Alienation In Beowulf

Evan-Paul Marius Christensen Block 8 10/12/2009

The Anglo-Saxon Lyre Can’t Play Gershwin In the analysis of Modernist literature, one key and defining element that pervades almost all works in question is the occurrence of alienation. This facet, loosely put, is caused by changes in scientific, philosophical, and political order. Contrastingly, the alienation found in Anglo-Saxon works vies in a far different direction: that alienation is caused by internal decisions made by the character or influences from peers (culture). In J. R. R. Tolkien’s Beowulf: The Monsters and The Critics, Tolkien dissertates that the theme of Beowulf is man’s struggle and ultimate defeat – engaged “in a struggle which he cannot win”; something I conclude is a major catalyst of the alienation of Beowulf as a character. In his The Metropolis and Mental Life, George Simmel summarizes modernist alienation, stating that the element "[derives itself] from the claim of the individual to preserve the autonomy and individuality of his existence…” – an argument that draws viable context for discussion concerning the similarity of Beowulf in comparison to works of the Modernist genre. A marked difference between the alienation appearing in Beowulf and Modernist literature is choice. Where modernist alienation is characterized by a circumstantial environment (Nietzsche’s nihilism that “God Is Dead”, or other events beyond the jurisdiction of human control), the alienation in Anglo-Saxon literature is a motivedriven, active form of alienation. Beowulf makes it abundantly clear that he has made an active choice to embark on his campaign in lines 416-17 and 425-26 stating, “…my people supported my resolve to come here to you [Hrothgar]…[and] I mean to be a match

Evan-Paul Marius Christensen Block 8 10/12/2009 for Grendel, settle the outcome in single combat.” Throughout Beowulf, Beowulf consistently makes choices that, though predestined for him by wyrd, will see to guarantee his immortality in the eyes of his people. Alienation for Beowulf is not governed strictly by self-imposition to further immortality, but also by influence from cultural dogmas and peers. This idea is exhibited plainly when Hrothgar conscripts Beowulf to slay Grendel’s mother as retribution for the death of Aeschere, telling Beowulf to “seek it [Grendel’s mother] if you dare. I will compensate you…with lavish wealth…if you come back” (lns 1379-1382). Beowulf is epic, and his struggle is so colossal, his actions so unparalleled and unmatchable, that they thrust him above all others onto an island formed by the eruptions of his renown. The “paradox of defeat inevitable yet unacknowledged…is in Beowulf that [the] poet has devoted [the] whole poem to the theme…that we may see man at war with the hostile world, and his inevitable overthrow in Time.” This again comes from Tolkien and critically accentuates the fact that, in order to gain immortality – to be alienated by unique accolades – Beowulf must die. In Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Theoden amasses his Rohirrim to answer Gondor’s call for aid during the Battle for Pelennor Fields. Theoden’s act runs parallel to Beowulf’s slaying of the dragon, in that two things, neither of which can exist without the other, are guaranteed: glorious death, and lasting immortality. The dragon is to Beowulf what the forces of Mordor are to Theoden: the confirmation of their legacy, but also their sacrificial death to attain it. Fate and wyrd also pervade Beowulf – differing from Modernism’s evidential absence of God, in that humankind is left to resolve conflict via its own devices. Beowulf himself is aware that he will be “overthrown in time” when the scop narrates that Beowulf “…was sad at

Evan-Paul Marius Christensen Block 8 10/12/2009 heart, unsettled yet ready, sensing his death. His fate…would soon claim his coffered soul…” (lns 2419-2424), yet still will attain immortality; the ultimate goal as prescribed by his culture. Beowulf and modernist characters both contend toward alienation with their struggle for radical individuality. When Nietzsche published his nihilism, it shattered preexisting foundations of thought, and those that attempted to adhere to those foundations were lost in the flood progression and change, left behind, circumstantially thrust into alienation. On the other hand, Beowulf actively strives toward reaching an epic status, instead leaving the “common” and “inadequate” – those that settle for being ordinary – behind. While modern characters are volunteered by the rest of the group taking a step back, Beowulf volunteers by taking a step forth. Beowulf follows an archetype that is established in Anglo-Saxon and Tolkien literature; that of the ultimate hero, the ultimate warrior, who struggles epically toward guaranteed loss without hesitation. This death knell utterly alienates Beowulf from his Anglo-Saxon peers because of his choices – quite differently from the circumstantial alienation of modernist literature. The fervent ardor with which this alienation is striven toward likens to a contention for radical individuality on the part of Anglo-Saxon literature and Modern literature. The whole work, all of Beowulf, circulates around the theme of “man alien in a hostile world, engaged in a struggle which he cannot win.” After all, in The Monsters and the Critics, Tolkien says, “It is an heroic-elegiac poem; and in a sense all its first 3,136 lines are the prelude to a dirge: one of the most moving ever written.”