Beowulf is a hard book to wrap your mind around. To modern readers the story seems primeval. Even a good translation, which certainly applies when it comes to this edition by Seamus Heaney, can bring the reader only so far in the antiquated world depicted in this tale. The phrases simply are not meant to be rendered in our current tongue and for many readers, this will sadly make the story unappealing. Yet if you wish to strike gold, you have be willing to mine for it, and for those willing to brave the centuries of stony sleep between our time and the times when these verses were written, you will find treasures worthy of a dragon’s hoard.
The heart of the tale
Much of this tale takes place in Heorot hall, home of Hrothgar, a ruler among the Danes. Though his hall is grand and sweeping, and expertly crafted, it is haunted by a terrible doom. This doom takes the form of Grendel, ill-gotten spawn of hell and descendant of cursed Cain who comes at will to murder and devour any would dare pass the night in Hrothgar’s hall. Though we get no detailed description of Grendel, he gives the impression of something larger than a man, and certainly many times stronger, with a hide no blade can pierce. The image of a troll comes to mind, yet Grendel is his own sort of monster.
Yet the way of life of the Danes as played out in Heorot and not their battles with monsters, forms the backbone of this tale. The battle with Grendel, and later with his mother and the dragon, does not feature in the majority of the verses. Instead, we are treated to grand, formalistic speeches, feasts, songs, and tales of heroes gone by, of victories won, defeats suffered, and the strange fusion of Christian ideals and stories with the pagan warrior ethos inherited from time gone by.
To truly enjoy the riches of Beowulf, you must enter into the hall, and relish your time spent there. If you do, you will find that the archaic language, odd phrases, and difficult names all become part of the charm of the tale. You are getting a window into the raw materials of a story-telling people. You are drinking from the fountainhead of where English literature was born. It can be a heady experience as you recognize in raw form parts of speech and ways of conveying ideas that would inspire and later be refined by countless writers down through the ages.
A worthy hero
Of course, the more dramatic elements are hardly to be looked over and they are written in harrowing fashion. Grendel is a truly terrifying foe and his mother in her own way just as wicked and frightening. To face such formidable villains demands an equally capable hero and Beowulf is more than up to the task.
Hearing of this dire plague upon Heorot, Beowulf the Geat sails from across the sea to rid Hrothgar of Grendel. He is already a warrior of great renown in his own lands when he arrives, yet he is an alien in the land of the Danes. After some initial suspicion, he is accepted and indeed hailed as a great blessing to the beleaguered Danes.
Beowulf truly is one of the most legendary heroes of English literature. Possessed of superhuman strength and boundless courage, by the end of the tale he stands above even all the great warriors who have come before him in battle prowess and renown. But he is more than just a warrior. He is well-spoken, honorable, selfless, and a great leader. When other warriors shrink from facing off against evil, Beowulf remains steadfast and true.
A bitter end
While most of the tale centers around Beowulf at the apex of his career, the final part of the story tells how he returns home and eventually becomes a king among his own people. He has a long and fruitful rule, but when a foolish interloper steals a gem-studded goblet from a dragon’s hoard, the serpent begins to terrorize the Geats and Beowulf is roused for one last adventure.
Sadly, Beowulf sustains mortal wounds in the fight and he bids his faithful companion, Wiglaf, to go and fetch some of the dragon’s treasure that he may look upon it ‘ere he dies. Wiglaf does so and Beowulf is celebrated in death for the great defender and king that he was for his people.
It is a sad end to a heroic tale, but one that highlights a needed truth. Heroism has its limits. Though it is celebrated and almost venerated throughout most of the tale, Beowulf’s courage and confidence in his own strength are ultimately what does him in. He is quite old when he fights the dragon and underestimates both his own fading strength and the mightiness of his foe. Even so, had the men around him and his own sword not failed him, he might have won the day. Yet we cannot fault Beowulf overmuch for it is made clear that God had ordained such an end for him and that his final destiny played out exactly as the Lord intended.
Unlocking the word-horde
The tale is epic enough in its own right, yet the translation here by Seamus Heaney deserves a special mention. It is essentially a second work of art which stands alongside the masterpiece it seeks to interpret. If you have read other translations of Beowulf and they did not quite resonate with you, you might want to give this one a try just for the sheer beauty of the word-smithing.
The author seems to be attempting to recreate the cadence and feel of Old English using modern words and spellings. It halfway feels as if you are actually reading Old English, or better yet, sitting around a campfire in Heorot Hall hearing it spoken. Certainly at times that can make it hard to follow and track the thoughts behind the words. But there are so many masterful turns of phrase and ingenious sentence crafting, that most of the time, you hardly notice the difficulties. And the more you read it, the more the ear grows accustomed to the beautiful language Heaney has rendered.
Here is just a sampling of some of the literary treasures waiting to be unearthed within this praiseworthy tale:
- “winter went wild in the waves”
- “…in the morning, mangled and sleeping the sleep of the sword, they slopped and floated like the ocean’s leavings.”
- “…he ripped open the mouth of the building, maddening for blood”
- “He is hasped and hopped and hirpling with pain”
- “…he fell, death-pale, his feud-calloused hand could not stave off the fatal stroke.”
- “No longer would his snakefolds ply themselves to safeguard hidden gold.”
One for the ages
Beowulf is a gift to the English language. Without it, the tales which came after would have been that much poorer. For even if later authors never read Beowulf or even knew the tale, you can be assured that the nature of heroism first set down in this epic poem shaped their stories in some way.
The themes of courage, sacrifice, the eternal struggle against evil, and the inescapability of destiny are all woven into the warp and woof of this gallant tale. Yes, those great truths may be harder to grasp due to the form and manner in which the story is told, but here there be more than just dragons and heroes and bold adventures, here is a story worthy of the effort it takes to mine its depths. Here is a treasure trove that will enrich you beyond all the gold and jewels ever amassed by the Danes, their enemies, or the strange mythical monsters which they slew in their tales. Here is the soul of heroism. Here is a story for the ages.
