Nature is an important element in many of the early texts. Both Beowulf and Canterbury Tales, written in very early English, use and personify Nature. It can be useful, therefore, to discuss the persona and action of nature in both texts, in an exploration of the use of nature in early fiction. This paper will, therefore, compare and contrast nature in the works of Beowulf and Canterbury Tales.
The imagery in the opening prologue of the Canterbury Tales is expressly related to nature. It describes the rebirth of spring, but the verbiage, specifically, that is used by Chaucer to characterize nature, and to personify, or at least animate, her actions is an important combination of maternal and violent. The following specific verbs are found within the prologue piercing (line 2), engendering (line 4), inspiring (line 5) and prickling (line 11). This mixture of the nurturing, or maternal, language, like use of the words “engendering” and “inspiring” demonstrate a certain femininity, while contrastingly the verbs “piercing” and “prickling” are more violent, and could be considered more masculine in nature. Together, these represent a gender neutral embodiment of nature.
In contrast, Beowulf tends to present a purely masculine, but similarly violent, in nature when compared to Canterbury Tales. Beowulf is described as “battling” the “eddying floods” which are described as having “power” (Beowulf 23). Similarly, when facing the sea-beasts, who are wild water animals, Beowulf’s author writes
Though his valor held, he struggled in vain to wield weapons against the terrifying monsters that set upon him while he swam. Many sea-beasts tried to tear his mail with fierce tusks when they swarmed upon this stranger. (142)
Here again we see Beowulf battling nature, as a powerful and opposing force.
While the imagery in both stories animates and personifies nature, it is interesting to see the contrast between their approaches. In the case of Canterbury tales, the verbiage used creates an essence non-gender, with a mixture of female and male imagery. In contrast however, Beowulf uses exclusively a masculine or violent set of images to generate the character of nature.
Works Cited:
Beowulf. New York: New American Library, 1963. Print.
Chaucer, Geoffrey, and Walter W. Skeat. The Canterbury Tales. New York: Modern Library, 1929. Print.
