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Wergild in Beowulf
A Different Idea of Justice
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What would you do?
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How Wergild Fit into Medieval Society
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Kinship Wergild

• Kinship relationships crossed generations
• Kinship carried rights and responsibilities
• One responsibility was the payment of wergild
• AKA- man payment or the price of a man.
• Kin had a mutual responsibility of avenging each
  other's deaths
• collecting wergild from the killer
• Starting a feud against the killer.

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Wergild in Beowulf

1. Several references to wergild in Beowulf.
2. Grendel's feud with Hrothgar, and his refusal to
   pay wergild for the men he kills (line 73).
3. Grendel had no interest in making peace.
4. He is only interested in the free dinners he is
   getting from Heorot.
5. Grendel's refusal to pay the wergild effectively
   start a feud

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Wergild in Beowulf

1. Hrothgar introduces the topic of wergild when
   Beowulf arrives at Heorot Beowulf hints at this
   topic on line 173.
2. Hrothgar paid the wergild on behalf of Beowulf's
   father.
3. An alliance created then, Hrothgar suggests, of
   which Beowulf has been prompted to come help
   Hrothgar with his little Grendel problem.

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Wergild in Beowulf

1. Hrothgar introduces the topic of wergild when
   Beowulf arrives at Heorot (line 470).
2. Hrothgar paid the wergild on behalf of Beowulf's
   father.
3. An alliance created then, Hrothgar suggests, of
   which Beowulf has been prompted to come help
   Hrothgar with his little Grendel problem.

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Wergild in Beowulf

• After Beowulf ends the feud between Hrothgar and
  Grendel. Hrothgar rewards him, as promised.
• Both Hrothgar and Beowulf go beyond the demands
  of the wergild kinship system.
• Hrothgar also pays wergild for the Geat, one of
  Beowulf's men, who was killed during the night.
• Look for a reference to the wergild in the next,
  last reading of Beowulf!

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Wergild in Beowulf

1. Both Hrothgar and Beowulf go beyond the demands
   of the wergild kinship system.
2. After Beowulf ends the feud between Hrothgar and
   Grendel, Hrothgar rewards him, as promised.
3. But, Hrothgar also pays wergild for the Geat, one
   of Beowulf's men, who was killed during the night
4. Look for a reference to the weirgild in the next,
   last reading of Beowulf!

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Quick Quiz!!!

• What is wergild?
• an alternative form of currency, like bitcoin
• a medieval Germanic payment for injury or murder
• the monetary system of werewolves
• an organization of craftsmen in the Middle Ages

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Quick Quiz!!!

• The concept of wergild was closely tied with
  _____.
• nuclear families
• extended families
• courts of law
• courts of royalty

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Quick Quiz!!!

• Who settled feuds in 'Beowulf'?
• Beowulf
• Beowulf's father
• Hrothgar and Beowulf
• Hrothgar

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Its about to get WRYD!!
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Wyrd in Cultural Context

• Found in MOST Old English Literature
• The Old English word 'wyrd' can be translated as
  fate, or doom, or destiny.
• 3. Think of wyrd like a sculptor or a potter. It
  takes existing material and shapes it.

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Wergild in Beowulf

1. Hrothgar introduces the topic of wergild when
   Beowulf arrives at Heorot (line 470).
2. Hrothgar paid the wergild on behalf of Beowulf's
   father.
3. An alliance created then, Hrothgar suggests, of
   which Beowulf has been prompted to come help
   Hrothgar with his little Grendel problem.

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Wyrd and Religion

• Wyrd w central to the indigenous belief systems
• Scholars have debated about whether wyrd in
  Beowulf is opposed to a Christian worldview.
• After all, if wyrd is all-powerful, what role is
  left for the Christian God?
• Even as early medieval Europe became
  Christianized, deep cultural beliefs
• in the power of wyrd could persist.

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Wyrd, Character, and Free Will in Beowulf

1. At one point Beowulf says, '(Wyrd) will unwind as
   it must! (282)'
2. Then he suggests '(Wyrd) often saves an undoomed
   man if his courage is good.'
3. How are these ideas contrary to each other? Or
   are they?

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Wyrd, Character, and Free Will in Beowulf

• Before the battle with Beowulf, the poet predicts
  that the Grendel's wyrd is about to change
  because of Beowulf's actions (307).
• In the last reading in our Beowulf text, look for
  examples that the Wyrd is affected by
  actions/beliefs or by predestined plan.
• Try to decide is the Wyrd about free-will or
  fate? which is it? Or can it be both?

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