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Beowulf Is Not God Cyning

BowulfBeowulf Is Not God Cyning

Elizabeth Howard

Geardagum: Essays on Old and Middle English Language and Literature (2009)

Introduction: The phrase “Þæt wæs god cyning” appears three times in Beowulf: lines 11, 862, and 2391, each time spoken by the narrator, each time referring to a different character, each time commenting on the character at hand and his actions. Hiroto Ushigaki, in “The Image of God Cyning‘ in Beowulf“, argues that:

the Germanic king must be an embodiment, practically and ethically, of the comitatus he rules: requisite to him are martial prowess, wisdom, generosity and love for his people, a sense of honour and justice, nobility of blood, and renown. But these virtues and qualifications are not enough by themselves: only when they make him a wise ‘protector’ of the country and people, does he deserve the name of god cyning “good king,” a phrase of unconditional praise as used by the Beowulf poet. (64 – 65)

While it is tempting to read each occurrence as “unconditional praise,” as Ushigaki does, a more nuanced reading that includes the etymology of “cyning,” reveals that while the first use is indeed “unconditional praise,” each subsequent utterance increases in irony.

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By understanding the etymology of the Old English cyning, and by recognizing the poet’s use of Scyld as the model for a good king, we can see that each of the three uses of the phrase “Þæt wæs god cyning” has a different meaning, moving from unreservedly positive in reference to Scyld, through semi-ironic in reference to Hrothgar, to fully ironic in reference to Beowulf.

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