So, aged 8 I had to listen to the darned poem, spend countless hours deconstructing the story, doing art, etc.
Then morning assembly comes one morning and I’m hauled up in front of the entire school to showcase my picture.
I didn’t even understand the story at this point. The artwork sucked (it was the fight with Grendel’s mother) and I had no idea that two days after making it the audience seeing it would be bigger than the bottom of my desk drawer.
I was mortified.
So fast forward a few years and this time aged around 12, it’s hauled out again, this time in old English.
So now we go through the motions again. Including artwork.
At least the second time around I got the gist of the story: Pretentious guy who takes unnecessary risks keeps going into situations because he’s a hero.
Like if the magic sword wasn’t there, what was plan B for Grendel’s mother?
Then I avoided Beowulf until well into adulthood, when I learned about Beowulf Clusters, which I won’t bore you with.
Except there was a paper… That kept my mind churning.
