The Massachusetts Medievalist Chortles with Bea Wolf
Since the Massachusetts Medievalist just reviewed an essay collection titled Beowulf as Children's Literature, I was very excited to stumble on the latest contribution to this very specific genre in my local library: Bea Wolf, a graphic verse novel written by Zach Weinersmith and illustrated by Boulet.
Bea Wolf is the best sort of children's book, wonderful for parents to read to children, for children to read on their own, and also for the occasional Beowulf-addled adult like myself, reading without a child in sight.
Weinersmith has re-envisioned the narrative structure of Beowulf into a modern suburban children's world, where kids have twenty-first century toys like nerf dart guns and glow sticks as well as the spatial freedom nostalgically recalled by Boomers ('my mother never knew where we were – I just had to come home when the streetlights came on'). The kids parallel the epic's kings and heroes; they carouse in a tree house during what seems like an endless birthday party, with candies and cake and games and glitter. Their weapons are brightly colored plastic or foam, often adorned with sparkles. Boulet's images provide hilarious complement, lovingly spoofing the visual conventions of heroism.
The monster is an adult named Grindle, a boring, joyless middle-aged man who has the horrifying power of turning kids into adults focused on cable news and plain yogurt rather than cartoons and candy. One fateful night, Grindle invades the tree house of Roger, the kid-king:
“And when the last of them lay down, lulled to sleep,
The floor flecked with fallen candies, each tooth frosting-crusted,
Each gurgling mouth ringed round with with rainbow sprinkles,
Each cake-filled cheek chocolate-coated….
Then came Grindle” (39)
Throughout, Weinersmith plays with the characteristics of Old English verse- note the entrancing alliteration above and throughout. He also displays a deep knowledge of Beowulf, drawing on the famous entrance of Grendel into Heorot (com on wanre niht l.702), constructing compound adjectives ("frosting-crusted"!!), and providing digressions, back story, and genealogy for his characters—Wendy the Hall-Guard, Huffer the Sniveler, Becky the Bestie, and Bea Wolf herself.
Just as Grendel takes over Heorot, Grindle initially triumphs over the kids, turning some of them into adults:
“Underpants armor fell from faces, foreheads wrinkled,
Pockets peeled from dresses, dresses drooped, dark, unsparkling,
Capes clutched necks, became collars, clapped to clip-on ties.
So Grindle ground on, begeezering that gathering!” (41)
I can do nothing but admire a male author who realizes the importance of pockets in dresses, although I must admit to owning some dresses that have neither pockets not sparkles. And everyone must drop the awesome verb "begeezer" into conversation this week! After his invasion, Grindle cleans up the treehouse, installing educational workbooks with no pictures, healthy snacks, and motivational posters.
Down at Heidi's Hold, our hero is waiting for an adventure. Bea Wolf is "forged in sparkles and fury" (68) and after a journey to Roger's tree house and a party full of "popsicles and poop-jokes" (note the alliteration!), she falls asleep "in unicorn undies, narwhal nightie" (142-3) to rest up for the battle to come. No spoilers here – scoot over to your local library or indie bookstore to enjoy this graphic tour de force that combines poetry and illustration in an entertainingly medieval way.
One minor quibble with one of Weinersmith's points in his author's notes: like many before him, he credits J.R.R. Tolkien as the first reader of the poem as an entertaining monster story rather than as historical and philological source material. Erica Weaver and Dan Remein's 2022 essay "Dons and Dragons" thoroughly debunks this assumption, showing that many readers (although they were "not Oxford dons") enjoyed Beowulffor its literary qualities long before JRRT wrote "The Monsters and the Critics."
We all need more Bea Wolf, less Grindle in our lives. I'm off to unearth a packet of mermaid temporary tattoos that might still be in the back of a drawer.