Aldhelm and Beozvulf 339 



warning' of the grave, passed alike into rhyme. It was with an 

 ever-growing stock of ballads that the gleeman trolled his way 

 from fair to fair.' 



VIII. BEOWULF AND THE HOAIERIC POEMS 



On the theory that we ought not to be surprised if Homeric 

 influence is discernible in Beowulf, we may properly inquire 

 whether, in addition to the parallel adduced above, clear traces of 

 this influence are actually to be found. Such clear traces I discern 

 at the close of Beoiculf, where the hero's funeral and monument 

 are described, as compared with those near the end of the Iliad and 

 the Odyssey which depict the obsequies of Patroclus, Hector, and 

 Achilles. These may be briefly presented under seven heads, in 

 the order of the Beowulfian passages : 



(i) Beowulf chooses the headland where his tumulus is to be 

 erected (2802-8, 3096-8; cf. 3135-6, 3156-8). So Achilles (//. 

 22>. 125-6, 244-8; Od. 24. 76 fif. ; cf. //. 7. 85; Od. 12. 11). 



(2) Orders are issued to collect wood for the pyre (31 10-3). 

 So by Agamemnon (//. 23. no if.), and by Priam (//. 24. yyy- 

 781). 



(3) For Beowulf a 'firm-built' pyre is prepared (3138). For 

 Patroclus abundant wood is piled, and the pyre is a hundred feet 

 square (//. 23. 127, 139, 164). 



(4) Beowulf is laid in the middle of the pyre (3141), as is 

 Patroclus (//. 23. 241). This, it must be confessed, is one of the 

 weakest of the parallels, though Achilles himself emphasizes the 

 position. 



(5) Achilles having prayed to Boreas and Zephyrus to cross the 

 seas, and fan the laggard flames of the pyre (//. 23. 193 fif.), they 

 perform their mission, and then, at the coming of dawn, betake 

 them home over the Thracian main while the flame dies down (//. 

 23. 228-230). So at the burning of Beowulf the blazing fire 

 roared, mingled with a sound of weeping ivhen tJic tumult of the 

 wind zvas stilled (3146). 



(6) The aged wife of Beowulf utters a lament for her husband 

 (3150-5), as does Andromache over Hector (//. 24. 723-745). 

 That of Andromache is much longer, partly because of her concern 

 for her child. 



