Every year I get to teach Beowulf in my English literature course. I have grown to love it and I have learned several lessons from it:
1) If it’s not one thing, it’s a mother. Beowulf kills the monster Grendel by tearing off his arm. The Geatish hero parties in the mead-hall with his Danish friends, is showered with gifts, and is living the good life when suddenly Grendel’s mother raids the mead-hall for a little Danish. This, I have learned, is life. Every monster has a mother, every victory is brief, and every life ends in defeat until the final victory of resurrection. We are warriors, and like good Vikings our goal should be to die with a sword in our hand and be carried from the battle field on our shattered shield.
2) Swords fail, courage succeeds. Anglo-Saxons liked swords. They even named them. Twice in the story of Beowulf, once against Grendel’s mother and then against the dragon, Beowulf’s sword breaks or fails to bite into the monster. It seems wrong that swords that have names, Hrunting and Naegling, should ever fail, but I think this tale, or its scop, is making a point. We often hope for technology to save us from monsters—maybe even from ourselves. But the real monsters we face (greed, selfishness, cruelty) are only defeated with the weapons of the heart: courage, loyalty, and love.
3) Fight the dragon, don’t play the slots. After fifty winters as king, Beowulf’s kingdom is attacked by a dragon that has been awakened. Although his hair is grey, Beowulf straps on his armor, grabs his sword Naegling, and wades again into the fray. He kills the dragon, but suffers a fatal bite to his neck. Today there are fewer gray-haired warriors. On the way to work, I pass a casino parking lot filled with the RV’s of retirees who sit for hours pulling the arms of slot machines. Our culture has defined old age as a time for rest, recreation, and retreat. I choose dragons.
4) Live a life that shows the way. Beowulf asks that his burial mound, Beowulf’s Howe, be raised on a coastal headland where sailors could see it. For the most part, Vikings avoided open water and sailed along the coasts, navigating by the headlands and mouths of rivers. Throughout the poet’s account of Beowulf’s life, it is clear that he is not just reciting history or myth, but is setting before us the model of a hero and faithful king. The poem itself is like a burial mound on a headland that helps us navigate life. My grave won’t provide a landmark for mariners, but I hope my life points the way.
