Equally, Prof. Klaeber finds in Stjerna's investigations a strong argument for the Scandinavian character of Beowulf[[714]].
Now Stjerna, very rightly and naturally, drew his illustrations of Beowulf from those Scandinavian, and especially Swedish, grave-finds which he knew so well: and very valuable those illustrations are. But it does not follow, because the one archæologist who has chosen to devote his knowledge so wholeheartedly to the elucidation of Beowulf was a Scandinavian, using Scandinavian material, that therefore Beowulf is Scandinavian. This, however, is the inference which Stjerna himself was apt to draw, and which is still being drawn from his work. Stjerna speaks of our poem as a monument raised by the Geatas to the memory of their saga-renowned king[[715]], though he allows that certain features of the poem, such as the dragon-fight[[716]], are of Anglo-Saxon origin.
Of course, it must be allowed that accounts such as those of the fighting between Swedes and Geatas, if they are historical (and they obviously are), must have originated from eyewitnesses of the Scandinavian battles: but I doubt if there is anything in Beowulf so purely Scandinavian as to compel us to assume that any line of the story, in the poetical form in which we now have it, was necessarily composed in Scandinavia. Even if it could be shown that the conditions depicted in Beowulf can be better illustrated from the grave-finds of Vendel in Sweden than from English diggings, this would not prove Beowulf Scandinavian. Modern scientific archæology is surely based on chronology as well as geography. The English finds date from
the period before 650 A.D., and the Vendel finds from the period after. Beowulf might well show similarity rather with contemporary art abroad than with the art of earlier generations at home. For intercourse was more general than is always realized. It was not merely trade and plunder which spread fashions from nation to nation. There were the presents of arms which Tacitus mentions as sent, not only privately, but with public ceremony, from one tribe to another[[717]]. Similar presentations are indicated in Beowulf[[718]]; we find them equally at the court of the Ostrogothic Theodoric[[719]]; Charles the Great sent to Offa of Mercia unum balteum et unum gladium huniscum[[720]]; according to the famous story in the Heimskringla, Athelstan sent to Harold Fairhair of Norway a sword and belt arrayed with gold and silver; Athelstan gave Harold's son Hakon a sword which was the best that ever came to Norway[[721]]. It is not surprising, then, if we find parallels between English poetry and Scandinavian grave-finds, both apparently dating from about the year 700 A.D. But I do not think that there is any special resemblance, though, both in Beowulf and in the Vendel graves, there is a profusion lacking in the case of the simpler Anglo-Saxon tomb-furniture.
Let us examine the five points of special resemblance, alleged by Dr Clark Hall, on the basis of Stjerna's studies.
"The profusion of gold." Gold is indeed lavishly used in Beowulf: the golden treasure found in the dragon's lair was so bulky that it had to be transported by waggon. And, certainly, gold is found in greater profusion in Swedish than in English graves: the most casual visitor to the Stockholm museum must be impressed by the magnificence of the exhibits there. But, granting gold to have been rarer in England than in Sweden, I cannot grant Stjerna's contention that therefore an English poet could not have conceived the idea of a vast gold hoard[[722]]; or that, even if the poet does deck his warriors with gold somewhat more sumptuously than was actually the case in England,
we can draw any argument from it. For, if the dragon in Beowulf guards a treasure, so equally does the typical dragon of Old English proverbial lore[[723]]. Beowulf is spoken of as gold-wlanc, but the typical thegn in Finnsburg is called gold-hladen[[724]]. The sword found by Beowulf in the hall of Grendel's mother has a golden hilt, but the English proverb had it that "gold is in its place on a man's sword[[725]]." Heorot is hung with golden tapestry, but gold-inwoven fabric has been unearthed from Saxon graves at Taplow, and elsewhere in England[[726]]. Gold glitters in other poems quite as lavishly as in Beowulf, sometimes more so. Widsith made a hobby of collecting golden bēagas. The subject of Waldere is a fight for treasure. The byrnie of Waldere[[727]] is adorned with gold: so is that of Holofernes in Judith[[728]], so is that of the typical warrior in the Elene[[729]]. Are all these poems Scandinavian?
"The prevalence of ring-swords." We know that swords were sometimes fitted with a ring in the hilt[[730]]. It is not clear whether the object of this ring was to fasten the hilt by a strap to the wrist, for convenience in fighting (as has been the custom with the cavalry sword in modern times) or whether it was used to attach the "peace bands," by which the hilt of the sword was sometimes fixed to the scabbard, when only being worn ceremonially[[731]]. The word hring-mǣl, applied three times to the sword in Beowulf, has been interpretated as a reference to these "ring-swords," though it is quite conceivable that it may refer only to the damascening of the sword with a ringed pattern[[732]]. Assuming that the reference in Beowulf is to a "ring-sword," Stjerna illustrates the allusion from seven ring-swords, or fragments of ring-swords, found in Sweden. But, as Dr Clark Hall himself points out (whilst oddly enough accepting this argument
as proof of the Scandinavian colouring of Beowulf) four ring-swords at least have been found in England[[733]]. And these English swords are real ring-swords; that is to say, the pommel is furnished with a ring, within which another ring moves (in the oldest type of sword) quite freely. This freedom of movement seems, however, to be gradually restricted, and in one of these English swords the two rings are made in one and the same piece. In the Swedish swords, however, this restriction is carried further, and the two rings are represented by a knob growing out of a circular base. Another sword of this "knob"-type has recently been found in a Frankish tomb[[734]], and yet another in the Rhineland[[735]]. It seems to be agreed among archæologists that the English type, as found in Kent, is the original, and that the Swedish and continental "ring-swords" are merely imitations, in which the ring has become conventionalized into a knob[[736]]. But, if so, how can the mention of a ring-sword in Beowulf (if indeed that be the meaning of hring-mǣl) prove Scandinavian colouring? If it proved anything (which it does not) it would tend to prove the reverse, and to locate Beowulf in Kent, where the true ring-swords have been found.
"The prevalence of boar-helmets." It is true that several representations of warriors wearing boar-helmets have been found in Scandinavia. But the only certainly Anglo-Saxon