"Beowulf" a book Review

Ah, finally another book to add to my list of favorites. It's not a new release, in fact it is quite old . . . the sort of literature that is very old indeed.

Enter "Beowulf" a classic that I should have read years ago. The mighty warrior who sails across the sea to confront a monster, the famed Grendel. Upon slaying the creature, Beowulf and his company feast with the king and the people who feared Grendel's nightly visits. But they rejoice to soon. Not long after killing the beast, Beowulf discovers that the creature's mother is out for revenge. He goes after her and, to the relief of those awaiting release from these monsters, he slays her as well.

The hero's victory over Grendel and Grendel's mother, earn him high esteem in the sight of his king and his people, upon his return to his homeland. And the story tells how he eventually was named king of his homeland and fought and won many battles in his people's defense. His life at last ends when he confronts a dragon.

Here is a quote from Beowulf, one that shows where the heart of literature used to be and is, I believe, the place to which it must return:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

So Hrothgar's men lived happy in his hall

Till the monster stirred, that demon, that fiend,

Grendel, who haunted the moors, the wild

Marshes, and made his home in a hell

Not hell but earth. He was spawned in that slime,

Conceived by a pair of those monsters born

Of Cain, murderous creatures banished

By God, punished forever for the crime

Of Abel's death. The Almighty drove

Those demons out, and their exile was bitter,

Shut away from men; they split

Into a thousand forms of evil--spirits

And fiends,Goblins, monsters, giants,

A brood forever opposing the Lord's

Will, and again and again defeated.

Not that I believe the interpretation of Scripture that is represented in these verses, is accurate. But the fact that the literature recognizes the order of creation and the Orderer of creation . . . is something I appreciate.

Now I must finish Homer's The Iliad. I read it many years ago, but I think it was an abridged version. The Iliad is, also, a wonderful piece of literature. I've read Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress at least five times . . . excellent reading . . . and I'm working my way through it again.