The Theme Of Father Son Relationships In Beowulf

The Theme Of Father/Son Relationships In Beowulf & The Song Of Roland Essay, Research Paper

The Theme of Father/Son Relationships in Beowulf & The Song of Roland

Thomas Lazzaro

Professor Fisher

Literary Patterns of European Development Paper

#1 2/6/97

The representation of father-son type relationships in early Medieval

literary works is a key theme early authors used to give their works more depth

and meaning. Two works that use the theme of father-son relationships are

Beowulf and The Song of Roland. In Beowulf, the relationship between Hrothgar

and Beowulf is one in which there is no actual blood father-son tie, but the two

characters take on all the characteristics of a real father son relationship.

Hrothgar, although Beowulf’s senior, has to rely on this new warrior who comes

to Heorot to help him rid his kingdom of a great danger which he can not get

rid of by himself, and Hrothgar treats him as if he were his own son. In The

Song of Roland, Charles’ relationship with his nephew Roland also takes on the

characteristics of a father-son type relationship. In this work, although

Charles is the better warrior than Roland, he relies on Roland to watch the rear

guard of his army and Roland loses his life while serving his King. The

significance of these inter-generational relationships will be looked at in this

paper, as well as what the authors through the guise of these father-son

relationships were trying to say about various different aspects of life during

their time.

In Beowulf, the function of the relationship between Hrothgar and

Beowulf helps to further the plot in several ways. Whenever there is a reliance

on family in any literary work, it gives any story more meaning and significance.

When Beowulf first arrives in Hrothgars’ hall, we get a sense of the old and

incapable state Hrothgar is in “old and gray-haired among the guard of earls”

(Beowulf, pg. 62) is how he is first described. When hearing who Beowulf’s

father is he states in a joyous tone “I knew him when he was a child!..Well does

the son now pay this call on a proven ally!” (Beowulf, pg. 62-63) Immediately

there is a fond relationship here which will develop even further. When

Beowulf claims that he is in Heorot to cleanse the people of the monster named

Grendel who is plaguing them, Hrothgar is very grateful and he states “So it is

to fight in our defence, my friend Beowulf, and as an act of kindness that you

have come to us here!” (Beowulf, pg. 65) We see here that Hrothgar is indeed

grateful to have the services of so brave a warrior. When Beowulf slays Grendel,

the pride that the old Hrothgar feels towards Beowulf can almost be equated to

the pride a father will feel towards his son when he accomplishes a great deed.

He even claims Beowulf as his son when he holds up the slain Grendel’s hand and

states “Beowulf, I now take you to my bosom as a son, O best of men, and cherish

you in my heart. Hold yourself well in this new relation!” (Beowulf, pg. 80)

This claiming of Beowulf as his son and his later bestowing to him gifts

customary to their society shows how strong their bond is. After the slaying of

Grendel’s mother, the relationship grows even stronger, and Hrothgar from this

point on will be ever grateful to his new son who saved his kingdom from so

great a peril.

In The Song of Roland, the relationship that exists between Charles and

Roland is just as significant as in Beowulf, but is somewhat different. Roland

is recognized as a prized knight and the King’s nephew before he is assigned to

the rearguard, (as can be seen as through the protests of the thought of him

going to negotiate with the treacherous Saracens) but not until after Roland’s

betrayal and death is he esteemed so high in Charles’ mind and all the others

involved. When hearing of the betrayal Roland states “Where are you, fair

nephew. ..God!” , Says the King, “how bitter my reproach, that I was absent when

they struck the first blow” (The Song of Roland, sect. 177) in utter

desperation. When later Charles finds out Roland has definitely been slain by

the Paynims, while lying down to sleep he thinks of his nephew who he thought of

as a son. “Charles lies awake and weeps for Roland’s plight.The King is weary,

for grief weighs on his eyes; ” (The Song of Roland, sect. 184) The deep pain in

Charles heart is different than in Beowulf, because Charles is in mourning,

while Hrothgar was joyous, and while Hrothgar could be proud of his son Beowulf,

Charles feels as if he has let his son down bye letting this whole situation

happen when he trusted the evil Ganelon. He then goes on with a new vigor to

destroy those who killed Roland and the Franks, and the resulting battle can be

seen as a revenge mission for Charles, which further helps to give the story

more depth. Although the result of the two father-

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