Like many, I have not touched this work since my class on British Literature in high school. I have learned a lot since then, and my capacity for processing great literature has only increased. This book, perhaps the first great work in the English language (Old English, that is), has remained the same. Today, I read it in one afternoon and loved every minute of it. Raffel’s translation brings out the drama of the tale while maintaining the simple, Old-English style.
The setting portrays a far different world than modern life. We are taken back to the world of kingdoms – of a mythical people known as the Geats. These ancients, presumably living sometime in the early middle ages, approach life in fear of the unknown, symbolized by monsters. They are motivated by riches and social standing. They are governed by kings. Indeed, according to the storyteller, good kings take care of their people, and good soldiers act in courage. (Some things never change.)
The plot is simple enough. An ancient knight ends up preserving civilized kingdoms from attacks by three great monsters. He is rewarded with riches, fame, and power. Interestingly, the country of England was not once mentioned in the telling; The Danes, the Fracks, and the Swedes, however, are. The protagonist Beowulf ends up becoming a king and dying nobly.
This lively tale helps readers get in touch with an earlier culture yet preserves an element of humanity that should not be forgotten. Indeed, this poem portrays human nature in an elegant and noble light. No matter our era or station, we all want to be celebrated, and we all want to be known as courageous. In this tale, perhaps unlike most of medieval and modern life, good overcomes evil. In showing the effects of Christianity, reverence towards the Deity is displayed. We do not yet have the nuance of Reformation theology nor of Shakespeare’s (or even Chaucer’s) England.
This story helped me get in touch with my inner boy who likes adventure. If Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn does that for American youth, perhaps Beowulf does that in the English (or even European) setting. The afterword makes this book sound utterly foreign to contemporary life. I did not find that to be the case. Perhaps the afterword should have been written by someone who has once been a young male child. Reading it as an adult decades after high school, I can easily see why it achieved the status of a classic. I can only hope my poetry reflects a tinge of the liveliness of this anonymous tale.
Beowulf
By anonymous; translated by Burton Raffel
Copyright (c) 1963
Signet Classics
ISBN13 9780078235467
Page Count: 150
Genre: Classic, Epic Poetry
www.amazon.com