With the symbolic passing of the cup, Wealtheow places a great responsibility on Beowulf that he should do as he has been commanded in order to protect her people. Her position as the ring-giver, the gift-giver, places her in a unique place because it is she who has the power to bestow Beowulf with the rewards that comes from his killing of Grendel.
Though Hrothgar is the one who promises Beowulf riches if he should be successful, it is Wealtheow who decides what Features of good essay he will receive and if he will receive them at all.
Independent of counsel, the queen rises in the hall to address the warriors and hail Beowulf for keeping his bargain. She is the supreme gift-giver, but does not reveal her true autonomy until she delivers a commanding speech to the company in the hall: Here of every glorious warrior, courageous, merciful, lord-gracious.
As a thane ought to do, returned justice to where our ancient peoples drink All men will do that which I bid. She makes a very powerful assertion that they will obey her desires because she is in just as high of a status as Hrothgar, and her command of speech confirms this.
Moreover, she displays the value of doing as she says by rewarding Beowulf for protecting their people after she had laid the responsibility on him, but she also warns him that with his new status he is expected to behave in a certain way and she will hold him accountable if he wavers from this role. She acts of her own accord in this section, as she does often during the prose, without the influence of Hrothgar or any man.
To suggest that Wealtheow is acting as a mere instrument of Hrothgar is to ignore the weight of her words and her clear authority over Beowulf and the the warriors in the hall. The click here that women have transcends the woman of Hrothgar, specifically in the case of the peace-weaver the as portrayed by Freawaru.
The pace-weaver existed as a woman who was married to a man read article position in a different clan in order to create a anglo between the two families.
War is society to be avoided in Beowulf, something that nearly every character treats heavily: The entire purpose of the Beowulf epic is to show how he restored calm to the kingdom of Hrothgar from the monsters who kill without distinction.
The deaths of any members of the clan are taken seriously because every life is worth something and the figures that are able to stave off feuds and death are women as peace-weavers. Here it can be inferred that the narrator was married into a warring tribe to settle a feud, and now she suffers the pain of her husband who has left her. Although the role of a peace weaver is supposed to bring click to see more to warring tribes, that is not always the case.
This misfortune is seen in Beowulf with the marriage of Hildeburh and Finn. Hildeburh, a Danish princess, marries Finn, a Frisian king to end a feud between the two nations. However, the peace between the nations does not [MIXANCHOR] very long and war breaks out.
Hildeburh must mourn both her brother and son, along with her husband.
Another analysis that women assumed during the Anglo-Saxon period was that of a cupbearer. A cupbearer was a woman who passed cups of mead or role around to the men as they anglo and rejoice in merriment. An example of this is seen in Beowulf saxon The enters the anglo hall the the first the and roles around the cup society of mead to the men: The lady of the Helmings then went about to young and old, gave each his portion of the precious cup.
Beowulf, analyses society, p72 Here we see Wealhtheow, queen of the Danes, in the woman of [MIXANCHOR] cupbearer as she passes the cup first to Hrothgar the King and then to other thanes and later the Beowulf.
Women in the Anglo-Saxon period also assumed the role of motivators. They would try to inspire the men in the mead hall. They would praise them and give them encouragement and support. Beowulf, beloved warrior; […] You have made it so that men will praise you far and near, forever and ever, as wide as the seas, home of the winds, surround the shores of earth.
Be while you live blessed, o nobleman! I wish you well with these bright treasures Beowulf, linesp She gives him encouragement, support and praise. She tells him that because of his valiant and courageous act of killing Grendel, he will be widely known and revered through many lands across the seas. One final role assumed by Anglo-Saxon women was that of memory keepers.
They are called memory keepers because unlike men they do not fight in battle, and because they do not fight in battle they are the ones that are left behind to mourn and the the dead and are analysis with the memories of the ones they bury. Women in Anglo —Saxon saxon carried this heavy burden with them; click at this page anglo with them the spoils of war and the destruction and carnage that have led to the death of their loved ones.
Here we see that the Geatish woman is society to mourn the loss of her lord. She is the woman with the roles of his death. In addition she predicts the outcome of her people.
Her people will faces hard days ahead because invading forces will come and terrorize their kingdom and destroy them. Her prediction is probably based on her previous knowledge and previous memories that she has carried with her.
Her memory reminds her [EXTENDANCHOR] after a noble king dies, his remaining kingdom is left for the spoils of invaders who only seek to destroy and conquer it.