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Monday
When a gunman killed 18 and wounded 13 in Lewiston, Maine two weeks ago, the words of Beowulf’s King Hrothgar came (as they always do) to mind: “Rest, what is rest, sorrow has returned.” Time and again, in response to mass killings, I’ve identified with the king who watches helplessly as resentment-crazed monsters unleash mayhem in his great hall.
As I always note, our monsters generally come from within our own ranks. The Danes, as the region’s superpower, have nothing to fear from foreign enemies, but local unrest is another matter. I’ve sometimes speculated that the Beowulf poet had multiple models for Grendel. Perhaps, after a night of heavy drinking, one Anglo-Saxon warrior responded to an insult by burying his sword in another. Perhaps PTSD was involved. The Grendel troll is an archetype of the violence that possesses a man, causing him to go on a murderous rampage.
There may have been some of that warrior violence in the Lewiston case, with Grendel taking over a veteran with mental health issues and triggered by rightwing media. In Anglo-Saxon England, one such killing would invariably lead to follow-up revenge killings. Blood feuds—for which Grendel’s Mother serves as the archetype—could go on for generations and were beyond the power of even the strongest king to stop.
I sometimes wonder if we not only have a Grendel problem but a Hrothgar problem in America today. Like Hrothgar, who comes across as weak for not being able to protect his people, Joe Biden is viewed unfavorably by many. Although by objective measurements he has performed admirably as president, polls have him running neck and neck with a man who staged a coup (!).
To be sure, seasoned political observers tell us it’s way too early to worry. But the talk of potential catastrophe in the next election is reminiscent of the worries that the Danes have about Hrothgar’s successor. Although he has two young sons, Hrothgar talks about making Beowulf his heir. What worries him is his ambitious nephew Hrothulf, who will become regent if the king dies before his sons have grown up.
Talk of succession uncertainties are new to the Danes since they have had four successful kings in a row, an impressive run of success for these turbulent times. Succession uncertainties are unfamiliar to us as well since, until 2020, we had over 200 years of peaceful presidential transition (Civil War excepted). And even in 2020 the rightful winner became president. But the fact that the issue comes up in Hrothgar’s court means there’s a problem.
In fact, as we know from other stories, Hrothgar’s nephew Hrothulf will attempt a coup once Hrothgar dies, killing the older son and trying but failing to kill the younger. He will storm the Capitol Heorot Hall, which will burn down, before he himself is killed by the remaining heir.
Biden’s reelection shouldn’t be in doubt. After all, he brought us out of the pandemic in remarkable fashion, and he has had the economy humming ever since. He’s also a decent and compassionate man who stands up against bullies. He is like Beowulf in his even temper and his insistence on compromise over confrontation. He also insists on following rules. (Beowulf doesn’t make illicit power grabs, even when he is invited to do so.)
Also like Beowulf when he is a young man, Biden has been underestimated in the past, which is why his current accomplishments seem even more impressive to those of us who are fans. Here’s how the young Beowulf is described:
Thus Beowulf bore himself with valour;
he was formidable in battle yet behaved with honour
and took no advantage; never cut down
a comrade who was drunk, kept his temper
and, warrior that he was, watched and controlled
his God-sent strength and his outstanding
natural powers. He had been poorly regarded
for a long time, was taken by the Geats
for less than he was worth: and their lord too
had never much esteemed him in the mead-hall.
They firmly believed that he lacked force,
that the prince was a weakling; but presently
every affront to his deserving was reversed.
“Never cut down a comrade who was drunk”—now there’s something to put on your resumé!
That Biden lacks force, that he is a weakling, that he is a doddering octogenarian, is accepted as gospel by many Republicans and even some Democrats. I suspect much of that comes from the fact that there’s currently so much turmoil, even though most of the turmoil is generated by Trump and MAGA.
Where Biden differs from Beowulf is that he doesn’t have the youth’s charisma, which shows up when Beowulf first enters Hrothgar’s court and faces down one of the king’s contentious counselors. Beowulf is never hesitant to boast, which is how he commands loyalty from his followers. Consider the following, where he silences Unferth.:
Often, for undaunted courage,
fate spares the man it has not already marked.
However it occurred, my sword had killed
nine sea-monsters. Such night-dangers
and hard ordeals I have never heard of
nor of a man more desolate in surging waves.
But worn out as I was, I survived,
came through with my life.
Men will follow someone with this confidence and braggadocio into jaws of death.
Biden doesn’t impress with his public performances the way that Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and, yes, Donald Trump did. Instead, he is a skilled administrator, as Michael Dukakis, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton would have been had they won their elections. While that is more than fine with me—I want competent leaders, not empty suits who show up well on television– it could also explain his low poll numbers. Hrothgar at one point tells Beowulf that he is “strong in body and mature in mind, impressive in speech,” and only “mature in mind” currently describes Biden.
So while I think that what Hrothgar says of Beowulf is also true of Biden—“the seafaring Geats won’t find a man worthier of acclaim as their king and defender than you”—I see why even some Democrats have doubts.
But to regain perspective, let’s look at Biden’s probable opponent in 2024. The president often says, “Don’t compare me with the almighty. Compare me with the alternative,” and the alternative in Beowulf is King Heremod. Heremod has more than a little in common with Donald Trump:
His rise in the world brought little joy
to the Danish people, only death and destruction.
He vented his rage on men he caroused with,
killed his own comrades, a pariah king
who cut himself off from his own kind,
even though Almighty God had made him
eminent and powerful and marked him from the start
for a happy life. But a change happened,
he grew bloodthirsty, gave no more rings
to honour the Danes. He suffered in the end
for having plagued his people for so long:
his life lost happiness.
Trump, like his counselor Steve Bannon and various MAGA extremists, wants to burn everything down, including the Constitution. In his promised quest for retribution, he will become a pariah king, killing (or at least making life difficult for) fellow Americans if he becomes president again. Like Hrothgar’s greedy nephew Hrothulf, he will leave our Heorot Hall in ashes.
Since we have an electoral system, it is up to all of us—not just Joe Biden—to make sure this doesn’t happen.