Hated race: Attitudes to the Wider World in Beowulf

Abstract

Beowulf is an intercultural drama, dominated by inter-group conflict and yet, there is little negativity towards any of these groups. Here I will examine attitudes to the wider world in Beowulf through three case studies: the Geats and the Swedes, the Jutes, and the monsters. Through these three examples, I will consider what makes someone an other in this poem and what the implications of this are for the poem’s world view. I will also examine on what basis, and to what extent the poem makes moral judgements, and how negative qualities are constructed and understood in the poem.