This thesis argues that the women in Beowulf are constructed as hetzerin, or women who provoke their will, an archetype originating in Norse myth, though Beowulf’s hetzerinnen differ from their Norse analogues due to a more Christianized outlook on fate in Beowulf. The initial section examines the tripartite technique of provocation- the clever manipulation of location, reputation, and a tool of insult – utilized by hetzerin in Norse literature. I argue that these women always use the same technique, are successful, and suffer death for their actions. This repetition is based in a pagan model of fate, or the idea that the future is predictable due to its similarity to the past. The next section focuses on Wealhtheow and argues that her provocation of Beowulf and Hrothgar displays the hetzerin tripartite provocation form, but in a revised way due to Christianity’s emphasis on a future that is fundamentally inexplicable and, therefore, difficult to manipulate. Wealhtheow provokes Beowulf to kill Grendel in front of the thanes (a public location) using a mead cup (a tool of insult) that, should he fail, will show that Beowulf only acts heroically when inebriated (manipulation of reputation). However, her taunt’s effectiveness is questionable as it hinges on an insult (that Beowulf is only a hero in his cups) occurring in a future clearly coded as predicated not by her, but by a fundamentally unknowable God, a modification that robs the archetype of its effectiveness, leaving Wealhtheow in an uncomfortable limbo in the text. Afterwards, I examine how Grendel’s Mother, though not constructed as a hetzerin, is punished as one due to a cultural longing for certainty in the face of a mysterious Christian deity. Finally, I argue that Thryth represents a new fate for the archetype that does not result in unnerving mystery or death: marriage. By focusing on one archetype in Beowulf, this study advances the research into female character types begun by Damico with her focus on the Valkyrie figure and Nitzsche in her research on the Mary / Eve contradistinction in the text.