Heorot

The first page of the Beowulf manuscript

Heorot (/ˈhərɒt/ HAY-ə-rot), also Herot, is a mead-hall described in the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf as "the foremost of halls under heaven." It served as a palace for King Hroðgar, a legendary Danish king of the sixth century. Heorot means "Hall of the Hart" (male deer).[1] The Geatish (Swedish) hero Beowulf defends the royal hall and its residents from the demonic Grendel.

Description and symbolism

The anonymous author of Beowulf praises Heorot as follows:

Then, as I have heard, the work of constructing a building
Was proclaimed to many a tribe throughout this middle earth.
In time—quickly, as such things happen among men—
It was all ready, the biggest of halls.
He whose word was law
Far and wide gave it the name "Heorot".[1]

  1. ^ Beowulf, lines 74–79.

The men did not dally; they strode inland in a group
Until they were able to discern the timbered hall,
Splendid and ornamented with gold.
The building in which that powerful man held court
Was the foremost of halls under heaven;
Its radiance shone over many lands.[1]

  1. ^ Beowulf, lines 306–11.

The hall was large enough to allow Hroðgar to present Beowulf with a gift of eight horses, each with gold-plate headgear.[2] It functions both as a seat of government and as a residence for the king's thanes (warriors). Heorot symbolizes human civilization and culture, as well as the might of the Danish kings—essentially, all the good things in the world of Beowulf.[3] Its brightness, warmth, and joy contrasts with the darkness of the swamp waters inhabited by Grendel.[4]

Location of Heorot

A reconstructed Viking Age longhouse (28.5 metres long) in Fyrkat.

Modern scholarship sees the village of Lejre, near Roskilde, as the location of Heorot.[5] In Scandinavian sources, Heorot corresponds to Hleiðargarðr, King Hroðulf's (Hrólfr Kraki) hall mentioned in Hrólf Kraki's saga, and located in Lejre. The medieval chroniclers Saxo Grammaticus and Sven Aggesen already suggested that Lejre was the chief residence of Hroðgar’s Skjöldung clan (called “Scylding” in the poem). The remains of a Viking hall complex was uncovered southwest of Lejre in 1986-1988 by Tom Christensen of the Roskilde Museum. Wood from the foundation was radiocarbon-dated to about 880. It was later found that this hall was built over an older hall which has been dated to 680. In 2004-2005, Christensen excavated a third hall located just north of the other two. This hall was built in the mid-6th century, all three halls were about 50 meters long.[4]

Fred C. Robinson is also convinced by this identification: “Hrothgar (and later Hrothulf) ruled from a royal settlement whose present location can with fair confidence be fixed as the modern Danish village of Leire, the actual location of Heorot.”[6] The most recent publication on Lejre and its role in Beowulf is by John Niles and Marijane Osborn, Beowulf and Lejre.[7]

In popular culture

Science fiction references

  1. The Legacy of Heorot (1987)
  2. Beowulf's Children (1995)

Tolkien's usage

J. R. R. Tolkien, who compared Heorot to Camelot for its mix of legendary and historical associations,[8] used it as the basis for the Golden Hall of Rohan, Meduseld.[9]

References

  1. "Kent place names - H", BBC Homepage. See under "Hartlip".
  2. Beowulf, lines 1035–37
  3. Halverson, John. "The World of Beowulf" ELH, Vol. 36, No. 4. (December 1969), pp. 593–608. JSTOR. Online Database. 6 December 2006.
  4. 1 2 Niles, John D., "Beowulf’s Great Hall", History Today, October 2006, 56 (10), pp. 40–44
  5. Lapidge, Michael; Godden, Malcolm (1991). The Cambridge companion to Old English literature. Cambridge UP. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-521-37794-2. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  6. Robinson, Fred C. (1984). "Teaching the Backgrounds: History, Religion, Culture". In Jess B. Bessinger, Jr. and Robert F. Yeager. Approaches to Teaching Beowulf. New York: MLA. p. 109.
  7. Niles, John; Osborn, Marijane (2007). Beowulf and Lejre. Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. ISBN 978-0-86698-368-6.
  8. J. R. R. Tolkien, Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary (2015) p. 153
  9. Tom Shippey, J. R. R. Tolkien (2001) p. 99

External links

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