Summary

Beowulf is a myth story not a National History adventure. The story uses the myth of Perseus as a plot, and the eastern sky at dawn (generally) as the setting. Originally the story stopped about line 1904, both the plot and the purpose having been completed. But the audience evidently asked the poet to complete the story of Beowulf so the poet carried the story back to Geatland, had Beowulf stand out as the loyal warrior he was, and his eventual kingship is the reward for his loyalty. The style changes sufficiently in the latter part of the poem to hypothesize that it was composed later than the first part, Beowulf’s adventure in Hyperborea.

The first part the poet begins with a description of the spring sky at dawn; the old sign for spring, Aries, sinks under the horizon and the new sign, Pisces, is on the horizon at the spring equinox. To create conflict, a necessary part of any story, he designates tus as Grendel, a monster who dwells outside the ecliptic among the damned, meaning outside the ecliptic. Grendel conceives a hatred for Pisces, now Heorot, and attacks the constellation, eating, or taking control of, the stars that are between the two constellations.

Beowulf hears of the trouble and gathers fourteen men and sails to Heorot on the ship that can sail the “Swan’s Road”, the Milky Way. The ship, the Argo, is docked at the southern end of the Milky Way at Canopus so when they arrive they have to march the length of the star-paved road to Heorot. Argo is up late in the summer when Heorot is down so the men have to wait until Heorot rises in the spring.

Beowulf is given the job of ridding Heorot of Grendel. Grendel comes up, they fight and Beowulf pulls, twists, Grendel’s arm off and throws it on the roof of Heorot, the area of the sky within the ecliptic. The Egyptians call this constellation Xepes, the ox shoulder. Europeans know it as Charles’ Wain, the Great Bear, or the Big Dipper. The celebration of Beowulf’s victory includes young men on horseback racing up and down the trails. This refers to the constellation Gemini which is in the dawn sky from June 1st to July eighth.

The death of schere refers us to the constellation Canis Minor, up from July 8th to July 30th, and the roiling well to Canis Major, August 8th to October 1st.

Heorot is attacked by Lupus, the “wolfish swimmer.” She can attack when she is up, but this constellation and Perseus are never in the sky together so Beowulf cannot see the attack. Beowulf, Hrothgar and his troops travel to the western sky where Beowulf can go down the well at Sagittarius. Perseus goes down in the western sky at sunset about November thirtieth just as Lupus comes up. She carries Beowulf to her den, but by that time he is coming up so he throws her down. He stumbles, goes down, and she tries to stab him. He recovers, finds the old sword and cuts off her head. The author has described the sky for a year, starting in the fall when Beowulf dives into the waters under the earth. Lupus in the dawn sky denotes winter, and her absence indicates spring is near.

The author has detailed the dawn sky from spring to fall, and a less detailed dawn sky for the winter. He has used a sequence of constellations in the dawn sky that indicate the exact date if one is observant. Once embarked on the constellation Cetus he seems reluctant to abandon it until the last great star in that constellation, Diphda, appears on the horizon. His reason for avoiding Taurus might be mythic, it is used in one of the origin myths of Norsemen, or it might be religious. But after Cetus the sun is beginning to come up in Gemini and he continues this sequence to Canis Minor, Canis Major, then to end it with Puppis.

The author has placed more detail in the calendar for the spring than the fall, which seems natural for a largely agricultural community. There is some evidence that lists existed made by particular trades that were time related, keyed to the appearance of particular stars. (see “How the Calendar works) Before this star is up, leather workers should do this or that. Farmers should be sure that they have done this or that. After the appearance of this star they would get ready for the next. Without a firm calendar the people were at the mercy of the whims of weather, and late cold or warm times could confuse them, make them do the wrong things and lose a crop, a ship, a business. The consequences of the loss of a crop or of a fishing season could be catastrophic.

In an appreciation of the first part of this poem we have moved, through the poet’s consideration, from the small cycles of the seasons through the yearly cycles and to the last great cycle, the polar precession. Beowulf, the construct of the poet, is the voice of his people and his society. The poet is the voice of a wider society, those who devoted their lives to observing the celestial world, to its declaration of the times, and to making those times available to the greater audience through the myth.