A Feminist Critique of Beowulf: Women as Peace-Weavers and Goaders in Beowulf's Courts

Abstract

This thesis documents the relationship between “Goaders and Peace-Weavers amongst the women of Beowulf. These roles have a large place to play within the framework of the Beowulf narrative and all of its female characters fall into one of these descriptors. Goaders are women who have the role of driving men to violence with words. They do not actually perform the violence themselves but instead induce it in others, souring relationships and compelling men to war. Peace-weavers, by contrast, urge men toward reconciliation with speech and encouragement. Examining the poem's context for these two roles and how they relate to one another provides insight not only into the Beowulf poem but also the culture which created it. It, further, provides information on the nature of expected gender roles for women of the period.

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