Beowulf, Thoughtful Man of Action

I will be honest up front — I’ve never seen the 2007 movie Beowulf directed by Robert Zemeckis. I couldn’t bring myself to sit through its distortions of the epic poem about the hero.

The wise old king Hrothgar as a drunken lecher?

Beowulf as a morally corrupt liar?

Grendel’s mother (that would be Angelina Jolie) bearing monstrous children to both men?

But despite its clumsy approach to moral ambiguity, I can understand the movie’s attempt to speak to the complicated dynamic of the hero and the monster in our times. It’s just that John Gardner did it so much better in his Grendel, a novel I strongly recommend.

The hero of the epic poem Beowulf is a man of action who lives by an uncompromising code of honour. Boastful and competitive, his greatest wish is for his reputation to be widespread and long-lived. He’s not very thoughtful, though he is politically astute.

In other words, not someone we’d find particularly heroic in our times. We’d find his brand of masculinity one-dimensional, even toxic.

I took a different approach in Bones and Keeps, my novel about Beowulf. Like the heros of old, he radiates power and majesty like a beacon. He has mastered the art of boasting as both personal promotion and political tool. But he’s also thoughtful and willing to take advice. He commands loyalty through his good judgment as much as his gifts of treasure. His moral strength speaks to us even more than his physical strength.

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Bones and Keeps: https://www.amazon.com/Bones-Keeps-Dena.../dp/1773170147