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Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

for a ritualized boast, vow, threat, or promise. Clark Hall, John R. ''A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary''. Cambridge University Press, 1960, p. 42. The principle of a ''bēot'' is to proclaim one's acceptance of a seemingly impossible challenge in order to gain tremendous glory for actually accomplishing it.

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

warriors would usually deliver ''bēot''s in the mead hall the night before a military engagement or during the battle itself. For example, a typical warrior may boast that he will be the first to strike a blow in a battle, that he would claim a renowned sword from an enemy warrior as spoil of battle, that he will slay a particular monster that has been wreaking havoc on a town or village, and so on. ''Bēot''s were usually accompanied by grand stories of one's past glorious deeds. Although other cultures and times might disdain boasting as a sign of arrogance, or sinful pride, the

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

Anglo-Saxons highly regarded such behaviour as a positive sign of one's determination, bravery, and character. Examples of the ''bēot'' can be seen throughout the epic poem ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

'', such as when Beowulf vows to fight Grendel without using any weapons or armour.

Etymology

The

word ''bēot'' comes from earlier ''bíhát'' meaning 'promise'. The original noun-form of ''bēot'' corresponds to the verb ''bi-'', ''be-ˈhátan''. A shifting of the stress from ''bíhát'' to ''bi-ˈhát'', on analogy of the verb, gave the late

''beˈhát'', from which the

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...

word ''behote'' derives. The second element of the term is cognate with Old Norse heit, also meaning 'promise'.

Structure of a ''bēot'' (as seen in Beowulf)

# Pledge - The individual pledges to endeavour a specific challengeEinarsson, 1934, p. 975-976, "In both instances we have to do with a solemn promise to carry out a feat—a fight—under very difficult circumstances, partly self-imposed to add glory" # Speculation of outcomes - The individual predicts two possible outcomes—success or failure—and elaborates the effects of either outcome. # Commissioning to a higher power - The individual commissions the outcome of the challenge to a higher power (e.g. ''God'', ''fate'').Beowulf, lines 2526-2527

References

{{Anglo-SaxonPaganism Anglo-Saxon law Germanic paganism

Etymology

Structure of a ''bēot'' (as seen in Beowulf)

See also

References