The Hero Beowulf

Here we see Sigurd as he rushes towards the dragon. He is large, tall, and his legs are pictured as if in motion. He is the hero come to slay the beast.

Let us now then turn to the heroes who set out to capture treasure and slay the dragons in these narratives – and first to another dragon-slaying hero, in another tale already briefly mentioned.

A hero called Beowulf.

Beowulf is another medieval work which greatly inspired Tolkien. Tolkien had a working translation of it, Old English to Modern English, and had written many notes on the epic poem, as well as his own fairy-tale version of it, Sellic Spell – all of which were published after his death, in 2014. For more information, see Tolkien, J.R.R. Beowulf: a Translation and Commentary together with Sellic Spell. Edited by Christopher Tolkien, HarperCollinsPublishers, 2014.

Tolkien’s essay on Beowulf, The Monsters and the Critics, For more information, see Tolkien, J.R.R. “The Monsters and the Critics”. The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays. Edited by Christopher Tolkien, HarperCollinsPublishers, 2006, pp. 5-48. remains influential within the academic world. Here Tolkien argues for the importance of the monsters in this epic poem: Grendel, his mother, and the dragon. Tolkien felt these were often overlooked by scholars who merely focussed on the historical aspects of the text, while the dragon and other monsters were also of great interest.

In Beowulf we then also find a dragon, and a dragon-slayer, namely, Beowulf himself, who perished during his battle with the nameless dragon.

There are multiple similarities to be found between Beowulf and The Hobbit, and the one is often mentioned in relation to the other. For more information, see Shippey, Tom. The Road to Middle-Earth. HarperCollinsPublishers, 2005.

In both tales there is a thief figure who steals a cup from a dragon’s hoard – a nameless thief and the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins – and there is someone who perishes from the expedition undertaken to claim this hoard, perhaps partially due to their greed – Beowulf, and Thorin Oakenshield.

Sadly, the hoard of Beowulf’s dragon is useless in the end – because it is put with Beowulf upon his death, and thus no one may profit from it.

Was Beowulf’s heroism really so heroic then, if his expedition only brought suffering upon his people? As we’ve seen in our discussion of The Hoard and its 1923 predecessor, one may wonder if Beowulf had been struck by greed, but perhaps there is another thing Beowulf was struck by…

Tolkien himself felt that Beowulf might have been suffering from ‘ofermod’ – a kind of misplaced courage and will to succeed beyond what is wise – a too strong drive for honour and glory. Beowulf wished to fight the dragon alone, which was unwise. Tolkien says that, without his loyal subordinate stepping in, “Beowulf’s chivalry would otherwise have ended in his own useless death, with the dragon still at large”. For more information, see Tolkien, J.R.R. “The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorththelm’s Son”. Tree and Leaf. HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd, 2001, pp. 119-150, p. 145.

As it is, the dragon was slain, yet king Beowulf perished too – and the hoard with him.

Sigurd as pictured here did survive his close-combat battle with the dragon, and triumphs over him. Yet Sigurd’s eventual death was untimely as well: the hero was eventually stabbed in his sleep, after a long dispute concerning marriage and trickery.

At least he was able to slay Fafnir, and live to tell the tale.