Beowulf as a Folk Epic: Structure, Heroism, and Identity

The Epic Tradition and Its Origins

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 are almost the sole elements of 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 forms the basis of meaning underlying the plot. 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 the central hero rather than on the events themselves.

A folk epic is a somewhat specialized class of this general story type. Though still primarily concerned with a single central figure, the stories told in folk epics are also important to the group of people who tell them and keep them alive for other reasons. Folk epics are often concerned with a hero central to the founding or development of a certain community. Neither The Iliad nor The Odyssey really fits into this category; the heroes those stories concern 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.

Defining the Folk Epic

Another well-known epic that could be considered 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 bears a much stronger resemblance to the Germanic roots of English than it does to the modern form of the language, the story is studied by most students and general readers in modern translation. This does not change the essence of the story, however, and even a cursory understanding of Beowulf makes clear that it fits the definition of a folk epic.

Beowulf and Old English Tradition

Not only is it concerned with the actions of the central figure — who is himself a warrior king, much like Gilgamesh — but the story is also one of the only surviving tales from the old Germanic tribes that first settled the British Isles. It is therefore indicative of this early way of life and the methods by which these people founded their society, and specifically the ways in which they celebrated the lives and deaths of their heroes. Beowulf is not a folk epic because it directly narrates the founding of a people, but rather because it typifies their way of life and allows the modern reader to picture how that founding occurred.

Even the prologue to the main story clearly establishes this work 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 a time when the land and people were raw and still developing:

The Prologue as Folk Epic Signal

"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 that it is a translation — that make its grounding in the folk epic tradition 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. Instead, it makes reference 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 for the praise of a hero who was great not only for his solitary acts but for the fairness he showed his people. At the same time, it calls attention to the fact that these people-kings are long since passed, suggesting that the honor and glory of these heroes and the times in which they lived may have begun to fade, and that adequate exemplars may no longer exist in the modern age. This mechanism of looking back through stories to a time of formation as a way of addressing contemporary problems is another very strong link between Beowulf and the tradition of folk epic narratives.

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

Also quite telling is the use of the word "we," which further strengthens the connection between the storyteller and the audience. Rather than using the almost accusatory "you" or the more distantly removed "I," the author's decision to use "we" places speaker and listener in the same subordinate position relative to the subject of the story — that is, the past and the heroes it contains. This makes the narrative not so much instructive as it is a shared act of looking back: a reflection on a common history as the community examines its roots in an attempt to define its present situation. This is what makes the story of Beowulf a folk epic. It is not simply that the story is about a particular hero who is well loved and well remembered by his people many generations after his passing, but rather that the people continue to look to his story as a source of inspiration. Beowulf's inspiring acts are not the most important part of the epic; rather, the fact that he is inspiring is the essential quality.

Conclusion: Solidarity Through Shared Heroism

Beowulf is more than the story of a hero's life, journey and adventures, and death. It is the story of a type of person and a people that the author and original readers of Beowulf felt an intimate longing for. As a folk epic, the tale of Beowulf is meant to draw people together in a common history, and to inspire them to the same types of glory that the heroes of the past achieved. Its purpose is to create solidarity in the admiration of a common hero, and the central figure of this story does exactly that.