To Rule or Not to Rule: On Kingly Succession and Political Wisdom in "Beowulf"

稱王與否：論《北奧武甫》中的王位繼承及政治智慧

鄭詠之(Yung-Chih Cheng)

《北奧武甫》 ； 格言 ； 政治智慧 ； 王位繼承 ； 虛構 ； "Beowulf" ； maxim ； political wisdom ； kingly succession ； fabrication

中山人文學報

36期（2014 / 01 / 01）

143 - 158

英文

文學和歷史存在著表裡的辯證關係，儘管有一些史實可以證明《北奧武甫》詩中人與事的現實對應情形，然而作品的弦外之音卻必須從作品相對完整的獨立性中去探究。《北奧武甫》在多重意涵之外，也蘊含至今仍是顛仆不破的智慧：唯有歷經考驗的英雄，才有資格成為一國之王。本論文分為五個部分。前言討論本詩的虛構性與歷史的辯證關係，第一部分探討其政治相關格言的內涵，接著分析王位繼承情形以及詩人如何呈現理想的王位繼承觀。詩中的威拉夫獨力幫助北奧武甫打敗惡龍一景，象徵性指出他是繼北奧武甫之後的英雄，本文結論認為本詩中引喻式地呈現了賢能者繼承王位的理想。

BETWEEN literature and history, there usually exists a dialectical relationship. Though historically-true details in ”Beowulf” can be found, its implications should be explored from the standpoint of the relative independence of this text. Politically, the profundity of ”Beowulf” lies in his political wisdom: only the tested hero has the credibility to take a king's place. The introduction of this paper outlines the dialectical relationship between fiction and history. The first part is about the political maxims in ”Beowulf”. The conditions and ideals about kingly succession in the epic are dealt with in part two. The scene in which only Wiglaf helps ”Beowulf” to kill the dragon and rises as a hero is the subject of the third part. This paper concludes with a short discussion about the ideal kingly succession embodied in three kings.

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