Title: Beowulf
First published: February 15, 2000
Description: Composed toward the end of the first millennium, Beowulf is the elegiac narrative of the adventures of Beowulf, a Scandinavian hero who saves the Danes from the seemingly invincible monster Grendel and, later, from Grendel's mother. He then returns to his own country and dies in old age in a vivid fight against a dragon. The poem is about encountering the monstrous, defeating it, and then having to live on in the exhausted aftermath. In the contours of this story, at once remote and uncannily familiar at the beginning of the twenty-first century, Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney finds a resonance that summons power to the poetry from deep beneath its surface. Drawn to what he has called the "four-squareness of the utterance" in Beowulf and its immense emotional credibility, Heaney gives these epic qualities new and convincing reality for the contemporary reader.
Subjects: Long Now Manual for Civilization, Epic poetry, Heroism, Anglo-Saxons, Geats, Monsters, Dragons, Good vs. Evil, Fate, Loyalty, Bravery, Honor, Medieval literature, Nordic legends, Mythology, Battles, Treasure, Beasts, Grendel, Christian allegory, Medieval society, warfare, kingship, Anglo-Saxon culture, Christian and pagan beliefs, revenge, death, destiny, courage, glory, the heroic code, the supernatural, the unknown, battle, sacrifice, power, leadership, Anglo-Saxon literature, old English, legend, legendary heroes, wisdom, legacy, conflict, heritage, journey, quests, supernatural powers, chivalry, death and mortality, pride, envy, betrayal, tragedy, folklore
Places: Scandinavia