According to Wiglaf, What Is Beowulfs Relationship With His Followers?

Wiglaf (Proto-Norse: *Wīgalaibaz, significant "battle residuum";^[1] Old English language: Wīġlāf [ˈwiːjlɑːf]) is a character in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf. He is the son of Weohstan, a Swede of the Wægmunding clan who had entered the service of Beowulf, male monarch of the Geats. Wiglaf is called Scylfing as a metonym for Swede, equally the Scylfings were the ruling Swedish clan. While in the service of the Scylfing Onela, king of the Swedes, Weohstan killed the rebel prince Eanmund and took his sword every bit a bays;^{[B ane]} Wiglaf afterward inherited it.^{[B 2]} Weohstan belonged to the clan of the Wægmundings, the same clan Beowulf's father Ecgþeow belonged to; so Wiglaf is Beowulf'southward distant cousin, and his only living relative at the time of Beowulf's death.

Scholars have proposed various interpretations of Wiglaf's role in the verse form, but agree that he is important, and that he was Beowulf'south nephew, a key relationship in heroic tales of the catamenia.

Wiglaf has a counterpart in Scandinavian sources named Hjalti who serves every bit a side-kick to Beowulf'south analogue Bödvar Bjarki, and in Bjarkamál, Hjalti makes speeches comparable to those made past Wiglaf in Beowulf.^[2]

Beowulf [edit]

Wiglaf speaking to the mortally wounded Beowulf later their battle with the dragon. 1908 analogy past J. R. Skelton

Wiglaf kickoff appears in Beowulf at line 2602, as a member of the band of thanes who go with Beowulf to seek out the dragon that has attacked Geat-Land. This is the outset time Wiglaf has gone to war at Beowulf's side.^{[B 3]} He is called a "praise-worthy shield-warrior", a "prince of the Scylfings", and mæg ælfheres, "kinsman of Ælfhere."^{[B 4]}

When Beowulf damages his sword wounding the dragon and is burned by the dragon's burn,^{[B 5]} Wiglaf is the just human being of Beowulf's band to overcome his fright of the dragon.^{[B half dozen]} He rebukes the other thanes^{[B 7]} and goes to Beowulf's aid^{[B 8]} crying words of encouragement.^{[B nine]}

Wiglaf does not retreat, though his shield is consumed by fire.^{[B 10]} When Beowulf wounds the dragon a 2d time, striking and then difficult his sword shatters,^{[B 11]} Wiglaf strikes at the open up wound with his ain sword, fierce at the dragon's throat then information technology can no longer exhale burn.^{[B 12]} His mitt is badly burned,^{[B 13]} but his attack allows Beowulf to close and impale the dragon. The poet says of Wiglaf, "So should a man be, a thane at demand!"^{[B fourteen]}

At Beowulf'southward command, Wiglaf gathers treasure from the dragon's lair and piles information technology where Beowulf can see it.^{[B 15]} The dying Beowulf tells Wiglaf to "watch his people'south needs"^{[B 16]} (past which he means that Wiglaf is to become the next rex.) He tells Wiglaf to build him a funeral mound^{[B 17]} and gives Wiglaf his rings, captain, and mail-shirt.^{[B 18]} He says that Wiglaf is now "the terminal of the Wægmundings."^{[B 19]}

The other 11 men that came with Beowulf^[a] gather effectually the trunk, and Wiglaf condemns them for their failure of duty and declares that he will lodge them exiled.^{[B 20]} He sends a messenger to tell the other Geats what has happened.^{[B 21]} When the Geats have gathered, Wiglaf addresses them, mourning Beowulf's expiry and expressing dismay at the dour futurity of the Geats without Beowulf to guard them.^{[B 22]}

Wiglaf's last advent is at line 3120, where he chooses seven thanes to assist him push the dragon'south corpse over the cliff into the sea, loot the lair, and lay the treasure on Beowulf's funeral pyre.^{[B 23]}

Significance [edit]

Flees, and turns back [edit]

R. R. Lumiansky notes that while a common interpretation is that Wiglaf is the only one of Beowulf's companions who does not flee, Wiglaf really flees forth with the cowardly companions, as he must be far away from the fight when he addresses the cowards. In this interpretation, Wiglaf then remembers his duty of kinship and the bravery of his father Weohstan. This brings a feeling of remorse, and he tries without success to persuade the companions; he returns to the fight lonely. He then feels moved to encourage Beowulf, an action that could be seen as surprising from a youth facing his first fight to a heroic King, and at last to join the fight against the dragon.^[3]

A Wægmunding, Beowulf'southward nephew [edit]

Norman E. Eliason notes that Wiglaf is a member of the Waegmundings, a Swedish clan. In his view, this is "of crucial significance".^[4] As he dies, Beowulf gives Wiglaf his armour and torque, which Eliason glosses as "very probable a imperial emblem he had worn most his neck", noting that if he had had a son, he would have given this keepsake to him. Yet, the poet, at this crucial moment, leaves the human relationship betwixt the 2 men vague, rather than doing the conventional thing in heroic verse of making information technology an uncle-nephew relationship, equally scholars like Larry Benson have assumed, and like that of Beowulf and Hygelac. Eliason nonetheless disagrees with the widespread scholarly interpretation that Beowulf, too, was a Waegmunding, finding the proffer that he was half-Swedish "unthinkable or even ridiculous".^[4] But, he writes, the poet "makes it clear that as a Geat Beowulf had to have vengeance on Onela and that as a Waegmunding he was entitled to Onela's favour". This leads Eliason to advise that Beowulf's sister married Weohstan the Waegmunding, so Wiglaf is Beowulf'due south nephew later all.^[4]

Apologue [edit]

Richard N revisits the sometime hypothesis that the Beowulf Wiglaf, and indeed the whole poem, was deputed past the historical King Wiglaf of Mercia as a memorial to Rex Beornwulf, at the same time presenting himself as successor; he had been an ealdorman, non the King's son, so the succession could have been in doubtfulness. He notes the resemblance of the names (Beornwulf, Wiglaf) to the heroes in the verse form, claiming that Wiglaf cannot exist traced to any Scandinavian source.^[5]

The scholar Kevin Kiernan likens the survival of the Beowulf manuscript to Wiglaf's survival of the concluding fight of Beowulf the hero, noting nevertheless that while Wiglaf's efforts were all in vain, the manuscript somehow limped on.^[6]

Etymology [edit]

Wiglaf's name appears to be an example of etymological refraction. The proper noun is composed of two One-time English elements, namely wig (fight, battle, war) and laf (what or who is left).^[7] When Wiglaf first enters battle alongside his lord, the poem is structured to reflect greater significance on his proper noun. The separation and reversal of the elements of the name in the manuscript suggest that the proper name "Wiglaf" signifies "the inheritor of strength" or "1 that is fulfilled through boxing", co-ordinate to the scholars Patrick J. Gallacher and Helen Damico.^[8]

An alternate understanding of the proper name in the context of a typical dithematic name, where the two elements may be as independent in meaning every bit separate names, "laf" could exist read as "ane who remains, 1 who survives or endures".^[vii] Gallacher and Damico have acknowledged this alternative estimation but feel that it is unnecessary to argue that 1 discernible element within a name submerges another as all interpretations are collectively useful in the pursuit of deep assay.^[8]

Cultural references [edit]

In the 1981 blithe motion picture Grendel Grendel Grendel, Wiglaf (voiced past Ernie Bourne^[nine]) is portrayed as one of Hrothgar's thanes rather than an ally of Beowulf, and is killed by Grendel.^[ten]

In the 2007 pic Beowulf (directed by Robert Zemeckis), Wiglaf'southward office (played by Brendan Gleeson) is larger; he is present in the film from the first introduction of Beowulf and the Geats to the end when Beowulf vanquishes the dragon and dies. The pic makes Wiglaf into a sidekick, the 2d-in-command and the all-time friend of the ballsy hero.^[eleven]

In the 2018 Harry Potter fan-made film Voldemort: Origins of the Heir, the descendant of Rowena Ravenclaw is named Wiglaf Sigurdsson.^[12]

Legendary titles
Preceded by Beowulf	King of the Geats	Succeeded past Unknown

See also [edit]

• The Wanderer

Notes [edit]

1. ^ He took eleven thanes (line 2401) plus the homo who knew where the dragon'due south lair was (line 2406) for a total of thirteen men, counting Beowulf.

References [edit]

Primary [edit]

This list shows the parts of the Beowulf poem under discussion.

1. ^ Lines 2612-2615.
2. ^ Lines 2620-2624.
3. ^ Lines 2625b-2627.
4. ^ Lines 2603-2604.
5. ^ Lines 2585-2595.
6. ^ Lines 2599-2600.
7. ^ Lines 2631-2660.
8. ^ Line 2661.
9. ^ Lines 2663-2668.
10. ^ Lines 2675-2677.
11. ^ Lines 2677-2682.
12. ^ Lines 2699-2702.
13. ^ Lines 2697-2698.
14. ^ Lines 2708-2709.
15. ^ Lines 2752-2782.
16. ^ Lines 2799-2800.
17. ^ Lines 2802-2808.
18. ^ Lines 2809-2812.
19. ^ Lines 2813-2814.
20. ^ Lines 2864-2891.
21. ^ Line 2892.
22. ^ Lines 3077-3109.
23. ^ Lines 3120-3136.

Secondary [edit]

1. ^ Peterson, Lena (2007). "Lexikon över urnordiska personnamn" (PDF). Swedish Constitute for Language and Folklore. p. twoscore. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-eighteen. (Lexicon of nordic personal names earlier the 8th century)
2. ^ Clarke, M. G. (2013) [1911]. "Sidelights on Teutonic History During the Migration Catamenia": 153.
3. ^ Lumiansky, R. R. (Jan 1953). "Wiglaf". College English. xiv (4): 202–206. doi:10.2307/372568. JSTOR 372568.
4. ^ ^{a b c} Eliason, Norman Due east. (1978). "Beowulf, Wiglaf and the Wægmundings". Anglo-Saxon England. vii: 95–105. doi:10.1017/S0263675100002878.
5. ^ Northward, Richard (2006). The Origins of Beowulf: From Vergil to Wiglaf. Oxford University Press. pp. 1–4. ISBN978-0-19-920661-2.
6. ^ Kiernan, Kevin Due south. (1986). "The Legacy of Wiglaf: Saving a Wounded Beowulf". The Kentucky Review. 6 (2 (Summer 1986)): 27–44, article 4.
7. ^ ^{a b} "Wiglaf". Behind the Name . Retrieved 5 Oct 2017.
8. ^ ^{a b} Gallacher, Patrick J. (1989). Hermeneutics and Medieval Culture. Albany, New York: SUNY Press. pp. 112–113. ISBN0887067433.
9. ^ "Grendel Grendel Grendel: Voice Credits". VoiceChasers . Retrieved 11 December 2020.
10. ^ "Grendel Grendel Grendel". Oz movies . Retrieved xi December 2020.
11. ^ Whitington, Paul (16 November 2007). "Local hero". Independent.ie . Retrieved 11 December 2020.
12. ^ Wahlquist, Calla (17 January 2018). "I watched the crowdfunded Harry Potter spinoff. It was ... proficient?". The Guardian . Retrieved 11 December 2020.

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiglaf

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