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TWICE in Beowulf, the hero formally and publicly presents gifts. To Hrothgar he gives the gruesome sælac ‘sea-gift’ of Grendel’s head; and to Higelac he gives a large part of the treasures recently given to him as a reward for his several feats of arms. In both cases, the moment of exchange is formalized in speech reported directly, as Beowulf performs the public presentation of his gifts. These communications have an affective dimension: the gifts to Higelac are given with avowals that the exchange is made estum ‘with good will’ and according to the giver’s wille ‘desire’ (2148–2149); the gift to Hrothgar, Beowulf proclaims, is given lustum ‘with joy’ (1653). The poet of Beowulf is not unique in the selection of such language in descriptions of gift-exchange: in many poems in the OE corpus, terms typically used to denote joyful emotion collocate closely with the giving of gifts or the bestowing of favours.
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