Beowulf Women Roles

In early Anglo-Saxon society, the predominate rulers of the time were almost always men and thus the female’s roles were never believed to be as important as a man’s. Through three main female characters in Beowulf we can analyze what they contributed to society in the Anglo-Saxon time period. Also, because the story of Beowulf is mainly centered around male figures, the women in the story portrayed smaller and less important roles. The first woman introduced in the text is Queen Wealhtheow, husband of King Hrothgar. In Beowulf her main role was one many women represented: the hostess. This is exemplified in lines 614-616 when “ Adorned in her gold, she graciously saluted/ the men in hall, then handed the cup/ first to Hrothgar…”. In the
mead hall, Wealhtheow toasts all the men after the battle Beowulf fought with Grendel and shows that taking care of the praised men was one of her main duties. Another female that the reader is told about is a Danish princess, Hildeburh. Similar to Wealhtheow, her role was to be a peace-maker. Her story is told saying that she was given as a gift to make amends between the Danes and the Jutes (line 1157). She fulfills this role by not fighting against it and stays loyal to her country. In complete contrast with Wealhtheow and Hildeburh, the reader is next introduced to Grendel’s mother.
Her name was never spoken but she was characterized as a “monstrous hell-bride” (line 159). Her role was unlike any of the qualities that the other women typically represented. Her vengeance and rage against Beowulf were closer to that of a man than of a women in Anglo-Saxon society at the time. She went against these typical roles of women when she acted as a male warrior and terrorized the mead hall in order to get revenge on Beowulf. As she does not achieve her female responsibilities, she is portrayed as a monster with more male qualities than traditional female qualities of the time in the story. From these three female characters in Beowulf we can make inferences on how men treated women in early Anglo-Saxon society. We can see that men, such as Hrothgar or Beowulf, did not fully respect these women. Men undervalued women such as Wealhtheow and also objectified them. This is shown by Hildeburh’s story because she was married off to another country just to maintain peace for them both. On the other hand, Grendel’s mother does not necessarily fit into these stereotypes as her actions were portrayed with more masculine
qualities. The main roles of female leaders in Beowulf were to be a hostess to her people and take care of her family along with being an object able to bring peace between two parties. The female characters in the epic portrayed these roles well, with the exception of Grendel’s mother whose masculine qualities explained her monstrous actions. Based on the roles of the women in this epic, we can infer that women contributed to their society the same way with men having little respect for the women of the time.