Leiden University Student Repository

Goossens- van Norden, Manon (2017)

The Lord of the “Gallant Gifts” The Function of Gift Giving in Beowulf and Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings

Bachelor thesis | Engelse taal en cultuur (BA)

“Never look a gift horse in the mouth”. However sensible the advice in this proverb may be, raising questions about gifts is exactly what this thesis will do, because it will make an inquiry into two primary sources, Beowulf and The Lord of the Rings (LOTR), and explore the functions of gift giving in both works. As Tom Shippey rightly states, J.R.R. Tolkien was a noted expert on Beowulf and his literary work was often inspired by the medieval literature he studied. In both LOTR and Beowulf, gift giving plays an important role; however, the function of gift exchange in the medieval poem somewhat differs from Tolkien’s work.

Function

Gift

giving

Beowulf

Tolkien

Lord

rings

Author

Goossens- van Norden, Manon

Note

Throughout both works, gifts are important, but they are related to a different context and have different functions. In the medieval poem, gifts function within the context of the Anglo-Saxon warrior culture. In this society, gift exchange is an important aspect of the mutual lifelong bond between a lord and his people. As indicated through Beowulf’s altered position in both the Danish and the Geatish society, gifts can also define and alter relations and positions in this society. As the appendix adjacent to this thesis clearly shows, gifts are an important theme in LOTR as well. However, in Tolkien’s work, gifts have different functions: gifts do not only function within the context of gift exchange, nor do gifts define or alter relations and positions in society. Tolkien plays with the medieval concept of gift exchange, and adds his own twist. In LOTR, the most important gifts are the gifts between friends that are given without any quid pro quo.

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Supervisors

Porck

ECTS Credits

10

Language

en