Could King Arthur and Beowulf be Based on the Same Person?

 

"Beowulf" by Christine Graves via NightCafe Studio

I've always loved stories about great warriors going out on wild quests to win the heart of a fair maiden or gain wealth and power. I was raised on those stories. I loved the tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. When I was 12, the movie Excalibur came out. Then, a year later, came Conan the Barbarian. I ate it up with a spoon.

However, I was a freshman in high school before I heard of Beowulf. I'm sure it was something we discussed in English Lit class. However, I was hooked from the moment we started studying. An ancient warrior who goes off and saves a kingdom from a savage beast and its mother. Facing death each and every step of the way. Going on to win the day and was crowned king of his people. It had all the hallmarks of a great epic. But it also made me think. What if the Beowulf and Arthur legends are based on the same faded memory?

According to experts, the story of Beowulf is set between the 5th and 6th centuries, based on historical details found in the poem. Arthur is first named in a text from the early 9th century, but is thought to have taken place shortly after the Romans left Britannia. The oldest known version of the Beowulf epic was written sometime in the 10th century, while the version of the Arthurian legends, as we know them, is thought to have been written in the 12th century. It is therefore thought that the legend of Beowulf is older than Arthur. 

The first mention of Arthur was made by a Welsh monk by the name of Nennius. He didn't call Arthur "king". He called him "Dux Bellorum", meaning "Lord of the Battle". The name Beowulf is thought to mean either "Bee-Wolf" or "Bear Wolf". However, there is another school of thought that says it means "Battle Wolf".  Also, some experts believe that the name "Arthur" has been modernized from the original word "Art", meaning "Bear". So, again, both individuals share an attribute. Their contemporaries may have referred to them as "Bear".

I do need to mention that the story of Beowulf takes place in Denmark, while the legend of Arthur is said to take place in England. Many scholars believe, however, that Arthur is based on a local Welsh hero or deity. Beowulf is probably based on an ancient Scandinavian folklore, or possibly an actual warrior whose name is lost to history.

It would be plausible for both legends to come from a single, distant source. Beowulf was said to be a Geat, a warrior tribe from southern Sweden. In the poem, he travels to the court of Hrothgar, king of the Danes, a tribe from Denmark. With both tribes being seafaring people, it wouldn't have taken much for stories of a great warrior to travel between the region of the Geats and Danes, to Northern Scotland. 

"Northern Europe" courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

If you've read anything about the Celtic tribes, you know they were a vast, warrior society. However, each region had its own cast of larger-than-life characters. Each clan had its own heroes it loved to brag about. Heroes such as Finn McCool, who helped build the Giant's Causeway, and Cu Chulain, who fought against the infamous Queen Medb of Connaught in the Cattle Raid of Cooley. Could Arthur and/or Beowulf be a manifestation of either of these demigods? Or just a local legend that took on a life of its own?

For all the similarities between Arthur and Beowulf, there are just as many differences. Could the legends of both Arthur and Beowulf be long forgotten memories of a mighty warrior? Or several perhaps? Of are they ancient tales of even older stories told around the fires of the Celtic clans? 

Perhaps they are the ancient origins of our modern-day superheroes. Proof that we, as humans, will always be drawn to great heroes who come when we need them most, simply to save the day. 

Until next time,
Miss Chris!!!

Christine Graves has been writing for more than 30 years. She runs several blogs including Priestess of Words, Collected Keepsakes, and Mystic Realms, all of which are part of her company, Graves Publications. She also writes for a platform called Medium.com, in which she runs a few publications.