Hildeburh & The Wife's Lament

In the Finnsburg fragment of Beowulf we are presented with the lament of a Danish princess who is married to a Finn. Her son is a Frisian warrior and but her brother is the leader of the opposing Danes, Hnaef. Both are killed in battle and Hildeburh orders them cremated together. Her husband, Finn, leaders of the Frisians, is later slain in battler, before Hildeburh is returned to Denmark. In The Wife's Lament, we have a wife who is married to a man in a far off community that is hostile to her own. Her husband is hostile toward not only her community but even, perhaps, his wife. Both of these women serve the role as peace-pledges or peace-weavers, women who married across warring communities to help bring peace. However, despite their similarity in this manner, the situations and positions of the two women in their respective societies are vastly different.

The fragment embodied by Hildeburh demonstrates that she has a respected position of wealth and class in her community. She is a Danish princess who has been married to the leader of the Frisians, Hnaef. Women in the

Category: Literature - H