The poem Beowulf is obsessed with treasures. The poet describes hoards in Hrothgar's hall Heorot, in Grendel's mother's underground hall, and in the dragon's hall under the mountain. Many episodes of the poem concern treasure exchange: Hrothgar builds Heorot in order to give treasures; he rewards Beowulf with magnificent treasures; Beowulf gives a sword to a coast guard; Beowulf and his king Hygelac exchange treasures; and the dying Beowulf gives treasures to his loyal thane Wiglaf and his people. Only a few treasures are specifically described, however, generally heirloom swords, and these descriptions usually concern their martial quality rather than their appearance: Hrunting, for instance, is decorated, but more importantly, has never failed in battle and Beowulf judges it to be a good sword, though it could not cut Grendel's mother. Yet the Beowulf poet gives pointed time and attention to segnas—banners or military standards. The first of these segnas is raised above Scyld Scefing's body on his funeral ship (47b). Hrothgar gives an heirloom banner to Beowulf as a reward for defeating Grendel; Beowulf later re-gifts this banner to his own king, Hygelac (1020–22a and 2152). Wiglaf finds the third prominent banner in the dragon's hoard (2767–71a). The poet mentions banners elsewhere briefly in important episodes of the feud between the Swedes and Geats (1202–07b; 2957b–60; 2500–2508a). In a poem that values treasures, but specifies very few, banners, like swords, are meant to be noticed.

The pointed and repeated mention of these banners, their association with royalty and gift-giving, and the detailed description of the dragon's banner argue that banners carried some cultural weight and textual importance. Yet, while Beowulf 's swords are often discussed in literary criticism, the banners have largely gone unstudied. Analyses of these banners, such as those by John Hill, Barbara Raw, and Cameron McNabb, consist of a few sentences in larger discussions of treasure. I have found little analysis of Anglo-Saxon banners in archeological or textile research—again, a few sentences based on primary literary and historical sources. Derek Renn's discussion of flags in the Bayeux Tapestry and Robert W. Jones's studies of banners and pre-heraldic military identification offer more information, but these studies focus on post-Conquest sources.

Ever since Carol Clover's 1980 essay, “The Germanic Context of the Unferþ Episode,” most critics have accepted that the exchange between Hunferth and Beowulf is a flyting, a ritualized exchange of boasts and insults consisting of a “Claim, Defense, and Counterclaim.” Critics generally agree that Beowulf decisively wins the exchange by refuting Hunferth's claim, by calling Hunferth out for his cowardice and fratricide, and ultimately, by defeating Grendel when Hunferth could not. While Clover convincingly identifies connections between the flyting tradition and the Hunferth interlude, viewing the exchange as flyting, and Beowulf as its winner, is problematic. Most flytings are longer than the conversation between Beowulf and Hunferth. More importantly, Hrothgar becomes joyful afterwards, and, suprisingly, so does the court: “Ðær wæs hæleþa hleahtor, hlyn swynsode,/ word wǣron wynsume” (“There was laughter of heroes, the din sounded, words were joyful”). Most critics explain this joy, and the fact that Hunferth is not reprimanded, by claiming that Hunferth is merely performing his duty as þyle, that his questioning is normal, or that Hunferth is simply not taken seriously. Yet these explanations do not account for the Danes’ joyful response to Beowulf's slur against their bravery and competency: