| Chapter 1: | The Clothes Make the Man: Transgressive Disrobing and Disarming in Beowulf |
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helm of hafelan, sealde his hyrsted sweord,
irena cyst, ombihtþegne,
7 gehealdan het hildegeatwe. (670a–73b)
Beowulf, to prepare for his fight with Grendel, does not put on his armor; rather, in an inversion of expectations, he removes it, saying:
guþgeweorca, þonne Grendel hine.
Forþan ic hine sweorde swebban nelle,
aldre beneotan, þeah ic eal mæge.
Nat he þara goda, þæt he me ongean slea,
rand geheawe, þeah ðe he rof sie
niþgeweorca. Ac wit on niht sculon
secge ofersittan, gif h[e] gesecean dear
wig ofer wæpen.” (676a–84a)
While not completely naked, Beowulf has relinquished the outward signs of his martial nobility and his humanity and is, therefore, effectively disrobed. Gale Owen-Crocker points out in Dress in Anglo-Saxon England that “[t]he authors of Old English heroic poetry wereonly interested in garments which were war-gear…of the garments worn underneath the mailcoat…we are told nothing” (21–22). Beowulf claims he wants a fair fight against Grendel—ostensibly to bring greater glory to himself and his Lord, Hygelac—so he removes the most obvious, outward signifiers of both his human and warrior status.