The hero commands his warriors to stand back as he claims to be alone the dragon's antagonist. He tells the men in his troop:
This is not your venture,
This is not your venture, not set for any man, except for me alone against this monster, to undertake with strength, perform as nobleman.
Nis baet eower sid, ne gemet mannes, nefn(e) min anes, baet he wid aglaecean eofodo daele, eorlscype efne. [2532b-2535a]
The exception outlined by the conjunction, nefne [2533b], is crucial, for courage is the trademark of Beowulf as warrior king, his uniqueness. Having attained old age in an unforgiving world is a fact which confirms the tested strength of his courageous nature, although his stamina may now be deficient. Despite the presumptuous absence of a boast, the sensitive reader may consider the hero's stance boastful enough; we should remark, that, since the confrontation is close at hand, and the dragon is near, the boast is direct enough to be a challenge.
The hero pays dearly for his daring. At the time of most need only one warrior is torn with sorrow. As kinsman, Wiglaf means well, bam de wel benced [2601b]. This phrase recalls the coastguard's aphoristic reply, se be wel bynced [289b]. Good intention is the trait of the dependable warrior. The noble retainer reminds the other warriors of the oath sworn:
I remember the time when we partook of mead, when we promised our lord, in the great hall, who gave us these rings, that we would repay him for this war gear, if to him such need arose, for helmets and hand swords. lc daet mael geman, baer we medu begun, bonne we geheton ussum hlaforde in biorsele, de us das beagas geaf, baet we him da gugetawa gyldan woldon, gif him byslicu bearf gelumpe, helmas ond heard sword. [2633-2637]
The optative mood of gelumpe and gyldan woldon signals a contrary to fact condition: "We swore to help if there were need." The condition precedent to the warriors' promise for performance is no longer hypothetical. The impending circumstances press for the ostensible response – i.e. there is need, so we must help. Since the hero is struck down, aid from his retainers is demanded by the situation, regardless of his previous command for them to stand back [2529]. Wiglaf tries to persuade the men that following specific orders to the letter could become an excuse for disobedience. There is need of courage to face danger by undertaking fulfillment of the promise to act. Although Beowulf thought to do it alone [2643], he needs friends, maegenes behofad [2647b]. Circumstances have changed. The issue of desertion becomes semantic when the loyal warrior reminds the others of their duty to perform in case of need. He who gave treasure considered the men worthy of decision-making. The order to remain at bay is not inflexible; nor is it an excuse to ratify cowardice.
Wiglaf stands apart as the exceptional, dutiful thane. The death of the dragon itself is a joint venture between Beowulf and Wiglaf [2706-2708a]. Wiglaf's difference from the deserters is that he answers with courage the call of loyalty at a time of need. He is the proverbial thane at hand in time of need, begn aet dearfe [2709a]. Twice he remarks that he would rather die with his gold-giver than live with shame. The deserters' failure to keep their oath of allegiance by performance at a time of need makes them liars as well as cowards, paradigms of treason, "the ten weak traitors together" tydre treowlogan tyne aetsomne [2847]. The pronounced alliteration strikes a note of profound chastisement and sticks to the reader's ear and memory. Consequently, a tragic drama develops in the course of the last adventure. After the monster's fatal attack, the dying hero's stance before the dragon's hoard is prefaced by the line, "the old man contemplates in grief the gold" [2793]. The scop, who has restrained in general from using gif clauses himself directly in the narration, presents a delayed parainesis:
Indeed, I have heard said that on land there is hardly a man, among heroes who are victorious, although he were daring in action, such as to be able to rush a poison breather, or stir with his hands a hoard, if he found the guard awake, dwelling in the barrow.
Huru baet on land lyt manna dah maegenagendra mine gefraege, beah de he daeda gehwaes dystig waere, baet he wid attorsceadan orede geraesde, odde hringsele hondum styrede, gif he waeccende weard onfunde buon on beorge. [2836-2842a]
There is an implication of hybris or démesure on the part of the hero since he approached the gigantic worm when the creature was awake, whereas the fugitive slave who caused the crisis succeeded in plundering the hoard while the monster was sleeping [2290]. The scop uses his own conditional statement for censure. Beowulf's defiant attitude seems reckless.
In a world of uncertainty, the persistent use of conditional statements reflects the belief that judgment should be tailored to different situations with altered consequences. There was need for the coastguard to be persuaded that orders are not binding in all cases, so as to grant Beowulf's troop the right to have safe passage [280]; and this same claim is Wiglaf's implied reproach to the deserters [2637]. We should uphold the spirit and not just the letter of the law. Beowulf had to insist that the seafaring Geats must penetrate Danish territory; Wiglaf had to insist that the troop of men not hang back despite the leader's orders. The former is a subdued boast, the latter scolds the warriors for shameful cowardice. Both poles of attempts at persuasion, the noble boast and the stern rebuke for treason, are, respectively, the first and last passages where the prominent gif clause is employed by the characters themselves. Use of the hypothetical statement starts in the epic with a positive boast and winds its way through challenge, prayer, curse, and oath to end in a reprimand for deplorable betrayal. Subsequently, we perceive that the scop's second use of the conditional clause in the complete course of the actual narrative suggests that the hero is rash in his old age. Expressed in non-truth conditional semantics, the heroic code allows the sensitive reader to view the complete epic plot of Beowulf.
We endeavor to conclude. The conceptual notion of balance and exchange, seen already as part of the semantic structure in the first three quarters of the epic poem, becomes in the last part pervaded with bitter irony. The dragon's hoard, buried by the last living member of an extinct clan, is a legacy to the earth men could not enjoy [2247-2266]. The despairing elegiac tone of the ending broadcasts the theme of waste after generations of splendor, the betrayal of time. Consequently, a monstrous creature guards the hoard which will profit him in no way, ne byd him wihte dy sel [2277b]. The futility of riches is brought into focus because the gold transferred from the dragon's hoard into Beowulf's barrow at his burial will be as useless to others as it was before, eldum swa unnyt, swa hyt (aero)r waes [3168]. Yet, poignantly, the hero thanks god before death for the treasure he sought to acquire for his people [2797-2798]. Beowulf had boasted earlier that Hygelac needed to buy, gecypan [2496], no better warrior than him to ride point on the war trail. Beowulf paid in war what Hygelac granted him; as he says: geald aet gude, swa me gifede waes [2491]. The quest for glorious victory brings anecdotal defeat. The dragon made plunder of the hoard no easy bargain, yde ceap [2415], for anyone. The word ceap hardly alters in meaning as used in Beowulf's autobiographical speech [2426-2509]. In this context we find that Haethcyn, after his accidental killing of Herebeald, his older brother, ascended to the throne and waged war against neighboring tribes. Haethcyn himself paid for a raid against Swedes with his own life, a high price, heardan ceap [2482a]. Mercantile language acquires lugubrious overtones in the text of Beowulf. Although wealth is a symbol for honor, the messenger at the end explains in his elegy how all the grimly purchased hoard, grimme geceapod [3012b], shall burn and be buried along with Beowulf. The hoard was dearly bought, deade forgolden [2843b], and grimly begotten, as granted by a harsh destiny, grimme gegongen; waes baet gifede to swid [3085]. Expressions for trade and commerce define wasteful prowess in the last part of the epic.
The hero takes up his last stand as ultimate liability for lordship over his dominions. His open challenge to the gigantic worm ends any possibility to sue for peace freode to friclan [2556]. On the other hand, the uncondemned slave, unfaege [2291], plunders under the auspice of fate, not the heroic code. Fleeing a whipping for wrong doing, in need of shelter, the slave steals a cup. The pernicious theft ends Beowulf's reign of fifty years as well as the dragon's rest of three centuries [2278-2279]. Both unforeseen contingencies are introduced by an oddaet clause [cf. 2210b & 2280b]. Beowulf rules "until a monster plunders in the night."44 The death shadow guards the hoard "until an intruder enraged him."45 Thus, the chain of causation consists of a dragon usurping the peace after Beowulf's fifty year reign because a fugitive slave steals a cup to give as peace offering to his lord. The irony is sullen and acute. The stolen cup becomes legal restitution, or peace offering, friodowaere [2282], which the slave's master accepts as trade for a granted pardon, bene getdad [2284b]. Hence the issue of a private bargain for redemption leads to an accursed end. Neither Beowulf nor the plundering slave can be considered blameworthy. The Grendel episodes epitomize the betrayal of kinsmen which engenders endless feuds; the dragon encounter symbolizes the progress by destruction of a society advanced enough to work metal with fire. Wiglaf explains how Beowulf could not be persuaded to hold back from the fiery dragon by any counsel [3079-3081]. He met fire with steel.46 Little fault can be found in the hero except adherence to a rigid heroic code even in old age.
Beowulf's sacrifice leads him to attain a new sacred dimension. Wiglaf is the one who reprimands the deserters. We sense that Beowulf's heroic stature does not allow him to descend to the level necessary to address deserters. Fred C. Robinson remarks: "At his death, Beowulf never condemns the cowardly retainers who deserted him in his hour of need; his thoughts are always and exclusively on the survival of his people."47
Robinson insists that Beowulf's nobility goes beyond what is normally assigned to mortals. The textual critic from Yale indicates that the cremation of the dead hero, along with the burial of lavish obsequies alongside his ashes [3137-3148], together with the procession of princes chanting dirges around his gravemound [3169-3182], hint at deification. Robinson mentions further that fallen pagan heroes were often venerated at a heroön, a shrine located at the tomb. The funeral of Scyld Scefing at the opening of the poem is not followed by horsemen circling a barrow. Beowulf's funeral rites are more extensive; the monument built around the burial site seems redundant, something like a second funeral [3155-3160]. The landmark should serve as a beacon for seafarers sailing the seas, as the hero himself requests at death [2802-2808]. Beowulf's burial represents the last rites earned by a dutiful monarch.
The detailed progression of language as a means to reflect proper exchange, seen through the rhetorical use of conditional statements in the first part of the poem, falls away into paradox and adulation in the last part. The ensuing bafflement results in a dramatic tension which must have thrilled the poet's audience. Yet the hero of innate good intentions remains true to his word to the very end; then he meets his judgment day, domes daeg [3069]. The language for exchange reveals in its development from logic to ironic paradox hopes which are betrayed eventually by time. The heroic code seeks to overcome social evils by providing expectation of rights for duties among noble thanes. Unfortunately, even when there is great strength of character, an uncertain fate overcomes the exceptional hero. The insistent use of language to express vows for projected heroic action, which drive the leader to a sacrificial death, sounds the plaint of a pagan civilization at the brink of Christianity. The death of Beowulf is the end of an age. We can recapture lost ideals through interpretative analysis of a poem which contains a conceptual transition in the notion of exchange that evolves from a rudimentary social contract on to the promise of specific performance within the sworn word, regardless of the outcome. The Beowulf poet strives to conform the vows for display of heroic action to a balance of rights for duties; yet the progress from boast to oath is strained by the equivalence of an analogous opposing binary tension from challenge, through curse, to betrayal because, in the Anglo Saxon society of the Beowulf epic, positivist thought is tempered by a fatalistic view of temporal reality.
