Sunday, April 29, 2012

Step One: Have Complete Surviving Poem. Step Two: Superstardom!

Question: Is there any mythological reasoning behind Beowulf's divinity? I know the book says he's the son of Freya, but is that true or just something White Wolf made up?

Naw, it's just something White Wolf made up. Beowulf's super cool and all, but he's not a god; he was never worshiped as one, nor did he ever do anything that really qualifies him as more badass than a Hero or low-level Demigod (depending on how powerful you consider the dragon he slew at the end of his life). Beowulf has an established lineage in poetry, but they're all mortal kings and warriors, probably Swedish in origin. No divine blood to be seen anywhere, though his probable Swedishness is probably why Freya was chosen as his divine mother (since the Vanir are traditionally closely linked to Sweden).

Most likely it's just a case of a well-meaning Scion writer noting that Beowulf could well have been a Scion and carrying that on to what he might have looked like as a god. While I think Beowulf is a great candidate to consider a Scion - he was out killing trolls and dragons, after all, Scionish pursuits if there ever were some - he definitely doesn't belong on the roster of the gods. He'd be an excellent character to encounter in Valhalla, however, or to swap mead and tales with; even if he was never a god, countless years of English Literature classes have made him something of a small celebrity anyway.

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