The Corn-Hero Myth in Beowulf, The Seafarer, and Tolkien’s “King Sheave”

This paper explores the significance of the corn-hero myth in the Scyld Scefing episode of Beowulf and the related fragments in prose and alliterative verse composed by J.R.R. Tolkien. An underlying presence of the same myth is discovered in The Seafarer as well. The Anglo-Saxon interest in seafarer heroes that brought corn and culture to the land is explained in terms of Georges Dumézil’s theory of three functions, and as related to the policy of peace in dealing with vikings. A more lyrical treatment of the myth in The Seafarer is postulated and discussed.