BEOWULF
You have earned the undying honor of heroes in regions reaching as far and wide as the windy walls that the sea encircles.—Wealhtheow
Months ago, I decided to read the ancient Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, since Charlotte Mason recommended it at length as valuable for imparting the heroic impulse to young children.—and because it is one of the greatest epic poems of our English and Christian heritage.—and because it had such a profound influence on a favorite author, J.R.R. Tolkien. {Parallels to The Hobbit were striking.}
For months, though, I was paralyzed by the sheer number of translations. Our county library system carries over a hundred translations and retellings. {I soon decided that picture books were out of the question; the illustrations were horrifyingly gruesome, and God was completely excised from the story.}
There are so many different aspects to consider in a translation—alliteration, metrical structure, vocal quality. Apparently, one must learn Anglo-Saxon in order to receive all its rich and sophisticated texture. But, barring this extremity, there is Kennedy’s old Bible English. It was comfortable and familiar to me; and, for the time, I stopped worrying about its authenticity. As a story, it remained compelling and beautifully framed.
In its most basic form, Beowulf is the story of a Geatish warrior who helps the Danes defeat two monsters, and fifty years later is killed in a battle with a fire-breathing dragon.
‘The Beowulf is a tale of the pagan past in which the endurance, the loyalty, the courage, and the strength of the heroic age are tempered by union with Christian virtues, graced with courtly manners, and elevated in presentment to levels of epic dignity.’ [p liv]
Charles W. Kennedy introduces his 1940 alliterative translation with a critical introduction that I found fascinating, and helpful for understanding the historical background of the poem.
‘It has come to be recognized that we have here a poem of cultivated craftsmanship, sophisticated rather than primitive in form, and definitely influenced by literary and religious tradition. The influence of the Christian faith is marked and pervasive... The Old English poet has shaped a poem courtly in mood, suggestive of epic tradition, and Christian in spirit. It is a mark of the poet’s skill that the elements derived from these various and varied sources, from chronicle and legend, from folk-tale and lay, have been deftly integrated and fused into a new unity.’ [p iii]
I also appreciated the comprehensive glossary of proper names, which proved invaluable for pronunciation, as well as for reminders about the numerous minor characters—who they were and how they were related to history or other characters.
I already understood that Beowulf was a Christian poem, but was surprised to find Christianity so pervasive. Although the poem is not religious, Christian faith and ethics are frequently evident in the speech and motives of characters.
In a section on ‘Christian Influence’ in Beowulf, Kennedy comments:
‘[The] primitive material of the Beowulf was derived from pagan folktale, chronicle, and legend, and slowly welded into new unities. It remained for the Old English poet to complete this process of fusion by the conversion, or transmutation, of this material from pagan to Christian. The epic emerges at last as a Christian poem. This mutation, moreover, is not merely a matter of altered phrases, or interpolated reference to the Christian faith, but is a deeply pervasive infusion of Christian spirit coloring thought and judgment, governing motive and action, a continuous and active agent in the process of transformation.’ [p xlix]
An example of this would be one of my favorite passages, in which the Danish king Hrothgar joyfully meets Beowulf after Beowulf’s victory over the troll-wife. But rather than delivering the effusive praise one might expect, Hrothgar recounts the tale of Heremod, a former king who in the bloodthirsty pride of his strength and wealth came to an afflicted end. Later, Hrothgar likewise points to the example of his own life, how his proud and glorious reign was ravaged by the monster Grendel. Hrothgar gives thanks to God for allowing him to see victory ‘in the battle’s end,’ but point outs that this is not a mercy is granted to all.
...Learn from his fate!
Strive for virtue! I speak for your good;
In the wisdom of age I have told the tale...
Beloved Beowulf, best of warriors,
Avoid such evil and seek the good,
The heavenly wisdom. Beware of pride!
Now for a time you shall feel the fulness
And know the glory of strength, but soon
Sickness or sword shall strip you of might,
Or clutch of fire, or clasp of flood,
Or flight of arrow, or bite of blade,
Or relentless age; or the light of the eye
Shall darken and dim, and death on a sudden,
O lordly ruler, shall lay you low.
[p 56, 57]
That Beowulf took Hrothgar’s words to heart, is apparent by his upright life and prosperous reign, which is attributed by the poet to God’s blessing on the righteous warrior.
So the son of Ecgtheow bore himself bravely,
Known for his courage and courteous deeds,
Strove after honor, slew not his comrades
In drunken brawling; nor brutal his mood.
But the bountiful gifts which the Lord God gave him
He held with a power supreme among men.
[p 70]
The poem concludes with the burial of Beowulf after his fated battle with the fire-drake. A band of twelve warriors march around his barrow and—
They sang their dirge and spoke of the hero
Vaunting his valor and venturous deeds.
So it is proper a man should praise
His friendly lord with a loving heart,
When his soul must forth from the fleeting flesh.
So the folk of the Geats, the friends of his hearth,
Bemoaned the fall of their mighty lord;
Said he was the kindest of worldly kings,
Mildest, most gentle, most eager for fame.
[p 70]
My appetite has been whet for Northern legend! {And in one of those wonderful reading parallels, I discovered—while reading Pre-Raphaelites at Home by Pamela Todd—that William Morris was so captivated by Icelandic saga that he made several visits to the frozen region.}
Now I have on my shelf Frederick Rebsamen’s translation of Beowulf. He preserves the compound wording lavish in the original poem, and the effect is delightful and rhythmic; I can’t wait to start reading again!
• a page from the vellum manuscript of Beowulf •
August 20, 2013