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Beowulf and the Varieties of Choice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 October 2020

Andrew Galloway
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Abstract

Much scholarship has explored the concept of wyrd ‘fate’ in Anglo-Saxon literature and thought; this essay examines the visions of human choice. Beowulf especially presents choice in a wide range of spheres, from what we might call the spiritual and moral to what we might distinguish as the military and political. Indeed, Beowulf synthesizes traditions of choice in Anglo-Saxon culture to present a unique perspective, tracing inner resolve to its causes and consequences in the social world. And so the essay surveys ideas and expressions of choice in Anglo-Saxon homiletic poetry and prose, heroic verse, and chronicles, examining the powers and paradoxes of each to outline a central yet little-studied aspect of Anglo-Saxon literature and culture.

Type
Research Article
Information
PMLA , Volume 105 , Issue 2 , March 1990 , pp. 197 - 208
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1990

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