“Their long-established way of doing things gives them all the civilization-building power of a biker gang. It is hard for us to imagine Viking angst, but I want to argue that the author of Beowulf is delivering a vision of exactly that”
Nobility at the End of Its Tether
“The paganism that is so evident throughout this poem is presented to us by a thoroughly Christian poet, and he does not show us this paganism in order to say, ‘See, pagans can be noble, too—even without Jesus!’ Rather, he is doing precisely the opposite—he is refusing to engage in a fight with a heathen straw man of his own devising. He acknowledges the high nobility that was there, but then he bluntly shows us that nobility at the point of profound despair . . . This is nobility at the end of its tether”
A Cartoon Ahead of Its Time
Drank the Smoke
“She dreaded doom of battle, the days to come
Would be devastating, deadly, dark, and shameful.
There would be sorrow and sadness. The sky drank the smoke”
Again, on Three
Introduction: When man aspires to become Deity, the nature of the folly is such that he does not start to close in on his goal. The demented vision is such that what starts happening is divergence, ...
Audio Reading of Post
Ascending to God
“Then for the king they kindled a colossal blaze,
Clouds of smoke curled upward, closing the sky,
Black smoke, blaze red, and blending in sorrow
Was the crackling fire and keening people—quiet was the wind—
Until the body burst and the bones were blackened
By the great heat at the heart of it”
Letters, With Gusts of Up to More Letters
Letter to the Editor: A young woman who is dear to our family has been accepted into one of our nation's military academies. The fact that she is considering this path came as a surprise ...
A Burning Bier
“He said to build him a bier when his breath was gone,
Where we burn his bones, the barrow should be high,
A magnificent memorial, massive and worthy of him”
The Fiasco of No Fear
Introduction: I am currently enjoying a book by Michael Reeves and Joel Beeke called Following God Fully: An Introduction to the Puritans. It is a marvelous book thus far, but I bring it up merely ...
Audio Reading of Post
Departing Middle-Earth
“So Beowulf, that brave one, when the barrow-guard he fought,
A conflict deeply contested, he could not know
In what manner of men he should leave middle-earth at last”