by William P. Reaves
William P. Reaves was among the most active scholarly contributors to alt.religion.asatru in the 2000s, posting comparative mythological analyses of the Eddic and related Germanic sources throughout that decade. This essay, written in May 2006, addresses a longstanding debate in Old English scholarship: to what degree is Beowulf a Christian poem, and to what degree does it preserve genuine heathen mythological material? Reaves argues, through close comparison of narrative parallels, that the heathen stratum is not incidental but structural — that specific episodes in Beowulf correspond point for point with identifiable myths from the Norse corpus.
The central argument concerns Herebeald and Hæðcyn as cognates of Baldr and Höðr; but Reaves extends the analysis to Heremod, Weland, Sigemund, and the cosmogonic imagery of the drowned giants. The essay does not claim Beowulf is a heathen text — its Christian framing is real — but it insists that the narrative bones beneath that framing are Germanic myth. This is a position now broadly accepted in scholarship, though the specifics remain debated. Posted without footnotes to a practitioner community, the essay nonetheless demonstrates careful attention to the primary sources.
It has been said that Beowulf is a Christian poem, with a Christian theme, and no real heathen elements. This of course is easily disproven.
Herebeald and Hæðcyn — Baldr and Höðr
The Herebeald incident in Beowulf is undeniably an analog to the Baldr myth.
Herebeald is Baldr; his brother Hæðcyn is Höðr. Not only are their names recognizable, but the details of their story as well. Herebeald is killed by his brother with an arrow (cf. Völuspá 32: "From the plant which seemed so lovely came a dangerous, harmful dart (harmflaug hættlig), Höðr began to shoot" — harm = injury, grief, sorrow; flaug = missile, projectile). The killing is not intentional but accidental. The father, an old man (Odin, Harbarð "Grey-beard"), mourns deeply for the death. His favourite son is dead, killed by a kinsman. There is no good resolution. There will be no games in the courtyard as before. That last detail is a strong indication that the myth of Baldr was the inspiration for this episode.
Like Herebeald, Baldr is killed by a projectile shot by Höðr, his brother, just as in Beowulf. He did not intend to kill his brother. There is no good solution to the murder: by the law of blood-revenge, Höðr must die for the murder, yet he is innocent. The father — an old man, and a mighty king (Odin) — mourns for his son. Prior to Baldr's death the Aesir had played a game in the courtyard of Asgard, where all the gods stood in a ring around Baldr and shot and threw weapons at him, as he was invulnerable to them.
The Christian author has converted a heathen tale into a Christian tale of kings and princes who grew up with his hero, Beowulf.
Heremod
In regard to Beowulf and the Baldr myth, that is not all. There is also reference to the Norse god Heremod. In the Prose Edda, Hermóðr (Old English: Heremod) volunteers to ride Sleipnir to the underworld to get news of Baldr for Frigg, his mother. He returns with a veil for her and the ring Draupnir for Odin, gifts from Nanna and Baldr. Heremod is made a prince in the Beowulf poem, but "God" gave him strength far beyond that of mortal men. Like the Hermóðr of the myth, this Heremod is no ordinary man.
In the Old Norse genealogical poem Hyndluljóð, Heremod and Sigemund are named together. Heremod is a son of Odin and is given a cuirass by him. In Beowulf, we also find a Sigemund in close connection to Heremod.
Cosmogonic Imagery
There is also mention of Weland, and a sword with the drowning of the giants engraved on it. Weland/Völundr is the subject of the Old Norse poem Völundarkviða, and the drowning of giants is an integral part of the creation story in Old Norse mythology — not found in the Bible. Odin and his brothers cut off the head of the giant Ymir, and made the world from his corpse. Ymir's kin, the progeny of his feet, drown in his blood, which becomes the sea.
In the poem we also find heathen themes: a fight with a dragon and the search for a sword held by a giant. Even the theme of a female ogre (Grendel's mother) is well documented in Old Norse lore. Thor fights many a giantess, including one who spreads her legs apart and raises a river. Grendel's mother lives under a marsh, and may be an analogue of Völuspá's "old one in the Ironwood" breeding "Fenris's kin" — wolves that attack men and dye the halls red with the blood of princes. The two poems even use similar language here.
The Swimming Contest
Beowulf too is more than mortal. In the swimming contest with Breoca, Beowulf and Breoca swim out to sea in freezing cold waters, swords in hand. They are at sea for five days before being separated. Beowulf ends up swimming from Jutland to "Finna land"; on the way he kills nine sea-beasts called niceras. The number nine is significant in Norse mythology, and no mortal hero could last more than five days in freezing cold water, fighting sea-monsters and swimming with a sword in hand from Jutland all the way to Finland. This adventure at sea is of mythic proportion, even more epic than Thor's fishing for the Midgard Serpent in Hymir's boat. Clearly this tale has its roots in the old heathen mythology.
On Method
A great deal of scholarship regarding heathen versus Christian focus in Beowulf has been based narrowly on the meanings of words — Wyrd, Metod, and so on. But it is not about semantics; it is about specific narrative themes that are analogous to ones in Old Norse mythology. The Old English language is firmly rooted in Germanic culture, and heathen words are applied to Christian concepts throughout. The veneer is more transparent where the words do not have religious significance — for example, Earth is still called Midgard (middan-gaerd), as in the Saxon poem Heliand. The English had regular commerce with Scandinavians who would remain heathen at least two centuries longer.
If there are factual errors here, corrections are welcome. The following line references may be checked against the poem directly:
- Baldr and Höðr (Herebeald and Hæðcyn): lines 2430–2459
- Brísingamen: line 1199
- Flood kills "the race of giants": lines 1689–1690
- Heremod: lines 900 ff., 1709 ff.
- Metod: 945, 1075, 2816, etc.
- Midgard (middan-geard): line 1770
- Sigemund: line 875 ff.
- The Swimming Contest: lines 405–585
- Weland: lines 455, 1563
- Wyrd: lines 455, 475, 730, 1055, 2420, 2526, 2814, etc.
These references are not meant to be all-inclusive.
Colophon
Written by William P. Reaves and posted to alt.religion.asatru in May 2006. Reaves was a prolific contributor of comparative mythological scholarship to the group throughout the 2000s. This essay argues that the heathen stratum of Beowulf is structural rather than incidental, tracing specific episodes — the Herebeald/Hæðcyn fratricide, Heremod's divine strength, the cosmogonic sword inscription — to identifiable Norse mythological parallels. The position that Beowulf preserves genuine heathen narrative material beneath its Christian frame is now broadly accepted in Beowulf scholarship, though the specific identifications Reaves proposes remain subjects of ongoing scholarly discussion.
Original Message-ID: [email protected]
Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
🌲