The Seven Basic Plots - Christopher Booker [456]
The story of Beowulf falls into two parts. The first tells of how its hero comes from overseas to save the land of Heorot by overcoming two deadly monsters: first the semi-human Grendel, then his even more terrible mother, after a mighty battle at the bottom of the lake which had been their lair. After this victory, Beowulf is rewarded with finely-wrought gold and made king over his own people, whom he rules as their loved and revered leader for 50 years. In archetypal terms, this first half of the story has shown Beowulf defeating that symbolic dark combination of `son and mother' which represents immaturity. As a young man he has demonstrated those attributes of fully developed manhood which qualify him to become a strong, wise and mature father-figure. But then, when he is old and nearing the end of his days, comes a new episode, quite different in its character. A fearful dragon, guarding a great treasure in an undergound cave in his kingdom, is disturbed from its long sleep. The monster flaps forth from its lair, wreaking devastation on the kingdom, even burning Beowulf's great hall with its fiery breath. Beowulf summons up his strength and prepares for his last great battle, accompanied by his brave young kinsman Wiglaf. After two bouts, Beowulf has succeeded in inflicting mortal wounds on the dragon, when his mighty ancestral sword shatters in pieces. The monster unleashes its third attack, filling Beowulf with deadly poison. Rushing to the rescue, young Wiglaf helps Beowulf to finish off the monster and the dying hero gazes on the mighty corpse of the `Worm' they have slain, exulting at how they have liberated the treasure it was guarding, for the benefit of his people. He declares Wiglaf worthy to succeed him to the kingdom, then dies. His sorrowing people place his body on a pyre and bury his ashes in a great barrow on a headland looking over the sea, `the finest vault that men could build. Apart from recalling his manly deeds, they also remember how `of all kings' he had been `the gentlest and most gracious of men, and kindest to his people'.
What is remarkable about this concluding episode is how the dragon clearly personifies death itself. Its first stirring from sleep to wreak devastation over Beowulf's kingdom represents the physical effects of advancing age, and eventually Beowulf is forced to succumb to its irresistible power. But even as he dies he also knows that he has slain his fearful antagonist, thus winning the great treasure of life for his people. And he has done so with the aid of the young hero who, in assisting him to win this mighty victory, has shown himself worthy to succeed to the kingdom.
In this respect, the story of Beowulf, written by a Christian (as we can see from internal evidence in the poem), echoes the story of Christ, in showing a mighty hero who, in dying himself, at the same time overcomes death. But apart from a perfunctory reference to his `soul leaving his body to receive the reward of the just, there is no further indication that, as a result, Beowulf himself `lives on' in any more obvious personal sense. In essence his ending is not portrayed very differently from that 3000 years before of the great hero Gilgamesh who, having sought in vain for the secret of immortal life, dies of old age, physically worn out but mourned by his people as their greatest and wisest king. Indeed this may also recall just how unusual it is in the history of storytelling to see a story which ends with its hero's death from old age. Infinitely more familiar are those two great archetypal endings which show the hero either ending up happily united with the heroine and `living happily ever after',