After Hrothgar’s sermon, everything that Beowulf does must be thought of, at least in passing, within the context of the wise old king’s message. As his visit to the Scyldings runs full cycle and Beowulf returns to his ship with his men, he continues to comport himself with grace and generosity. Exceeding what is expected, the Geat champion presents the Dane ship-guard with a sword so beautifully decorated in gold that the retainer will later display it proudly to his fellows at Heorot.
Modern readers may wonder why the Beowulf poet interrupts his narrative, just as the hero is setting foot on his homeland, to indulge in the elaborate contrast between Geatland’s Queen Hygd and the murderous Queen Modthrytho. When the scop performed the story of Finnsburh at Heorot (1063 ff.), the interlude was a logical extension of the dramatic situation, a celebration in honor of Beowulf at which such a story might well be told. Here, the action simply stops. Beowulf has just arrived home. He is about to receive his welcome. It is a moment of some emotion and dramatic intensity. So the poet interrupts to give us a little lesson on the qualities of a proper queen. Hygd is a proper queen — generous, courteous and wise beyond her years. There is considerable scholarship on who she and Modthrytho might have been and why the poet makes so much of them. For our purposes, perhaps it is enough that they are simply what they appear to be — a young but effective queen who serves her king and her people well, on the one hand; and, on the other, a treacherous example of power gone wrong.
