What is the significance of wiglaf

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Think of all the handy hero helpers in epic literature. Samwise to Frodo. Samwell to Jon Snow. Sam—er, Wiglaf to Beowulf.

He recalls a time when he and the other ten received rings and the very armor that they now have with them from Beowulf. Consistent with the heroic code, they promised to come to the assistance of their king if he ever needed them. Wiglaf rightly accuses them of running when they vowed to fight. He attempts to shame them into action, but no one returns.

Wiglaf is the only one willing to risk his life to help his ruler. He declares that he would rather be burned to death than to abandon his king, and he rushes to Beowulf's defense. It is Wiglaf's blow that slows the serpent and decreases his firepower, thus enabling Beowulf to manage one last thrust with a knife that opens the dragon's belly and kills him.

Home Page Wiglaf vs. Unferth in Beowulf. Wiglaf vs. Unferth in Beowulf Satisfactory Essays. Open Document. Essay Sample Check Writing Quality. Unferth, on the other hand, presents a rude challenge to the hero, which is not without precedent in heroic poetry, and thus becomes in the eye of the audience a sort of villainous type.

Let us consider the more noble of the two first. Enveloped in flames, he who earlier had ruled his people felt keen pain. But not at all did the sons of nobles, hand-picked comrades, his troop stand round him with battle-courage: they fled to the wood to save their lives.

Only one felt shame and sorrow. Nothing can ever hold back kinship in a right-thinking man. Beowulf apparently restored the rights and patrimony of Wiglaf among the Geats. He remembered the honors that he gave him before, the rich homestead of the Waegmunding clan, the shares of common-land that his father had held, and he could not hold back.

Wiglaf is described as a son of that famous warrior Weohstan, who played a significant role in the dynastic wars of the Swedes and Geats. Get Access. His father's gift implies that Wiglaf has some but not extensive experience in battle before he follows Beowulf into the dragon's lair. Wiglaf's youth, then, is positively connoted throughout the episode.

Rather than inexperience, his youth implies strength and enthusiasm — excellent traits for an emerging hero. Throughout the episode, Wiglaf expresses and enacts deep loyalty to and affection for Beowulf as lord and king, another indication of his heroism.

Only Wiglaf, of course, turns and enters the battle; the rest run away. In this speech, delivered directly to Beowulf and presumably out of earshot of the departed cowards, Wiglaf does not mention rings or oaths or reciprocity. The poet's diction throughout the dragon fight and Beowulf's death thus stresses the depth of the emotional bond between Wiglaf and Beowulf. Wiglaf's actions and gestures similarly emphasize this bond, as Wiglaf acts as assistant, colleague, and finally nurse and mourner as the episode comes to a close.

At this moment, the two kinsmen experience the intensity and physical intimacy of this decidedly martial and heroic space. They both move away from this protection, however, in a coordinated attack that demonstrates their alliance and cooperation. Although these events take place over the course of twenty lines — , they combine to form a quick, precise sequence in a systematized and successful attack that seems more spontaneously organic than consciously planned.

Like the speeches and descriptions that precede and follow it, the actual sequence of action demonstrates Wiglaf and Beowulf's emotional and affective bond. Other phrases similarly emphasize this bond between the young and old kinsmen. The heroic and affective bond is thus also lexical.

During the dragon fight, the diction of the poem promotes Wiglaf away from youth and into full maturity, using terms and descriptors of success and accomplishment.

This diction shows that Wiglaf has fully matured as he has been tested in battle. At the same time, however, Wiglaf's ascendant heroism takes a decidedly non-masculine turn when he becomes the chief nurse and mourner for the dying Beowulf.

Neither of these actions will stop Beowulf from dying, but they may make him more comfortable in the process; washing and un dressing, of course, are services that women have traditionally tended to perform for children or for incapacitated people or for the dead, in fact. Any potential Christological association also feminizes Wiglaf, as it is mulieres women who proceed to the tomb to tend to the body of Christ Luke But it also illustrates an unusual level of tender caregiving, and its reiteration shows that this nursing is an important part of Wiglaf's character; his loyalty to his lord includes not just the willingness to fight to the death but also to care for the body of the dying.

Wiglaf thus adds a new and unusual dimension to the poem's intertwined definitions of masculinity and heroism. This emotionally charged caregiving metaphorically wounds Wiglaf in a way that the dragon could not.

In this surprising image, the poet deepens our understanding of Beowulf and Wiglaf's bond as physically embedded in their heroic bodies. That heroic focus on the body is embedded in the poetic diction of the scene as well. Their military, biological, and emotional closeness is reinforced in the unifying bodily diction of the image, even though at this point in the narrative Beowulf is dead. All of these close readings point to a role for Wiglaf as the ascendant young hero, ready to take over as the old hero dies and enters the realm of posthumous fame and glory.

Wiglaf is young, loyal, brave, skilled, intuitive, and nurturing. Beowulf himself, however, seems not to see Wiglaf as a fully worthy successor. As noted above, scholars have engaged in extended discussion about the exact nature of Beowulf and Wiglaf's kinship; that discussion has included reference to Beowulf's bequest of his war-gear to Wiglaf, since Beowulf has no biological son. Now I would give to my son [my] battle-gear, if there to me had been given any heir belonging to my body that remained after [my death].

However, Beowulf does not immediately give the items to Wiglaf. Wiglaf has to wait approximately eighty lines before Beowulf makes the seemingly logical next step to follow his statement above, that since he has no biological son he will treat Wiglaf as a worthy proxy:. The glory-minded lord did give to the thane, the young spear-warrior, the golden ring from his neck, the gold-decorated helmet, ring, and mail-coat, ordered him to enjoy [them] well. Fate has swept away all of my kin to the measured end, those earls in courage; I must go after them.

Beowulf actually undercuts the bond between him and Wiglaf twice in this sequence. First, he hints that Wiglaf will inherit the war-gear since Beowulf has no biological son, but does not then immediately follow through on that suggestion.

Instead, he makes Wiglaf gather treasure from the dragon's barrow —91 , then gives thanks to God — , and then provides tomb-building instructions —8 before he fulfils the implied promise in the earlier lines and gives his war-gear to Wiglaf since he has no biological son.

Wiglaf seems not be offended by this deathbed slight; he remains seated by Beowulf's corpse, sprinkling it with water in a futile gesture of hope.

While scholars have focused on Beowulf's somewhat grudging gift of his war-gear to Wiglaf, none has remarked that Wiglaf does not need the gift, either practically or metaphorically.

Wiglaf has already participated in the iconic ritual of receiving arms from his biological father. Beowulf needs a son to receive his war-gear, but Wiglaf does not need a father or more weapons and armour.