Holy fire Book

As the stories in fiction become ever more complex, a return to works such as Beowulf reminds us that often the most memorable ideas in literature are very simple ones. Beowulf is primarily remembered for one thing only, the battle that takes place in a hall between its titular hero and a monster known as Grendel.

In saying this, I am certainly not criticising the modern taste for complexity - only pointing out that perhaps within those works the idea that is most remembered in later years might be one that is elemental and simple.

This simplicity appeals because of its universality. In the midst of a story about Scandinavian warriors comes something archetypal, a battle between good and evil, in which good prevails. The idea has been used many times, and would now seem simplistic, but there is still something attractive about a world in which right and wrong are so clear. At no point are we invited to feel sorry for Grendel, or to doubt Beowulf's integrity.

Of course appearances are deceptive, and Beowulf is far more complex than it first appears. The bare bones of the story are certainly simple enough. Beowulf, a young warrior from Geatland, is visiting the Danish king, Hrothgar. However his visit coincides with a crisis.

A troll-like monster called Grendel is killing and devouring Hrothgar's men. Beowulf undertakes to fight the monster and kills it with his bare hands. However celebrations are cut short when Grendel's mother emerges for revenge and kills another senior figure in the government. Beowulf finds the creature in a lake, and dispatches with her.

In Part 2, an elderly Beowulf, now king of his people, fights a dragon that is guarding treasure in its barrow. With the assistance of one of his men, Wiglaf, Beowulf prevails, but dies from his injuries.

This seems straightforward enough, but the tale is complicated by a range of additional details between stories. Older legends are remembered, history is recalled, and moral precepts are uttered.

This is the first area that has caused controversy among scholars. Initially these extra tales were felt to be extraneous to Beowulf, stopping the story in its tracks. Now it is recognised that the stories relate to the broader history of Beowulf's people. They serve as a reminder that while we see Beowulf and his people triumphing and flourishing, their ascendancy will soon pass, as did that of the people in the other stories related.

Academics seem divided on the deeper meaning of Beowulf, and I can hardly hope to spread any clarity here, as this is not my field. Is Beowulf an allegory, or a story with a message, or just an old-fashioned story of fighting? I would personally incline towards the second, but with the proviso that I do not really know.

Then there is the religious world of Beowulf. The story was written in the eighth or ninth or maybe even the eleventh century, depending on who you believe. Perhaps it was a story passed down orally from even longer back in time, but given modern trimmings.

It was certainly put on paper at a time when Christianity was spreading in Britain. This leads to further discussions about where Beowulf sits in its religious views. In many ways it seems obviously Christian. The work contains numerous pieties, and it is suggested that Brendel and his mother are descended from Cain.

Nonetheless the work has a strong pagan feel to it. Despite the Biblical references, there is no allusion to Christ. Indeed the morality of the story seems more like something out of an old Norse religion. Men are honoured for their fighting ability. Dying in battle is a glorious end for Beowulf, and not a tragedy.

I will not presume where to place Beowulf in such a debate, but it feels like a work straddling two traditions. The author has embraced Christianity, and yet still seems to hanker after some good old Viking conflict.

Part of the difficulty in seeking to understand Beowulf is that it was made in an age where our knowledge is scant. We are not even sure of the history of the time, let alone its writers. There is much mystery about Shakespeare's life and opinions. Imagine how hard it is with a writer who is over a thousand years old.

Indeed we do not even know who wrote Beowulf. Sadly the efforts of this early English writer cannot be credited to him, assuming there was one writer, and not a series of oral traditions put down on paper by one person.

The Beowulf author is not the only unsung writer of the day. My collection contains a number of works by writers of the period, not one of them known by name. Who were they, what made them write their works, and what were they trying to say? Some of the works appear to be elegiac laments. Several recount battles. Other works express devout pieties.

As if it is not bad enough that we do not know who they were, some of the works are tantalisingly incomplete - fragments of a larger work. How many of those works might have compared with Beowulf if we had seen them in full context? How many Beowulfs were lost to us in their entirety?

Later writers have responded to the curiously emotional content of some of the poems. Tennyson and Ezra Pound both wrote up the poems in modern English.

Despite its emphasis on fighting and heroism rather than on individuality or character, Beowulf continues to have a certain beauty and haunting power. The other works in this volume are also intriguing if sadly enigmatic and confusing, or mostly lost.