Hrothulf

Character Analysis

The orphaned son of Hrothgar's sister presents a major problem in the meadhall—and everyone seems to know it but Hrothgar. He's just a kid, right? Yeah, maybe. But he's also a "sister son," which means that he has a special link to Hrothgar: in a time before paternity tests, the only heir you could 100% count on to have your blood was your sister's son.

Hrothulf is also displaced. He should have inherited his father's realm, but Daddy's early death has made this impossible. Why? We're glad you asked, because now we can explain the major difficulty with Hrothulf's presence. If a king dies while his sons are still too young to lead a group of warriors and crush people's skulls, his heirs will lose the kingdom to bigger, stronger warlords. That's just what happened to Hrothulf's kingdom. Hey, it's a dog-eat-dog world.

The Ties That Bind

Hrothgar does a great and unexpected kindness by taking Hrothulf in, but he's doing it at the risk of his own sons' futures. Let's face it: Hrothgar's not getting any younger. But his sons are hardly out of babyhood, and Hrothulf is perched on the edge of manhood. You see where this is going?

In Beowulf, Wealtheow bats her eyelashes and lays on her mad diplomatic skills to control the situation. She does her best to get Beowulf to promise to look after her boys as Hrothgar ages. But in Gardner's novel, Beowulf takes one look at the sulking teenaged Hrothulf (he's basically sitting at the kiddie table in the meadhall) and smirks as he turns away. He knows nothing good will come of the situation (165).

Hrothulf actually goes down in history as good king Hrolf Kraki (the last name means something like "beanpole"—he was a pretty skinny guy). But for Gardner's purposes, Hrothulf has to be nothing but trouble. It wouldn't suit Grendel's cynical view of humankind to have a healthy family relationship brewing right in the meadhall.

You Say You Want A Revolution?

Into this bubbling cauldron, we have to throw Red Horse. He's the smelly anarchist peasant who spends his days pouring Machiavellian advice into Hrothulf's ears. "If the Revolution comes to grief," Red Horse warns him, "it will be because you and those you lead have become alarmed at your own brutality" (117).

As Wealtheow worries how it will all go down when her bony old husband dies, Hrothulf does what all teenagers do. He hangs out. He sulks. He falls down. He thinks about starting a revolution. But there's also this little bright spot: Hrothulf is not bloodthirsty, and he's not a fool. We can hang on to the hope that if this boy survives, he might be a good king, after all.