This year, I am focusing my writing and research on the Vikings and the Nordic mythology and sagas. The pantheon was pretty much limited to the small Scandinavian countries, especially Iceland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, and started to die off when Iceland was Christianized, in around 1000 C.E. Oral tales and storytelling are important (or at least present) in almost all the world’s cultures, especially before people could read and write. All of the Norse tales were told orally for many generations, and were mostly written down after making contact with Christianity. This turn is something I wish to focus on in my research, especially in relation to two primary texts, The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki, and the famous Beowulf. I see multiple similarities in these two texts, and one key difference. I argue that these two tales are actually the same story, except Hrolf Kraki is very pagan, and the Beowulf author attempts to make it a Christian tale. I argue that Beowulf is a Christianized version of Hrolf Kraki.
The biggest recurring motif in both Beowulf and Hrolf Kraki is the symbol of the bear. Both heroes (Beowulf, in Beowulf, and Bodvar-Bjarki in Hrolf Kraki) channel bears in their respective tales. The main similarities between the two heroes are their bravery and unmatchable, ferocious strength. Bodvar’s father is named Bjorn, which literally translates to “Bear” in Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish. Not only that, he is transformed into an actual bear by his evil step-mother when he rejects her advances. He roams around as a bear by day, killing the king’s livestock, and is a man at night. The name of his lover, Bodvar’s mother, is Bera, meaning “she-bear”. When Bjorn is killed and his bear-meat served at a feast in the castle, the evil queen makes Bera eat small pieces of it, even though Bera is warned against doing so. The result of this is that their children, born after the feast, have beast-like features. Bodvar-Bjarki’s two older brothers have the marks of an elk and a hound, but Bodvar has no physical blemish. However, he has the strength and ferocity of a bear, and even gets the nickname “Bjarki”, meaning “little-bear”. Beowulf also has unmatchable strength and prowess in battle, and his name, translated, means “Bee-Wolf”, which is a kenning (a phrase which describes a well-known noun in a creative way) for bear. Bodvar grows up, and becomes a great warrior in the hall of King Hrolf Kraki (who, I will argue, is the same character as Beowulf’s King Hrothgar), and even shape-shifts into a bear in his final battle. In the coming research and writing, I will discuss why the storytellers chose the bear to be the symbol of the warrior instead of another animal.
So, if they are the same tale, why doesn’t Beowulf shape-shift into a bear form? I will consider more answers to this question after further research, but as of right now, I think that when the Beowulf tale was written down by a Christian writer, the writer sanitized the story, and possibly removed references to inhuman, witchcraft-like pagan magic. However, the writer left enough of the original tale intact that we can draw the connection to a pagan saga.
I’m incredibly jealous. It sounds like you’ve found a thesis topic that (1) you’re passionate about, (2) is super interesting, (3) is different enough to stand out, and (4) is broad enough to be compelling while having a refined enough scope to be feasible.
So, on your post: I gather that you’re saying here that one of the ways that the author of Beowulf “Christianized” it was by making it so the protagonist no longer took part in the pagan heresy of changing shape. I’m now really curious to know how, if the other references to bears weren’t removed and the set up is the same, but the main character no longer becomes one, how does that change the way the text was read by either the Christian and the non-Christian audience? Does the change have a deeper religious significance in relation to the motif of bears, or are any changes in the significance merely incidental?
This post was extremely interesting to me as I always loved “Beowulf.” Your analysis of this story is very convincing and I am curious if you plan to think at all about these motifs appearing in later stories. As a fan of the story, I myself have actually always been interested in the use of “Beowulf” in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.” Also, after reading your post, I was reminded of the Pixar film, Brave, which is very similar to what you have outlined. Bears, conflict with mothers, and feasts are all present in this film as well. Perhaps when you ponder the ‘so what?’ question you can think about how “Beowulf” and/or “Hrolf Kraki” works as a corner stone text for even contemporary pieces of literature and film.