The episode of Hrothgar’s words of advice for Beowulf, given the night before him and his Geats journey home is of particular import in framing the true temperament of a warrior’s strength. Although Beowulf has proven himself a legendary warrior, and in all accounts worthy of boasting of his abilities Hrothgar weaves a web of King Heremod, who gave himself to the decay of pride and became a greedy scourge on his people. Likening Beowulf to a flower, Hrothgar’s symbol of strength is oddly enlightening in the Anglo-Saxon ideal of a warrior’s bravery. What is the nature of true lasting strength for the Anglo-Saxons? For a culture that values the warrior to such an extreme, it is odd indeed to find their wisdom steeped in a battle against the scourge of pride. This leads me to believe that strength is not measured in brute force, but in gentle generosity, resolute love of one’s people, and fierceness in battle beyond the blessings of youth, because one’s people are far more valuable than trinkets given and taken after the lease on one’s life has ended.

In the passage above, Hrothgar upholds Beowulf’s good qualities to later juxtapose them on Heremod, the bloodthirsty King who gave no gold. Yet, beyond Beowulf’s good qualities, physical strength is fleeting and as delicate as a flower, it is not to be taken and molded into a symbol of pride. All too soon, one’s strength will segue into the dimness of the ancient and ill. That warrior’s essence will be laid low from arrow, or the slow creep of death from great age. Vision fades, and the echoes of battles won and lost consume the mind with stories that connote destructive prideful boasting, or calm warnings of the kind that Hrothgar gives.

Beowulf’s response to these words of advice is of considerable note. Lines 1785-6 state that “[t]he Geat was elated and gladly obeyed the old man’s bidding”, which correlates with Hrothgar’s exaltation of the Geat-thane that “[i]n all things [he is] even-tempered, prudent and resolute. Forever [he] will be [his] people’s mainstay and [his] own warriors’ helping hand”. This premonitory blessing comes true until the last for the great Geat, where his pride over past victories aided his fall at the claws of the dragon. Throughout the poem, Beowulf is exalted as the paramount hero, and exhibiter of the strengths which make him great. As Hrothgar said, the majority of his strength outside his paranormal abilities of body is in his even-temper, prudence, and will to come to another’s aide. Such a combination of mind and man bring forth the epic hero in the thane-king, but even in his magnanimity Beowulf requires the words of a leader, which he would see revealed for himself in later years during his last battle. No one is beyond reproach in the Anglo-Saxon poem, the callings of pride fall to even the most even-tempered heart.

The failing of strength is a message for us all to learn and be humbled from even when we have such epic feats under our belts as Beowulf. An overall holistic strength is in order, combining generosity, charity, fast protection and the sense that even the greatest of evils must be overcome, whether they are the proud boastings of one’s own soul, or the murderous battles between inhuman foes.