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critically reviewing his own performance as poet, storyteller, and
interpreter.
Moreover, other characters comment on his abilities as well, and
this is where the novel is at its most fascinating: on one level the
characters are commenting on the work of the scop and the relative
effectiveness or accuracy of his composition, and on another level
Oldham is herself commenting on the quality of her own work in The
Raven Waits. But on still another level, I read Oldham as having a debate
with herself over the relative merits (again from a layman’s perspective)
of various aspects of Beowulf scholarship and interpretation. As the
novelist, Oldham asserts that she is just as qualified to imagine the world
of Beowulf as any scholar. Though research has been done on the
possible appearance and design of Beowulf s ship, Oldham seems
confident that her description is as good as any, knowing no one has
actually seen that particular ship: “After all, their boat cannot be very
different from other boats” (25). Hrethric, commenting on the
improvised poem says: “It was reasonably convincing . . . when we take
into account that you have not seen their ship .. . (24). The scop replies,
“the piece is the usual mixture of fancy, observation and good sense”
(25). This mixture allows the scop to muse on events which he has not
seen, but which are part of the Heorot narrative and which find their way
into the later poem, such as Beowulf s meeting with the coast guard and
Grendel’s attack of the hall, which the scop only hears about, but does
not see. This details a method of production, description and
imagination.
I read Oldham as advocating a mode of Beowulf scholarship
based on observation, comparison, and a studied understanding of human
nature — tools available to any writer. However, in the scop’s
clarification of his narrative strategy, Oldham reveals that though details
of things and places, events may be altered or embellished to aid in
storytelling, the characters of the tales should remain true to reality. The
scop says: “I never tamper with men [in stories]. I set them out as they
are. Their nature is the fabric of my craft and if I meddled with that I
should lose their trust” (25). With this, Oldham is effectively excusing
herself for any scholarly or historic inaccuracies, but the declaration also
serves its purpose within her narrative. This is the reason that, even
though he has imaginatively described the Geats’ ship, he refuses
Hrethric’s request to describe Beowulf right away, in order to build up
tension before we meet the man himself.
After the Geats have passed by on their way to Heorot and the
scop has described the ship, Hrethric asks “And what of [the leader]?
Can you find any words for him?” The scop replies: “Ah, that is another