WEBVTT 1 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:15.640 Hello, and welcome to Mythic Mind. We pursue wisdom in 2 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:18.440 the past between primary and secondary worlds. I'm your host, 3 00:00:18.519 --> 00:00:21.239 Andrew Snyder, and I am always grateful for your company. 4 00:00:28.359 --> 00:00:30.320 All right, welcome back. As we go ahead and wrap 5 00:00:30.440 --> 00:00:33.840 up this short series on Tolkien's translation of Beowulf as 6 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:36.119 our hero meets with the dragon as well as with 7 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:39.439 the fate of all mortal men doomed to die. Now, 8 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:42.359 I know you've skipped over a good bit of this story, 9 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:45.520 only really focusing on the big fights. But if you 10 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:48.079 want a more extensive journey, then you can enroll in 11 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:51.640 my Beowulf and Bothia's course, which just recently started if 12 00:00:51.640 --> 00:00:53.840 you're listening to this soon after it first came out, 13 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:56.320 or maybe the live run has already ended if you're 14 00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:58.880 listening to this sometime in the future. But in any case, 15 00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:01.200 you're welcome to hop in the course and you'll have 16 00:01:01.240 --> 00:01:04.079 access to all the materials indefinitely, and if the course 17 00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:05.840 is still running, then you'll walkome to jump into the 18 00:01:05.879 --> 00:01:08.799 live components as you're able. In any case, you can 19 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:11.760 roll in this course at Andrew Snyder dot Patia dot 20 00:01:11.799 --> 00:01:13.959 com or just click the link in the show notes. 21 00:01:14.519 --> 00:01:17.519 And now before we get to this final sequence, let's 22 00:01:17.560 --> 00:01:20.719 do some quick review. The story begins with the legendary 23 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:23.519 king Shield Shaving, who washed up on the shores of 24 00:01:23.560 --> 00:01:26.599 Denmark in a boat from who knows where. This founding 25 00:01:26.680 --> 00:01:29.359 rose to prominence and proved to be a valiant warrior 26 00:01:29.480 --> 00:01:31.959 and a strong leader. So a band of noble warriors 27 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:36.159 gathered around him. He smashed foreign mead halls, grew his retainer, 28 00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:38.319 and he was generous to his men as a great 29 00:01:38.359 --> 00:01:41.519 giver of rings. Shield dies and he gives us one 30 00:01:41.560 --> 00:01:45.519 of the major funeral sequences that sandwiches this entire poem, 31 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:49.040 the second, of course, it being that of Beowulf. Well. 32 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:51.760 The Shieldings placed their king on a ship laden with 33 00:01:51.799 --> 00:01:54.359 treasures and send them back to the powers from which 34 00:01:54.359 --> 00:01:57.879 he originally came. Shield's son Bo took over after him, 35 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:01.000 followed by his son haf Dana, and then his son Hrothgar, 36 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:04.439 who founded the great mead hall. Herot during merriment and 37 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:08.199 celebration of the good world designed for the habitation of men. 38 00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:13.400 The helrunin Grendel brooded in neihilistic anger and hostility toward 39 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:16.680 the world of men. Grendel was descended from Kine, the 40 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:19.439 first kinslayer and the father of all kinds of wicked 41 00:02:19.479 --> 00:02:22.599 creatures that existed just on the other side of humanity 42 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:26.719 as corrupted near humans. And as mister Beaver tells us 43 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:30.319 in Narnia, you should never trust something that seems nearly 44 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:33.639 to be human but is in fact something else. Well, 45 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:37.360 Grendel dishonorably attacks Heroltes at night en slays thirty of 46 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:40.319 Hrothgar's men, and then he continues to stalk the land 47 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:42.879 and even sets himself up as a kind of shadow 48 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:46.599 ruler in herot. Fortunately, Beowulf of the Gaats, here's what 49 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:48.879 is happening, and so he sets sail for Denmark and 50 00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:52.039 he kills Grendel in hand to hand combat, literally ripping 51 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:55.159 his arm off. That is great merrymaking after this, But 52 00:02:55.240 --> 00:02:57.599 then Grendel's mother shows up and an attacks Herote in 53 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:00.000 the same way that her son did, and Beowulf seeks 54 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:02.800 out in her underwater layer and with the sword of 55 00:03:02.840 --> 00:03:05.159 a Nephelum, cuts off her head, and then he also 56 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:07.520 cuts the head off from Grendel's body just for good measure, 57 00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:09.800 and he returns to Rothgard with the head of Grendel 58 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:13.400 as a trophy growth Guard adopts Beowulf, creating some confusion 59 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:16.960 regarding his successor, as troth Guard already has sons, But 60 00:03:17.080 --> 00:03:19.759 in any case, Beowulf heads back home to Gayet Land 61 00:03:20.120 --> 00:03:22.479 in the halls of his lord and uncle Ilac. We 62 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:25.560 then jump ahead fifty years and now Beowulf is king 63 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:29.639 of the Gayats, and this is where today's tale begins. Now, 64 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:32.199 this portion of the story begins with a thief under 65 00:03:32.199 --> 00:03:34.599 the command of a higher lord stealing a goblet from 66 00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:37.240 a nearby dragon's hoard, which then sends the dragon on 67 00:03:37.240 --> 00:03:40.319 a rampage berninading the countryside and all of the peasants. 68 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:42.759 And by the way, congrats to you if you found 69 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:45.199 that to be an amusing reference. This is surely a 70 00:03:45.240 --> 00:03:48.800 testament to your fine taste and upbringing. Well. The dragon 71 00:03:48.840 --> 00:03:52.280 continues to rage, starting on the outskirts, then moving closer, 72 00:03:52.360 --> 00:03:56.120 and it finally destroys Beowulf's home, which does lead me 73 00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:59.039 to wonder why Bewolf did not act sooner but waited 74 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:02.280 until the threat king to him personally. Perhaps he had 75 00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:04.479 his reasons, but it does make me wonder if he'd 76 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:07.080 become more complacent in his old age than he was 77 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:09.199 in his youth when he would travel across the sea 78 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:11.960 to defeat a foreign threat. And actually, I think that 79 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:13.439 this is probably a good time to point out a 80 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:17.560 major difference between this monster, this threat, and the previous 81 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:21.720 monster fights. Babe's fight with Grendel and his mother were voluntary. 82 00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:25.560 These were elective fights. They were not intrinsic to his existence, 83 00:04:25.800 --> 00:04:27.439 even if we might say that they are connected with 84 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:31.399 his intrinsic identity as a hero. But remember that heroism 85 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:34.439 has to be earned. As Tolkien says, this is not 86 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:37.120 a heroic lay per se, but that this really is 87 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:40.639 the story of the tragedy that is man's existence, and 88 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:42.600 so it is the story of every man to that extent. 89 00:04:42.680 --> 00:04:45.439 And so just as we do, Baoth had to decide 90 00:04:45.560 --> 00:04:48.160 to be the hero. And in fact, we get a 91 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:50.560 little bit of backstory around this part of the poem 92 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:53.240 when we're told that as a youth, no one really 93 00:04:53.240 --> 00:04:55.319 thought he was going to amount to very muchI. This 94 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:58.360 is not somebody who was born with herculean strength. This 95 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:02.480 was just an ordinary human born in a very ordinary way. 96 00:05:02.600 --> 00:05:05.160 In fact, it seems like he was scrawnier than average 97 00:05:05.240 --> 00:05:07.319 as a child and as a youth, And so this 98 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:10.120 is somebody who earned his strength that was not simply 99 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:13.279 given to him, and so he had to decide to 100 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:16.240 be the hero, and that makes him more relatable, more 101 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:20.439 of an every man's heroic journey. Well, Beowulf heard tell 102 00:05:20.519 --> 00:05:23.680 of the rampages of Grendel, and so he voluntarily set sail, 103 00:05:23.879 --> 00:05:26.600 recognizing that he might die or he might not, and 104 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:29.759 so he was forging a heroic path through the fog 105 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:32.519 of uncertainty, just as we all must do if we're 106 00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:34.639 going to play the hero and do our part in 107 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:38.160 putting this world into order. However, the dragon is different. 108 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:41.319 This is a threat of his own homeland, brooding for 109 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:45.480 over three hundred years in this barrow, literally this place 110 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:48.800 of death. And so when Beowulf was born, the dragon 111 00:05:48.920 --> 00:05:52.680 was there. When Beowulf gained glory in Denmark, the dragon 112 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:55.839 was there when Beowulf became king of his people and 113 00:05:55.879 --> 00:05:59.519 defeated their enemies, the dragon was there. You see, The 114 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:02.560 dragon a real dragon. But it's also more than that. 115 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:05.959 It is the epitome of fate. It is Beowulf's doom. 116 00:06:06.279 --> 00:06:09.120 Even as we all are born into such mortal doom 117 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:12.439 of our own, we all have a death day appointed 118 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:14.879 for us, and that is not one that we choose, 119 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:17.360 but one that has chosen for us. And I think that, 120 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:20.439 at least from the poetic perspective, this is why Beowulf 121 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:22.399 does not head out to face the dragon before it 122 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:24.680 was forced upon him. We need to have this sense 123 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:28.360 of impending doom that moves closer and closer and that 124 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:32.399 we really don't have control over. However, once that doom 125 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:35.199 becomes personally related to Beowulf to the point where he 126 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:37.639 can no longer escape it, well, now it's time for 127 00:06:37.720 --> 00:06:40.279 him to determine what the relationship is going to look 128 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:43.519 like with this doom, and this is when Beowulf determines 129 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:47.720 to fight, and he decides to fight alone. Sometimes it's 130 00:06:47.720 --> 00:06:50.040 said that Beowulf does this out of pride, thinking of 131 00:06:50.040 --> 00:06:52.920 this threat will be as readily dismissed as his previous 132 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:56.199 monster fights, and there is some reason to go this route, 133 00:06:56.240 --> 00:07:00.360 seeing Beowulf as a tragic hero, as Beowulf himself actually 134 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:03.800 seems to make this point that he's dismissed these other 135 00:07:03.879 --> 00:07:06.560 monsters before he's killed Grendela killed his mother, and so 136 00:07:06.680 --> 00:07:09.319 surely he can defeat this dragon as well. However, I 137 00:07:09.319 --> 00:07:11.519 think that there's more going on. Here than mere pride, 138 00:07:11.639 --> 00:07:13.720 even though they very likely is present. At least from 139 00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:16.279 one angle. I think that we're seeing here is that 140 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:19.160 in the end he needs to face his doom alone. 141 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:21.720 It's not something that can be done from the outside, 142 00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:25.319 or at least it seems that way. However, he is 143 00:07:25.399 --> 00:07:27.800 not actually going to be alone in the end. When 144 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:30.279 the rest of his men cower and fear, despite making 145 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:32.920 much talk of themselves in the meat hall, one loyal 146 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:37.120 knight named Weelof stands with his lord, a shield brother 147 00:07:37.319 --> 00:07:40.040 who literally uses his shield to protect his lord, giving 148 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:43.519 us a beautiful display of loyalty and valor. Shortly before 149 00:07:43.560 --> 00:07:47.199 the fight, Weelof gives a speech rebuking his cowardly companions 150 00:07:47.480 --> 00:07:51.920 and unfortunately vainly calling them to recover their honor. He says, 151 00:07:52.600 --> 00:07:55.399 now is the day come when our liege Lord hath 152 00:07:55.519 --> 00:07:59.079 need of valor and of warrior's good come. Let us 153 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:01.680 go to him. Let us help our leader in arms. 154 00:08:01.879 --> 00:08:06.160 While the heat endures the glowing terror, grim God knoweth 155 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:08.519 that for my part, far sweeter is it from me 156 00:08:08.920 --> 00:08:11.839 that glowing fire should embrace my body beside the lord 157 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:14.360 that gave me gold. Nor seems it fitting to me 158 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:17.879 that we bear back our shields unto our home, unless 159 00:08:17.879 --> 00:08:20.759 we can first smite down the foe and defend the 160 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:23.519 life of the King of the wind loving people. Verily, 161 00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:26.120 I know that his deserts of old were not such 162 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:29.600 that he alone of proven gayetish men should suffer anguish 163 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:32.960 and fall in battle with him. My sword and helm, 164 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:36.720 my corset in my armor shall be joined in league. 165 00:08:37.240 --> 00:08:40.679 And so Welof was prepared to die with his lord Beowulf, 166 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:43.600 But it would turn out that he actually would survive, 167 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:47.279 while Beowulf and the Dragon would both deal mortal blows 168 00:08:47.320 --> 00:08:51.080 to one another. Yet despite this tragedy of death which 169 00:08:51.159 --> 00:08:55.600 all men must face, Beowulf conquered. He vanquished his doom. 170 00:08:56.039 --> 00:08:59.080 His death did not utterly consume him. He went as 171 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:02.559 he must, but acting as a kind of Christ, he 172 00:09:02.679 --> 00:09:06.240 defeated death with his death, and he secured riches for 173 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:10.240 his people before he died. Although mortally stricken, Babil have 174 00:09:10.279 --> 00:09:12.639 sent Weelof to survey the treasure Horde and to bring 175 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:15.639 him back something to look upon. Weeloft does this, and 176 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:18.200 he revels at the great wealth of the Horde. But 177 00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:22.600 we are given this penetrating insight that treasure gold hidden 178 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:25.679 in the earth easily may overtake the heart of any 179 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:28.639 of the race of men, let him beware who will. 180 00:09:29.559 --> 00:09:32.360 In fact, Tolkien suggests that it may actually be that 181 00:09:32.440 --> 00:09:35.840 the final human possessor of this treasure, who entrusted it 182 00:09:35.879 --> 00:09:39.279 to the earth with spells, may himself have fallen under 183 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:42.240 the treasure's curse, and perhaps that he himself is or 184 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:46.200 that he became the dragon. And Tom Shippey thinks that 185 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:50.879 this theory is likely the inspiration for Usis's Scrubs transformation 186 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:53.519 story in The Dawn Treader, as sleeping on a dragon's 187 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:57.639 hoard with dragonish thoughts may actually turn you into a dragon. Well, 188 00:09:57.960 --> 00:10:01.360 weelof returned to his anguishing life, Lord, who makes one 189 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:05.480 last speech saying to the Master of all, the glorious 190 00:10:05.559 --> 00:10:08.960 King in everlasting Lord, I now speak my words of 191 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:11.919 thanks for these fair things that I here gaze upon, 192 00:10:12.679 --> 00:10:15.440 for that I have been suffered ere my death's hour, 193 00:10:15.559 --> 00:10:18.279 such wealth to gather from my people, now that I 194 00:10:18.360 --> 00:10:21.679 have for the horde of precious things bartered the span 195 00:10:21.879 --> 00:10:25.840 of mine old life, do ye henceforth furnish renowned in war, 196 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:28.799 to make a mound for me plain to see when 197 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:31.440 the pyre is done upon a headland out to the sea. 198 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:35.919 It shall tower high above the world nesnes a memorial 199 00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:38.960 to my folk, that voyagers upon the sea shall hereafter 200 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:42.320 name it beowulf Sparrow, even they who speed from afar 201 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:45.240 their steep ships over the shadows of the deeps. He 202 00:10:45.320 --> 00:10:48.679 then appoints Weelof to be his successor, and he utters 203 00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:52.399 his last all hath fate swept away my kinsfolk to 204 00:10:52.440 --> 00:10:57.240 their appointed doom, good men of valor, I must follow them. 205 00:10:57.399 --> 00:11:01.039 And with that Beowulf died, and so sough. This aged 206 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:04.200 warrior king was accepting of his death, as he knew 207 00:11:04.200 --> 00:11:07.120 that it brought freedom and riches for his people. And 208 00:11:07.159 --> 00:11:09.799 what more could a good king desire for his people? 209 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:12.919 What better death could he die? And he makes his 210 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:15.559 request that he be placed on a pyre, and that 211 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:18.440 Beowulf's barrow serve as a marker in his signal for 212 00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:21.679 passing ships. As of course, any noble legacy ought to 213 00:11:21.720 --> 00:11:24.600 do ought to be for those who still travel the 214 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:27.399 waters of this life. And at the end we receive 215 00:11:27.480 --> 00:11:30.600 this warning that with the death of Beowulf, these swedes 216 00:11:30.600 --> 00:11:33.440 are at the gates, and the people of Gayetland will 217 00:11:33.480 --> 00:11:36.960 soon follow their Lord in meeting their doom, thereby giving 218 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:40.399 us a demonstration of this long defeat idea. The great 219 00:11:40.440 --> 00:11:44.080 Hearers might hold back the darkness for a time, but 220 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:47.559 it's going to come to an end. And now for 221 00:11:47.720 --> 00:11:50.919 some summary and reflection points, I'm going to read a 222 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:55.000 few passages from Tolkien's monumental essay Beowulf, the Monsters and 223 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:58.000 the Critics. In this first passage, Tolkien points out the 224 00:11:58.120 --> 00:12:01.360 clear moral and spiritual nature of the conflict in Beowulf, 225 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:03.960 and Lewis talks about this as well in his preface 226 00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:08.000 to Paradise Lost that Homer's poetry is beautiful, but there's 227 00:12:08.039 --> 00:12:10.720 not a clear consciousness of good and evil, such as 228 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:13.679 we get in Beowulf, which is of course written by 229 00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:16.519 a Christian poet, even if this poet is describing a 230 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:20.879 pagan past. Tolkien writes, but the gigantic foes whom Beowulf 231 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:23.120 has to meet are identified with the foes of God. 232 00:12:23.559 --> 00:12:26.200 Grendel and the Dragon are constantly referred to in language 233 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:28.559 which is meant to recall the powers of darkness with 234 00:12:28.600 --> 00:12:31.799 which Christian men felt themselves to be encompassed. They are 235 00:12:31.879 --> 00:12:35.919 the inmates of hell adversaries, of God, offspring of Cain, 236 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:40.159 enemies of mankind. Consequently, the matter of the main story 237 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:43.279 of Beowulf, monstrous as it is, is not so far 238 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:46.960 removed from the common medieval experience as it seems to 239 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:50.000 us to be from our own. Grendel hardly differs from 240 00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:52.399 the fiends of the pit, who are always in ambush 241 00:12:52.440 --> 00:12:55.759 to waylay a righteous man, and so Beowulf, for all 242 00:12:55.799 --> 00:12:58.360 that he moves in the world, a primitive heroic age 243 00:12:58.360 --> 00:13:02.879 of the Germans, nevertheless, is almost a Christian knight, and 244 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:05.360 so to this extent it is not at all difficult 245 00:13:05.399 --> 00:13:09.639 to allegorize Beowulf, or better yet, to find points of applicability. 246 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:12.960 There are real forces of evil in this world. There 247 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:16.200 are real perversions of being that hate the good design 248 00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:18.480 with which God has made the world, and it does 249 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:23.399 take a brave, valiant, sacrificial heroism to defeat them and 250 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:26.399 to put this world into order. As Mary says, when 251 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:29.960 Saramon is ravaging the Shire, it will certainly mean fighting. 252 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:33.799 You won't rescue Lotho or the Shire just by being 253 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:37.519 shocked and sad, my dear Frodo, or, as Lewis says, 254 00:13:37.559 --> 00:13:42.039 in mere Christianity, for Christianity is a fighting religion. It 255 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:45.120 thinks God made the world that space and time, heat 256 00:13:45.159 --> 00:13:47.799 and cold, and all the colors and taste, and all 257 00:13:47.799 --> 00:13:51.320 the animals and vegetables are things that God made up 258 00:13:51.320 --> 00:13:53.320 out of his head as a man makes up a story. 259 00:13:53.559 --> 00:13:55.799 But it also thinks that a great many things have 260 00:13:55.919 --> 00:13:58.200 gone wrong with the world that God made, and that 261 00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:01.960 God insists and insists very loudly, on our putting them 262 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:06.600 right again. We need more Beowulfs in this world. However, 263 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:09.799 Note that Beowulf's fights are also temporal, and Tolkien highlights 264 00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:12.960 this as well. These monster fights are not merely spiritual 265 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:17.200 if we're understanding spiritual as non physical, but they operate 266 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:20.000 in the temporal physical sphere, and so to this point 267 00:14:20.039 --> 00:14:24.840 Tolkien says Beolf was still dealing with the great temporal 268 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:29.080 tragedy and not yet writing an allegorical homily. In verse Grendel, 269 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:31.840 it habits the visible world, and he eats the flesh 270 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:34.840 and blood of men. He enters their houses by the doors. 271 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:39.279 The dragon wields a physical fire and covets gold, not souls. 272 00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:42.759 He is slain with iron in his belly. Beolof's burn 273 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:45.480 was made by Wheeland and the iron shield he bore 274 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:48.240 against the serpent by his own smiths, it was not 275 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:51.039 yet the breastplate of righteousness, nor the shield of faith, 276 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:53.159 to the quenching of all the fiery darts of the wicked. 277 00:14:53.399 --> 00:14:57.000 And so Beowolf is indeed a type of Christian knight, 278 00:14:57.159 --> 00:14:59.639 but he's not exactly that Christian knight per se. He 279 00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:02.279 has a pagan virtue that still needs to be brought 280 00:15:02.360 --> 00:15:05.159 up into the context of grace and revelation. And how 281 00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:08.600 to conclude, talking points out that there is a reality 282 00:15:08.679 --> 00:15:12.080 to the idea of dragons. He says, a dragon is 283 00:15:12.200 --> 00:15:15.960 no idle fancy, whatever may be his origins in fact 284 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:19.279 or invention, the dragon in legend is a potent creation 285 00:15:19.399 --> 00:15:22.840 of men's imagination, richer in significance than his barrow is 286 00:15:22.840 --> 00:15:26.279 in gold. Even today, despite the critics, you may find 287 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:29.320 men not ignorant of tragic legend and history, who have 288 00:15:29.399 --> 00:15:32.120 heard of heroes and indeed seeing them, who yet have 289 00:15:32.200 --> 00:15:35.000 been caught by the fascination of the worm. And so 290 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:38.679 there is something real to dragons, whether they have some 291 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:43.080 actual existence in primary world history or something more metaphysical. 292 00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:46.279 Something of dragons exists in our blood, and we know 293 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:49.000 that we respond to them, and there's a reason why 294 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:52.080 they are so prevalent in our imaginations. There is something 295 00:15:52.200 --> 00:15:55.200 real about them, and we know that. And I may 296 00:15:55.240 --> 00:15:57.519 have something cooking on this further down the road, but 297 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:00.559 I'll leave that as a teaser for now. The meantime, 298 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:02.679 I will go ahead and wrap up this series with 299 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:05.960 the final passage from the Monster. In the Critics, Tolkien writes, 300 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:08.519 there is not much poetry in the world like this, 301 00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:11.919 And though Beowulf may not be among the very greatest 302 00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:14.840 poems of our western world, in its tradition it has 303 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:18.840 its own individual character and peculiar solemnity. It would still 304 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:20.639 have power had to been written in some time or 305 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:23.919 place unknown and without posterity, if it contained no name 306 00:16:23.960 --> 00:16:27.039 that could now be recognized or identified by research. Yet 307 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:30.000 it is in fact written in a language that, for 308 00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:33.679 many centuries has still a central kinship with our own. 309 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:36.639 It was made in this land, and moves in our 310 00:16:36.679 --> 00:16:39.759 northern world, beneath our northern sky. And for those who 311 00:16:39.799 --> 00:16:42.519 are native to that tongue in land, it must ever 312 00:16:42.679 --> 00:16:51.840 call with profound appeal until the dragon comes. The realms 313 00:16:51.879 --> 00:16:54.679 of fairy are wild and often dangerous, and one should 314 00:16:54.679 --> 00:16:58.480 never embark on a quest, unprepared and unarmed. Middlebourn Arms 315 00:16:58.519 --> 00:17:01.279 is a family business that uses the best quality materials 316 00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:04.359 in crafting the finest wooden swords on the market. Their 317 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:08.279 Squirely Armed swords are handcrafted entirely from hickory for the 318 00:17:08.279 --> 00:17:11.519 young princesses and knights in training. Their Nightly Armed swords 319 00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:14.799 use hickory and walnut to replicate historical weapons in a 320 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:18.400 marriage of beauty and function. 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Order a sword or a 330 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:50.200 bookmark today at Middlebornarms dot com and use the code 331 00:17:50.279 --> 00:17:52.759 mythic to get ten percent off your entire order. That's 332 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:56.759 Middleborn Arms dot Com and Code Mythic for ten percent off. 333 00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:59.680 Don't go it alone, take a middle born armed sword 334 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:04.039 or book bark with you, and now back to the show. 335 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:09.759 Some recommendations. It's been a while since I last had 336 00:18:09.799 --> 00:18:12.240 a recommendation segment, but I do read a lot, and 337 00:18:12.279 --> 00:18:13.839 so this really does need to be something that I 338 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:16.839 do regularly. One book that I've really been enjoying recently 339 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:19.960 is Eleanor Parker's Winters in the World, a Journey through 340 00:18:19.960 --> 00:18:23.559 the Anglo Saxon Year. It's a really interesting dive into 341 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:28.240 Anglo Saxon culture, poetry, theology, and really just life as 342 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:30.400 it looks at what each season meant for them, and 343 00:18:30.440 --> 00:18:34.599 it symbols work, rhythms, and liturgy. What began as a 344 00:18:34.680 --> 00:18:37.599 poking around to prepare for teaching Beywolf in the Course 345 00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:40.559 has now turned into something of an obsessive interest with 346 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:43.359 the Anglo Saxons. And that's really how my interests tend 347 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:45.759 to go. I just go all in with some topic 348 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:48.440 and then a related interest begins to germinate until it 349 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:51.680 takes over, and then I move on to the next thing. Well, 350 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:54.920 I'm now shifting from C. S. Lewis to the Anglo Saxon, 351 00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:57.400 So I'm reading a lot accordingly, and The Winter's in 352 00:18:57.400 --> 00:18:59.359 the World is definitely a text that I would recommend 353 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:01.559 to you, and there's a really good reading of it 354 00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:04.839 on audible and wherever else you get your audiobooks. But 355 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:07.119 I also just got the real thing because I enjoyed 356 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:09.599 the audio so much, and so if you're into history 357 00:19:09.799 --> 00:19:12.000 and this topic in particular, then be sure to check 358 00:19:12.039 --> 00:19:13.759 it out, and you can find the Amazon link in 359 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:17.119 the show notes. Now, moving forward, the next main series 360 00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:19.839 on the roster will be The Poetic Ado, which is 361 00:19:19.880 --> 00:19:23.119 our primary source for Norse mythology, and that will be 362 00:19:23.160 --> 00:19:26.720 a Patreon exclusive series, but I don't yet have the 363 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:29.240 bandwidth to get going on that just now, and so 364 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:31.880 I'm going to put out some interview episodes for a 365 00:19:31.920 --> 00:19:34.519 bit in the public feed because there are some people 366 00:19:34.519 --> 00:19:36.160 that I've been wanting to talk to for a while. 367 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:38.119 And frankly, it's a little bit easier for me to 368 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:40.599 keep up with production when I don't have to prepare 369 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:43.200 as much ahead of time, and time is very precious 370 00:19:43.240 --> 00:19:45.680 to me right now. I've always been busy in so 371 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:48.119 many directions, and with the summer coming to an end 372 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:50.599 now I have to start teaching on campus again. And 373 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:52.920 while I am closer than I once was, I would 374 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:55.720 really love to be able to shift into completely focusing 375 00:19:55.759 --> 00:19:59.640 my career on these independent pursuits such as the podcast, 376 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:03.920 independently led courses, the substack, working together on Mythic Mind 377 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:07.079 Fellowship projects, and working on some other projects since I've 378 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:09.599 been and talk to the publisher about writing a Tolkien book, 379 00:20:09.799 --> 00:20:12.960 and I've been invited to collaborate on a Lewis related screenplay. 380 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:14.559 But there's no way that I can do all of 381 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:16.720 these things without your support, or really most of these 382 00:20:16.759 --> 00:20:19.680 things without your support. And I already really appreciate those 383 00:20:19.720 --> 00:20:22.240 of you who support me on Patreon, and so many 384 00:20:22.279 --> 00:20:24.440 thanks to all of my ten dollars patron tiers in 385 00:20:24.519 --> 00:20:27.559 higher and so that's Mark, Cliff, Aaron, Josh Paul William, Aaron, 386 00:20:27.640 --> 00:20:32.240 Andrew Brandon, Christopher and Jeremiah, Joscelyn, Joshua Landon, Matthew and Steele, 387 00:20:32.359 --> 00:20:33.839 and of course thank you to all of my Tier 388 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:36.000 one patrons as well. Also, I want to let you 389 00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:38.319 know that there have been some changes to patron benefits 390 00:20:38.359 --> 00:20:40.640 and so I'm going to quickly run through that with 391 00:20:40.839 --> 00:20:42.960 just five dollars a month of support, you have access 392 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:46.599 to all numbered podcast episodes, including this one and the 393 00:20:46.599 --> 00:20:51.200 Fellowship podcast add free and all delivered into one exclusive feed. Also, 394 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:53.640 you have access to our Mythic Mind discord server, and 395 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:56.640 you are invited to participate in our Fellowship conversations for 396 00:20:56.799 --> 00:20:59.799 the other podcast, the Mythic Mind Fellowship Podcast. At ten 397 00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:02.359 dollars a month, you also get recordings of my articles 398 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:05.960 on Tolkien's Letters delivered into that same podcast feed, and 399 00:21:06.039 --> 00:21:08.240 also your name will be mentioned on the show. At 400 00:21:08.279 --> 00:21:10.720 twenty five dollars a month of support, you also get 401 00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:13.440