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This analysis argues her leadership is most clearly shown through imperative forms, tracking their frequency and the specific imperative verbs in her speeches.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/","Literature",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/powerful-words-wealhtheows-use-of-imperatives-in-beowulf/413848/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/powerful-words-wealhtheows-use-of-imperatives-in-beowulf/413848.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Riley","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-31","2026-09-28",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",5,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Why does the paper focus on Wealhtheow’s power in Beowulf?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Beowulf has few female characters and only one with readable speech acts. 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Translation and editorial choices are treated as factors that can diminish or redirect how her power is understood.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},413848,1791027920,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,91,95,99,104,109,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":100,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":55,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":26,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":117},1374391975076,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/14000253ca4ec9f6853?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1783305029341752051","Scientia et Humanitas: A Journal of Student Research  \nPowerful Words: Wealhtheow’sUse of Imperatives in Beowulf  \nKat Kolby  \nABSTRACT  \nHow powerful were the women in Old English poetry, particularly in the well-known poem Beowulf? There are few female characters within the poem, and only one of them has a speaking role. Wealhtheow, queen of the Scyldings, is a peace-weaving wife to Hrothgar, one of the primary characters alongside Beowulf. Discussions ofthe specifics of her role as peace-weaver between her home nation and that of Hrothgar are mired in gender role assumptions on the parts of critics throughout the ages. Some have viewed this title as one denoting property: Wealhtheow is traded to Hrothgar as a gift to create peace between nations. Others acknowledge that peace-weaving is more ofan active position, wherein Wealhtheow is a diplomat between nations, weaving peace herself. I argue that her power as a leader is best exemplified by her use of the imperative case. By examining the frequency of this case and the choice of imperative verbs within Wealhtheow’s speeches, I demonstrate that she issues commands more often than anyother speaker, often with long-standing expectations on those to whom she speaks.  \n42 Spring 2024  \nPowerful Words: Wealhtheow’s Use of Imperatives in Beowulf  \nBeowulf contains few female characters, only one of which has a speaking role. Much debate has circulated as to just how powerful these characters are, yet there is little examination of their issuing of commands. Wealhtheow is the only woman with readable speech acts in the poem. After first encountering her character and reading her speeches, I was left wondering just how much sway this freoðuwebbe1 wielded. Wealhtheow is the queen of the Scyldings (clan of Danes) and wife to Hrothgar, and I argue that she is oneof, if not the most, practically and politically powerful characters in the poem by way of her use of imperatives in comparison with any other character’s use in a speech act. Prior to my analysis, however, one must consider how some of our current misconceptions regarding the gender roles within the poem were constructed—primarily how certain source materials may have influenced perceptions ofthe female roles therein. Outside of our own cultural assumptions projected upon the poem, many of us were first introduced to Beowulf in high school, ifat all, and this is where some of our gendered misconceptions probably began regarding the roles of women in the poem. If not high school, then we were most likely introduced to the poem through Klaeber’s renowned edition of the text—one in which Wealhtheow has been glossed as a mothering, nurturing figure rather than one of power.  \nWealhtheow’s words can lose some of their impact and intensity during the translation process, with some of the choices on the part of the translator falling back on gendered connotations for terms with far broader scopes of meaning. Josephine Bloomfield writes about understanding the “social, familial, and political roles of the aristocratic Anglo-Saxon woman” from a reading of Wealhtheow and how Klaeber’s glossing of certain words consistently as “kind” or “kindness”“transformed [her] from peace weaver and power broker to tender maternal care giver:”her speeches become lessened and “altered by this series of uniform glosses to emphasize personal affection over tribal necessity.”2 Bloomfield argues that, because of Klaeber’s upbringing and the roles of women in Germany throughout his life, his “glosses seem potentially to reflect not Old English polysemy but the biases of his culture.”3 There are five words that the poet uses both in the descriptions ofthe queen and within her speeches that all could have alternate translations that Klaeber consistently glosses, and only in the occasions connected to the  \n1. Peace-weaver. Unless otherwise noted, all translations are my own.  \n2.John P. Bloomfield,“Diminished by Kindness: Frederick Klaeber’s Rewriting of We","cbCaigTvZAVtiKqh","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaigTvZAVtiKqh","pdf",159303,13,"English","# Abstract\n## Wealhtheow’s role and scholarly interpretations\n## Imperative case analysis and leadership\n## Gender-role misconceptions and source influence\n## Translation choices and critical bias\n## Terminology and political agency","[{\"question\":\"Why does the paper focus on Wealhtheow’s power in Beowulf?\",\"answer\":\"Beowulf has few female characters and only one with readable speech acts. The paper examines whether Wealhtheow functions as a politically powerful leader rather than only a passive figure.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the paper argue about Wealhtheow’s use of peace-weaving?\",\"answer\":\"The paper argues that peace-weaving is an active, diplomatic position. It emphasizes that she leads through her speech, especially through imperative forms.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the paper connect gender-role misconceptions to interpretation of Wealhtheow?\",\"answer\":\"It discusses how modern cultural assumptions and earlier educational exposure, including particular editions and glosses, may shape perceptions. Translation and editorial choices are treated as factors that can diminish or redirect how her power is understood.\"}]","Powerful Words - Wealhtheow’s Use of Imperatives in Beowulf | PDF",1790595999]