Hondscioh and Æschere in Beowulf

Abstract

This essay has two parts. The first argues that the Beowulf-poet contrasts what we learn about the deaths of Hondscioh and Æschere in order to distinguish within his fiction between the importance of kin loyalties to their people: Hondscioh's death appears not to matter to the Geats while Æschere's does to the Danes. In this distinction the poet recognizes the strengths of kin ties. The second examines how both characters focus attention on the problems, caused by failed kin relationships, looming in the Danish court, Ingeld's burning of Heorot and Hrothulf's seizing of the throne following Hrothgar's death. These overlapping and sometimes conflicting concerns reveal a poet reshaping the Scandinavian past through fiction to explore a theme central to understanding a significant issue of his own day, the role of kin structure in succession.