My wife tells me that I was supposed to read Beowulf in High School. I’m sure she is right. I’m also sure that I didn’t read it. I do remember a guy in said school calling another guy Beowulf because he was hairy. Come to find out, that doesn’t really have anything to do with the book.
I only decided to read the book because of reading of Tolkien’s professed love for the story (and because my daughter has to read part of it for school). The translation I read is reminiscent of Tolkien’s style, which, perhaps, added to my enjoyment of it.
The thing that struck me about the book is the spin it puts on the hero motif – the tragic hero. Such stories have been told many times, but the author of Beowulf does it extremely well. Douglas Wilson goes so far as to suggest that there was a specific apologetic for the Christian faith being set forth in the story (HERE). His case is compelling, and I won’t rehash it, but let me focus for a moment on my big take-away.This is hardly original or novel, but I write to reflect and record my impressions, so here goes:
Beowulf is a savior who cannot save. With his great triumphs, in the end, like all others, he dies – and despair looms on the horizon.
His initial victory over the monster Grendel is great, but incomplete – for he ‘only’ manages to rip off his arm. The monster Grendel, the ‘son of Cain,’ the treacherous brother-slayer, retreats to die in his own abode. His defeat of Grendel’s mother is definite, and he even manages to retrieve the head of Grendel in the process, but, again, it takes place on her own turf. Beowulf delivers a blow to treachery, but Greed awaits him.
The greedy dragon declares war on the people on account of a stolen piece of treasure. Beowulf once again comes to the rescue. With some help he emerges victorious, and, having suffered a fatal wound, dies. And thus the story ends with the death of the hero and much uncertainty for the future. You’re left feeling that nothing but mourning and disaster awaits.
Beowulf is a great warrior. But as a warrior he cannot stop the one thing that plagues the peoples – war. Like the Judges of the Old Testament, he rises up to bring deliverance, but dies – his deliverance dying with him – and a new deliverer must be hoped for. The Philistines are still knocking on the door. He is a savior who cannot ultimately save his people because the problem – treachery, greed, war, etc still exists. He could fight them for a while, but he couldn’t go the distance.
This does not diminish his heroism. He is a hero indeed – but a mortal hero, and a hero who carries much blood on his own hands. He was a savior who couldn’t save who himself needed a Savior. He couldn’t defeat the last enemy – death. His glory remains but his work will not continue.
- Obadiah 1:21 The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion To judge the mountain of Esau, And the kingdom will be the LORD’s.
