57 - The Doom of Beowulf

only really focusing on the big fights. But if you want a more extensive journey, then you can enroll in my Beowulf and Bothia's course, which just recently started if you're listening to this soon after it first came out, or maybe the live run has already ended if you're listening to this sometime in the future. But in any case, you're welcome to hop in the course and you'll have access to all the materials indefinitely, and if the course is still running, then you'll walkome to jump into the

live components as you're able. In any case, you can roll in this course at Andrew Snyder dot Patia dot com or just click the link in the show notes. And now before we get to this final sequence, let's do some quick review. The story begins with the legendary king Shield Shaving, who washed up on the shores of Denmark in a boat from who knows where. This founding rose to prominence and proved to be a valiant warrior and a strong leader. So a band of noble warriors

gathered around him. He smashed foreign mead halls, grew his retainer, and he was generous to his men as a great giver of rings. Shield dies and he gives us one of the major funeral sequences that sandwiches this entire poem, the second, of course, it being that of Beowulf. Well. The Shieldings placed their king on a ship laden with treasures and send them back to the powers from which

he originally came. Shield's son Bo took over after him, followed by his son haf Dana, and then his son Hrothgar, who founded the great mead hall. Herot during merriment and celebration of the good world designed for the habitation of men. The helrunin Grendel brooded in neihilistic anger and hostility toward the world of men. Grendel was descended from Kine, the first kinslayer and the father of all kinds of wicked creatures that existed just on the other side of humanity

as corrupted near humans. And as mister Beaver tells us in Narnia, you should never trust something that seems nearly to be human but is in fact something else. Well, Grendel dishonorably attacks Heroltes at night en slays thirty of Hrothgar's men, and then he continues to stalk the land and even sets himself up as a kind of shadow

ruler in herot. Fortunately, Beowulf of the Gaats, here's what is happening, and so he sets sail for Denmark and he kills Grendel in hand to hand combat, literally ripping

his arm off. That is great merrymaking after this, But then Grendel's mother shows up and an attacks Herote in the same way that her son did, and Beowulf seeks out in her underwater layer and with the sword of a Nephelum, cuts off her head, and then he also cuts the head off from Grendel's body just for good measure, and he returns to Rothgard with the head of Grendel as a trophy growth Guard adopts Beowulf, creating some confusion regarding his successor, as troth Guard already has sons, But

in any case, Beowulf heads back home to Gayet Land in the halls of his lord and uncle Ilac. We then jump ahead fifty years and now Beowulf is king of the Gayats, and this is where today's tale begins. Now, this portion of the story begins with a thief under the command of a higher lord stealing a goblet from a nearby dragon's hoard, which then sends the dragon on a rampage berninading the countryside and all of the peasants. And by the way, congrats to you if you found

that to be an amusing reference. This is surely a testament to your fine taste and upbringing. Well. The dragon continues to rage, starting on the outskirts, then moving closer, and it finally destroys Beowulf's home, which does lead me to wonder why Bewolf did not act sooner but waited until the threat king to him personally. Perhaps he had his reasons, but it does make me wonder if he'd become more complacent in his old age than he was in his youth when he would travel across the sea

to defeat a foreign threat. And actually, I think that this is probably a good time to point out a major difference between this monster, this threat, and the previous monster fights. Babe's fight with Grendel and his mother were voluntary. These were elective fights. They were not intrinsic to his existence, even if we might say that they are connected with his intrinsic identity as a hero. But remember that heroism

has to be earned. As Tolkien says, this is not a heroic lay per se, but that this really is the story of the tragedy that is man's existence, and so it is the story of every man to that extent. And so just as we do, Baoth had to decide to be the hero. And in fact, we get a little bit of backstory around this part of the poem when we're told that as a youth, no one really thought he was going to amount to very muchI. This

is not somebody who was born with herculean strength. This was just an ordinary human born in a very ordinary way. In fact, it seems like he was scrawnier than average as a child and as a youth, And so this is somebody who earned his strength that was not simply given to him, and so he had to decide to be the hero, and that makes him more relatable, more

of an every man's heroic journey. Well, Beowulf heard tell of the rampages of Grendel, and so he voluntarily set sail, recognizing that he might die or he might not, and so he was forging a heroic path through the fog of uncertainty, just as we all must do if we're going to play the hero and do our part in putting this world into order. However, the dragon is different. This is a threat of his own homeland, brooding for over three hundred years in this barrow, literally this place

of death. And so when Beowulf was born, the dragon was there. When Beowulf gained glory in Denmark, the dragon was there when Beowulf became king of his people and defeated their enemies, the dragon was there. You see, The dragon a real dragon. But it's also more than that. It is the epitome of fate. It is Beowulf's doom. Even as we all are born into such mortal doom of our own, we all have a death day appointed for us, and that is not one that we choose,

but one that has chosen for us. And I think that, at least from the poetic perspective, this is why Beowulf does not head out to face the dragon before it was forced upon him. We need to have this sense of impending doom that moves closer and closer and that

we really don't have control over. However, once that doom becomes personally related to Beowulf to the point where he can no longer escape it, well, now it's time for him to determine what the relationship is going to look like with this doom, and this is when Beowulf determines

to fight, and he decides to fight alone. Sometimes it's said that Beowulf does this out of pride, thinking of this threat will be as readily dismissed as his previous monster fights, and there is some reason to go this route, seeing Beowulf as a tragic hero, as Beowulf himself actually seems to make this point that he's dismissed these other monsters before he's killed Grendela killed his mother, and so surely he can defeat this dragon as well. However, I

think that there's more going on. Here than mere pride, even though they very likely is present. At least from one angle. I think that we're seeing here is that in the end he needs to face his doom alone. It's not something that can be done from the outside, or at least it seems that way. However, he is

not actually going to be alone in the end. When the rest of his men cower and fear, despite making much talk of themselves in the meat hall, one loyal knight named Weelof stands with his lord, a shield brother who literally uses his shield to protect his lord, giving us a beautiful display of loyalty and valor. Shortly before the fight, Weelof gives a speech rebuking his cowardly companions

and unfortunately vainly calling them to recover their honor. He says, now is the day come when our liege Lord hath need of valor and of warrior's good come. Let us go to him. Let us help our leader in arms. While the heat endures the glowing terror, grim God knoweth that for my part, far sweeter is it from me that glowing fire should embrace my body beside the lord

that gave me gold. Nor seems it fitting to me that we bear back our shields unto our home, unless we can first smite down the foe and defend the life of the King of the wind loving people. Verily, I know that his deserts of old were not such that he alone of proven gayetish men should suffer anguish and fall in battle with him. My sword and helm, my corset in my armor shall be joined in league.

And so Welof was prepared to die with his lord Beowulf, But it would turn out that he actually would survive, while Beowulf and the Dragon would both deal mortal blows to one another. Yet despite this tragedy of death which all men must face, Beowulf conquered. He vanquished his doom. His death did not utterly consume him. He went as he must, but acting as a kind of Christ, he defeated death with his death, and he secured riches for

his people before he died. Although mortally stricken, Babil have sent Weelof to survey the treasure Horde and to bring him back something to look upon. Weeloft does this, and he revels at the great wealth of the Horde. But we are given this penetrating insight that treasure gold hidden in the earth easily may overtake the heart of any of the race of men, let him beware who will.

In fact, Tolkien suggests that it may actually be that the final human possessor of this treasure, who entrusted it to the earth with spells, may himself have fallen under the treasure's curse, and perhaps that he himself is or that he became the dragon. And Tom Shippey thinks that this theory is likely the inspiration for Usis's Scrubs transformation story in The Dawn Treader, as sleeping on a dragon's

hoard with dragonish thoughts may actually turn you into a dragon. Well, weelof returned to his anguishing life, Lord, who makes one last speech saying to the Master of all, the glorious King in everlasting Lord, I now speak my words of thanks for these fair things that I here gaze upon, for that I have been suffered ere my death's hour, such wealth to gather from my people, now that I have for the horde of precious things bartered the span

of mine old life, do ye henceforth furnish renowned in war, to make a mound for me plain to see when the pyre is done upon a headland out to the sea. It shall tower high above the world nesnes a memorial to my folk, that voyagers upon the sea shall hereafter name it beowulf Sparrow, even they who speed from afar

their steep ships over the shadows of the deeps. He then appoints Weelof to be his successor, and he utters his last all hath fate swept away my kinsfolk to their appointed doom, good men of valor, I must follow them. And with that Beowulf died, and so sough. This aged warrior king was accepting of his death, as he knew that it brought freedom and riches for his people. And what more could a good king desire for his people?

What better death could he die? And he makes his request that he be placed on a pyre, and that Beowulf's barrow serve as a marker in his signal for passing ships. As of course, any noble legacy ought to do ought to be for those who still travel the waters of this life. And at the end we receive this warning that with the death of Beowulf, these swedes are at the gates, and the people of Gayetland will soon follow their Lord in meeting their doom, thereby giving

us a demonstration of this long defeat idea. The great Hearers might hold back the darkness for a time, but it's going to come to an end. And now for some summary and reflection points, I'm going to read a few passages from Tolkien's monumental essay Beowulf, the Monsters and

the Critics. In this first passage, Tolkien points out the clear moral and spiritual nature of the conflict in Beowulf, and Lewis talks about this as well in his preface to Paradise Lost that Homer's poetry is beautiful, but there's not a clear consciousness of good and evil, such as we get in Beowulf, which is of course written by a Christian poet, even if this poet is describing a pagan past. Tolkien writes, but the gigantic foes whom Beowulf has to meet are identified with the foes of God.

Grendel and the Dragon are constantly referred to in language which is meant to recall the powers of darkness with which Christian men felt themselves to be encompassed. They are the inmates of hell adversaries, of God, offspring of Cain, enemies of mankind. Consequently, the matter of the main story of Beowulf, monstrous as it is, is not so far removed from the common medieval experience as it seems to

us to be from our own. Grendel hardly differs from the fiends of the pit, who are always in ambush to waylay a righteous man, and so Beowulf, for all that he moves in the world, a primitive heroic age of the Germans, nevertheless, is almost a Christian knight, and so to this extent it is not at all difficult to allegorize Beowulf, or better yet, to find points of applicability.

There are real forces of evil in this world. There are real perversions of being that hate the good design with which God has made the world, and it does take a brave, valiant, sacrificial heroism to defeat them and to put this world into order. As Mary says, when Saramon is ravaging the Shire, it will certainly mean fighting. You won't rescue Lotho or the Shire just by being shocked and sad, my dear Frodo, or, as Lewis says,

in mere Christianity, for Christianity is a fighting religion. It thinks God made the world that space and time, heat and cold, and all the colors and taste, and all the animals and vegetables are things that God made up out of his head as a man makes up a story. But it also thinks that a great many things have gone wrong with the world that God made, and that God insists and insists very loudly, on our putting them

right again. We need more Beowulfs in this world. However, Note that Beowulf's fights are also temporal, and Tolkien highlights this as well. These monster fights are not merely spiritual if we're understanding spiritual as non physical, but they operate in the temporal physical sphere, and so to this point Tolkien says Beolf was still dealing with the great temporal tragedy and not yet writing an allegorical homily. In verse Grendel, it habits the visible world, and he eats the flesh

and blood of men. He enters their houses by the doors. The dragon wields a physical fire and covets gold, not souls. He is slain with iron in his belly. Beolof's burn was made by Wheeland and the iron shield he bore against the serpent by his own smiths, it was not yet the breastplate of righteousness, nor the shield of faith, to the quenching of all the fiery darts of the wicked. And so Beowolf is indeed a type of Christian knight,

but he's not exactly that Christian knight per se. He has a pagan virtue that still needs to be brought up into the context of grace and revelation. And how to conclude, talking points out that there is a reality to the idea of dragons. He says, a dragon is no idle fancy, whatever may be his origins in fact or invention, the dragon in legend is a potent creation of men's imagination, richer in significance than his barrow is

in gold. Even today, despite the critics, you may find men not ignorant of tragic legend and history, who have heard of heroes and indeed seeing them, who yet have been caught by the fascination of the worm. And so there is something real to dragons, whether they have some actual existence in primary world history or something more metaphysical. Something of dragons exists in our blood, and we know that we respond to them, and there's a reason why

they are so prevalent in our imaginations. There is something real about them, and we know that. And I may have something cooking on this further down the road, but I'll leave that as a teaser for now. The meantime, I will go ahead and wrap up this series with the final passage from the Monster. In the Critics, Tolkien writes, there is not much poetry in the world like this, And though Beowulf may not be among the very greatest poems of our western world, in its tradition it has

its own individual character and peculiar solemnity. It would still have power had to been written in some time or place unknown and without posterity, if it contained no name that could now be recognized or identified by research. Yet it is in fact written in a language that, for many centuries has still a central kinship with our own. It was made in this land, and moves in our northern world, beneath our northern sky. And for those who are native to that tongue in land, it must ever

call with profound appeal until the dragon comes. The realms of fairy are wild and often dangerous, and one should never embark on a quest, unprepared and unarmed. Middlebourn Arms is a family business that uses the best quality materials in crafting the finest wooden swords on the market. Their Squirely Armed swords are handcrafted entirely from hickory for the young princesses and knights in training. Their Nightly Armed swords use hickory and walnut to replicate historical weapons in a

marriage of beauty and function. They also take custom requests and can use exotic woods like bloodwood or purple heart. Every item for Middleborn Arms is unique and equally at home on the mantelpiece or sparring against a dreadful foe. For those who wish to simply adventure within the bounds of a tome, they offer beautiful laser etched hardwood bookmarks.

You can choose from growing selection designs on exotic purple heart, walnut, o sage orange or bloodwood, or if they don't have a design you like, they would love to work with you on a custom design. Order a sword or a bookmark today at Middlebornarms dot com and use the code mythic to get ten percent off your entire order. That's Middleborn Arms dot Com and Code Mythic for ten percent off. Don't go it alone, take a middle born armed sword or book bark with you, and now back to the show.

Some recommendations. It's been a while since I last had a recommendation segment, but I do read a lot, and so this really does need to be something that I do regularly. One book that I've really been enjoying recently is Eleanor Parker's Winters in the World, a Journey through the Anglo Saxon Year. It's a really interesting dive into Anglo Saxon culture, poetry, theology, and really just life as it looks at what each season meant for them, and

it symbols work, rhythms, and liturgy. What began as a poking around to prepare for teaching Beywolf in the Course has now turned into something of an obsessive interest with the Anglo Saxons. And that's really how my interests tend to go. I just go all in with some topic and then a related interest begins to germinate until it

takes over, and then I move on to the next thing. Well, I'm now shifting from C. S. Lewis to the Anglo Saxon, So I'm reading a lot accordingly, and The Winter's in the World is definitely a text that I would recommend to you, and there's a really good reading of it

on audible and wherever else you get your audiobooks. But I also just got the real thing because I enjoyed the audio so much, and so if you're into history and this topic in particular, then be sure to check it out, and you can find the Amazon link in

the show notes. Now, moving forward, the next main series on the roster will be The Poetic Ado, which is our primary source for Norse mythology, and that will be a Patreon exclusive series, but I don't yet have the bandwidth to get going on that just now, and so I'm going to put out some interview episodes for a bit in the public feed because there are some people that I've been wanting to talk to for a while.

And frankly, it's a little bit easier for me to keep up with production when I don't have to prepare as much ahead of time, and time is very precious to me right now. I've always been busy in so many directions, and with the summer coming to an end

now I have to start teaching on campus again. And while I am closer than I once was, I would really love to be able to shift into completely focusing my career on these independent pursuits such as the podcast, independently led courses, the substack, working together on Mythic Mind Fellowship projects, and working on some other projects since I've been and talk to the publisher about writing a Tolkien book, and I've been invited to collaborate on a Lewis related screenplay.

But there's no way that I can do all of these things without your support, or really most of these things without your support. And I already really appreciate those of you who support me on Patreon, and so many thanks to all of my ten dollars patron tiers in higher and so that's Mark, Cliff, Aaron, Josh Paul William, Aaron, Andrew Brandon, Christopher and Jeremiah, Joscelyn, Joshua Landon, Matthew and Steele, and of course thank you to all of my Tier

one patrons as well. Also, I want to let you know that there have been some changes to patron benefits and so I'm going to quickly run through that with just five dollars a month of support, you have access to all numbered podcast episodes, including this one and the Fellowship podcast add free and all delivered into one exclusive feed. Also, you have access to our Mythic Mind discord server, and you are invited to participate in our Fellowship conversations for

the other podcast, the Mythic Mind Fellowship Podcast. At ten dollars a month, you also get recordings of my articles on Tolkien's Letters delivered into that same podcast feed, and also your name will be mentioned on the show. At twenty five dollars a month of support, you also get access to the material from past courses, and so this means that you'll have access to the video content as

well as the audio for the podcast feed. At the moment, I'm posting content from the Fiction and Philosophy of CS Lewis course on a monthly basis, and then at fifty dollars a month, I'll let you choose from a curated selection of books now and then again every six months. If you appreciate the things that I do and want me to do more of it, then I welcome you to go ahead and become a patron today. For most people, I recommend the twenty five dollars a month to year

to get the most value. However, any level support helps and is very much appreciated. And of course, whether you support me financially or not, please share this around and leave me a five star review and a positive comment wherever you can do that. But that's it for now and until next time, god speed. You may have noticed that there were no annoying auto populated ads at the beginning or throwing to the middle of the show, and

that's thanks to our current sponsor, Middleborn Arms. I previously relied on those autopopulated ads, but to be honest, I know that they're basically soulless. I much prefer supporting real people through arrangements that work for both of us. If you have something to advertise, whether a product, a service or a platform, send me a message where we can work out some kind of partnership. You can DM me on Twitter at andrew In Snyder or email me at Mythicmindpodcast at gmail dot com.