Envelope Patterns and the Structure of Beowulf

Abstract

EN V ELO PE PA TT ER N S AN D THE ST R U C TU R E OF BEOWULF C.B. HIEATT The University of Western Ontario W h en Thomas E. Hart first proposed a numerical - or, to use the term Hart prefers, “tectonic” - structure for Beowulfto a startled audience o f Old English scholars at the 1967 m la meeting, one of the aspects o f his theory which some of those present found troublesome was its dependence on the placement of the m s. fitt numbers. Discussion o f this question quickly reached an impasse, since there seemed to be no way to prove that these numbers are or are not authorial in origin, unless, indeed, Hart’s statistical conclusions are themselves taken as proof that the numbers are an integral part of the structure of the poem. Such a position is possible for those who accept Hart’s statistics as established beyond doubt; but it is clear that many scholars remain doubtful-or downright hostile - and thus his evidence cannot yet be said to have established the validity of the fitt numbers once and for all. Another scholar who has recently seen in these numbers a clue to structure is Eamon Carrigan,1 who views the structure as a symmetrical arrangement of blocks of thematic material. Carrigan divides the fitts into seven groups, organized in a bilateral pattern of, roughly, 13-6-56 -13; this pattern assumes a total of 43 fitts, counting the unnumbered prelude, and thus fitt 31 is considered to be the thirtieth fitt, although this hypothesis may cast some doubt on the accuracy of other fitt numbers.2 Carrigan’s scheme can­ not, however, produce objectively verifiable evidence for the accuracy of the fitt numbers because it is deduced from content only, and, obviously, those who prefer to view the narrative sequence as otherwise organized might see quite different blocks and could presumably propose alternative arrangements of the fitts to suit their ideas of the grouping of events, if moved to do so.3 It remains that if the fitt divisions are authorial, as a number of the leading authorities have thought them to be,4 they must have some clear rationale, thematic or otherwise. Leaving aside the possible origin of such divisions in the circumstances of oral composition,6one would expect them to have an identifi­ able internal logic if they are authentic. And in some cases there does seem to be such an internal logic: certain fitts are clearly bounded by the rhetorical struc­ ture known as an “ envelope pattern,” as the term was adopted and discussed by Adeline Courtney Bartlett in her well-known study The Larger Rhetorical Patterns in Anglo-Saxon Poetry,6 Hart rightly remarks (p. 274) that the first numbered fitt of the poem, lines 53-114, is enclosed by an envelope pattern 250 English Studies in Canada which runs from the first lines to the last. The fitt begins, Da waes on burgum Beowulf Scyldinga, leof leodcyning longe Jjrage ... (underlining added to indicate key words in an envelope pattern here and throughout) and ends, swylce gigantas, J>a wi}> Gode wunnon lange Jjrage; he him Saes lean forgeald.7 Hart also points out that jjrage occurs a third time at line 87: [Grendel] “ jjrage gejjolode,” and that long re-appears as lenge in line 83. These repetitions are ample evidence for an envelope pattern of the type Bartlett has described as “ double” (pp. 19-22): that is, the central repetition divides the overall envelope into two parts, enclosing separate but parallel developments - in this case, Danish prosperity as against the resentment of the exiled monster. Moreover, although no comment I have seen notes this, the double pattern is reinforced by at least three other repeated verbal elements. One is the contrast between the holdings of the Danish kings and those of Grendel, since Healfdene “heold ... glaede Scyldingas” (57-58), while Grendel “ moras heold” (103). Another is the dream which Grendel heard (88) and which characterized the lives of Hrothgar’s retainers (99).8But the most striking is the repeated use of forms of the verb waecnan. To Beowulf Scyldinga “ onwoc / heah Healfdene” (56...