Folk epic characteristics illustrated through Beowulf

Beowulf as Folk Epic

The epic narrative is perhaps the simplest and almost certainly the oldest form of storytelling, beginning with oral traditions long before they were written down, or indeed before the concept of writing had been invented. All it requires is a single storyteller or text and the story of a hero; these basic ingredients to all stories are almost the sole elements in an epic; the hero is central to the story, and it is the change that either appears or does not appear in this character as he (or less often she) goes through various journeys, trials, and battles that form the basis of meaning that underlies the plot of such stories. The Iliad and The Odyssey, the two famous and enduring works attributed to the Greek poet Homer, are perhaps the most well-known examples of epics in Western literature. Each deals with the rise and fall (to varying degrees) of one central figure, and though the plot is thick with twists and exciting developments, the focus of these works is certainly on this central hero, rather than on the events.

A folk epic is a somewhat specialized class of this general type story. Though still primarily concerned with a single central figure, the stories that are told in folk epics are also important to the group of people who tell them and keep the stories alive for other reasons. Often, folk epics are concerned with a hero central to the founding or development of a certain community. Neither The Iliad nor The Odyssey really fit into this category; the heroes that the stories are concerned with did not establish new populations or communities, nor did they expand boundaries or cause a drastic change in the way of life for their people. Another well-known epic that could be considered an example of a folk epic is The Epic of Gilgamesh, which tells the story of one of the founding hero-kings of the Sumerian empire. One of the greatest folk epics -- perhaps the only true folk epic -- written in English is the story of Beowulf.

The epic of Beowulf is one of the oldest works in the English language still in existence. Written in Old English, which is not intelligible to most English speakers today and which indeed bears a much stronger resemblance to the Germanic roots of English than it does to the modern iteration of this bastard tongue, the story is studied by most students and laypersons in modern translations. This does not change the essence of the story, however, and even a cursory examination and understanding of Beowulf makes to clear that this story fits the definition of a folk epic. Not only is it concerned with the actions of the central figure, who is himself a warrior king like Gilgamesh, but the story is also one of the only surviving tales from the old Germanic tribes that first settled the British Isles, and is therefore indicative of this early lifestyle and the methods by which these people founded their society, and specifically the ways in which this group of people celebrated the lives and deaths of their heroes. Beowulf is not a folk epic because it directly tells about the founding of a people, but rather because it typifies their way of life and allows the modern reader to picture the way this founding occurred.

Even the prologue to the main story clearly sets this story up as an example of the folk epic. In recalling times and heroes past, the first three lines automatically evoke the feeling of traveling back to the time when the land and people were raw and still developing: "Lo, praise of the prowess of people-kings / of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped, / we have heard, and what honor the athelings won!" (prologue, lines 1-3). There are several specifics in both the structure and the diction of this passage -- even given the consideration that it is a translation -- that make the grounding of this story in the tradition of folk epics eminently clear.

The first line's cry of praise is not directed at any specific person, or even solely at the throne and the human power of kings that fills it. Instead, it makes a reference (and shows reverence) to "people-kings," evoking at once thoughts of solidarity and monarchy, regality and commonality. Few juxtaposed images could be more appropriate for the foundation of a tribe of warlike but honor-bound people, and the praise of a hero that was great not only for his solitary acts, but for the fairness he showed to his people. At the same time, it calls the attention of the reader to the fact that these people-kings are long since passed, suggesting tat perhaps the honor and glory of these heroes and the times in which they lived have also begun to fade, and that perhaps they do not have adequate exemplars in the modern age. This mechanism of looking back through stories to a time of formation as a way of dealing with contemporary problems is another very strong link in Beowulf to the tradition of folk epic narratives.

This strain continues in the next two lines, when the speaker makes explicit reference to the "days long sped," and the mention that such tales have previously been heard. These opening lines are not simply introducing a story, but they also serve to provide a reason for the story to be told in connecting it to the group of people listening/reading, and indeed in drawing a connection between the writer/speaker, his or her audience, and the story that is being told. The mention that such tales have been heard before creates a sort of living history; part of the story of Beowulf, given consideration of these lines, is the story of repetition and the reliving of heroic journeys.

Also quite telling in this passage is the use of the word "we," which serves to still strengthen even further the connection between the storyteller and his or her audience. Rather than use the almost accusatory "you," or the even more distantly removed "I," the author/speaker's decision to use the word "we" places them n the same subordinate position to the subject of the story -- i.e. The past and the heroes it contains -- as the reader/listener. This makes the narrative not so much instructive as it is a shared looking back; a reflection of a common history between the author/speaker and his or her readers/listeners as they examine their roots in an attempt to define their present situation. This is what makes the story of Beowulf a folk epic; it is not that the story is about a particular hero that is well love and well remembered by his people many generations after his passing, but rather the fact that the people continue to look to his story as a source of inspiration. That is, Beowulf's inspiring acts are not the most important part of the epic, but rather the fact that he is inspiring is the essential quality.

There is another interesting commonality to many folk epics that Beowulf stands as a shining example of. Though the heroes of folk epics are generally respected, admired, and honored for their immensely heroic deeds, these old heroes also display an arrogance and sense of self-importance that is somewhat unappealing to modern readers. When Beowulf first encounters the Danish king Hrothgar, he demands -- in mild and honorific terms, but demands nonetheless -- that Grendel be left to him and him alone. As proof of the wisdom of this course of action, Beowulf recounts many of his own glorious deeds in battle, citing his men as evidence: "Themselves had seen me from slaughter come / blood-flecked from foes, where five I bound, / and that wild brood worsted" (Chapter VI, 50-3). This type of boasting is common to heroes of all epics -- Gilgamesh and Odysseus are two prime examples -- but has a special place in folk epics.