The hero kills three monsters: a maneater called Grendel, Grendel's aggrievated mother in her underwater dwelling, and 50 years later a fire-breathing dragon, which is stirred by the theft of a goblet. It mortally wounds Beowulf before expiring. The poem ends with Beowulf's funeral pyre. Central theme is the workings of fate (wyrd) in human lives. It is generally accepted that originally Beowulf was the work of a single poet, who has recounted legends that were passed down orally from several centuries earlier. Heaney's retelling makes the hero's tragic stature prophetic: when he dies his people wait of the disarter that will descend on them. However, loving one's enemies was not part of the feudal code. It is always better
to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning. For every one of us,
living in this world
means waiting for our end. Let whoever can
win glory before death. When a warrior is gone,
That will be his best and only bulwark. (from Beowulf, 1999)
For further reading: Passage to the Center by Daniel Tobin (1999); Seamus Heaney by Helen Hennessy Vendler (1998); Passage to the Center by Daniel Tobin (1998); Critical Essays on Seamus Heaney, ed. by Robert F. Garratt (1995); The Art of Seamus Heaney, ed. by T. Curtis (1994); Seamus Heaney: Poet and Critic by Arthur E. McGuinness (1994); Seamus Heaney: The Making of the Poet by Michael Parker (1993); Seamus Heaney, ed. by H. Bloom (1993) - Suomeksi Heaneylta on julkaistu Ojanpiennarten kuningas (1995) Jyrki Vainosen valikoimana ja kääntämänä, sekä valikoima Ukkosvaloa (1997), samoin Vainosen suomentamana.
Selected works:
· ELEVEN POEMS, 1965
· DEATH OF A NATURALIST, 1966
· THE ISLAND PEOPLE, 1968
· DOOR INTO THE DARK, 1969
· THE LAST MUMMER, 1969
· A LOUGH NEAGH SEQUENCE, 1969
· A BOY DRIVING HIS FATHER TO CONFESSION, 1970
· CATHERINE'S POEM, 1970
· NIGHT DRIVE, 1970
· CHAPLET, 1971
· LAND, 1971
· SERVANT BOY, 1971
· JANUARY GOD, 1972
· WINTERING OUT, 1972
· BOG POEMS, 1975
· TWO DECADES OF IRISH WRITING, 1975 (ed. D. Dunn)
· NORTH, 1975
· STATIONS, 1975
· FOUR POEMS, 1976
· GLANMORE SONNETS, 1977
· ROBERT LOWELL: A MEMORIAL ADDRESS, 1978
· RICHARD MURPHY, POEDT OF TWO TRADITIONS, 1978 (ed. M. Harman)
· AFTER SUMMER, 1978
· CHRISTMAS EVE, 1978
· A FAMILY ALBUM, 1978
· FIELD WORK, 1979
· GRAVITIES, 1979
· UGOLIMO, 1979
· ed.: ANTHOLOGY: ARVON FOUNDATION POETRY COMPETITION, 1980 (with T. Hughes)
· THE MAKING OF MUSIC, 1980
· PREOCCUPATIONS.