Page:  of 142
 

VIII
BEOWULF AND
IRISH UNDERWATER
ADVENTURE

Of the many miraculous elements in Beowulf, hardly any
seems as startling as Beowulf's lengthy submersion in the
mere of Grendel and his mother. The dive to the bottom of the
mere, lasting, it appears, a considerable length of time, 1

____________________
1 Beowulf's adventure seems to last from fairly early in the morning
till late afternoon; it is told that the Danes leave the mere after nōn dæges
(l. 1600)--3:00 P.M. As to the actual duration of the hero's descent, it is
stated Þā wæs hwīl dæges / ær Þone grundwong ongytan mehte (ll. 1495-
96) "then it was hwīl dæges before he could see the bottom." hwīl dæges is
for the most part taken to mean "a large part of the day"; it can also mean
"the space of a day," a meaning favoured by earlier editors and translators,
but this seems unlikely since there is no indication that the warriors spend a
night at the mere. S. O. Andrew suggests ( Postscript on Beowulf [ Cam-
bridge, 1948], pp 98f.) that hwīl dæges means "time of day(light)." This
suggestion, Andrew indicates, stems largely from his disbelief in any con-
cept of Beowulf's preternatural powers of underwater survival; in the light of
the Celtic parallels to be presented in this chapter, such scepticism would
seem unnecessary. So far editors and translators have failed to support the
suggestion, yet F. C. Robinson ( "Elements of the Marvellous in the Charac-
terization of Beowulf", Old English Studies in Honour of John C. Pope,
edited by R. B. Burlin and E. B. Irving [ Toronto, 1974], pp. 121f.) but-
tresses Andrew's argument with a few verbal parallels from Anglo-Saxon
poetry which make the interpretation semantically feasible, though by no
means imperative or even preferable. Should it, however, be correct, this
would not seem to greatly alter the significance of the time-reference for the

-73-

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com

Publication Information: Book Title: Beowulf and Celtic Tradition. Contributors: Martin Puhvel - author. Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. Place of Publication: Waterloo, ON. Publication Year: 1979. Page Number: 73.
    
This feature allows you to create and manage separate folders for your different research projects. To view markups for a different project, make that project your current project.
This feature allows you to save a link to the publication you are reading or view all the publications you have put on your bookshelf.
This feature allows you to save a link to the page you are reading, which you can later return to from Projects.
This feature allows you to highlight words or phrases on the publication page you are reading.
This feature allows you to save a note you write on the publication page you are reading.
This feature allows you to create a citation to the page you are reading that you can paste into your paper. Highlight a passage to include that passage as a quotation.
This feature allows you to save a reference to a publication you are reading for your bibliography or generate a bibliography you can paste into your paper.
This feature allows you to print the page you are reading, including your notes or highlights (IE users must have "print background colors and image" setting selected.)
This feature allows you to look up words in encyclopedia.
  About Questia Tools
Close Window  
Questia's powerful research tools allow you to highlight, take notes, bookmark and even create instant citations and bibliographies. To use these features and save hours of work, you must create a Questia account.
Need a Questia account?
Sign up for a FREE trial now. Save time, stress and hassle, and get better grades with trusted, online research.

» Click here for our free trial

Already have a Questia account? Login now!
Error
Working...
Printing Preferences
Format for black and white printer: On Off
Print highlights: On Off
Print notes: On Off
Choose one of the options for printing:
Print this page (No Charge)
Print pages to