Beowulf

Vé—brother of Odin and Vili, son of Bestla and Bur, and with his brothers he created the world from the remains of the slain giant Ymir. Verdandi—the Norn Verðandi (see Norns).

Víðar—often known as the “silent god,” Víðar is Odin’s son by the giantess Grid. At Ragnarök, he will avenge his father’s death, and is one of the few Æsir who will survive that final battle. A god of vengeance, and he who defines space (as Heimdall defines the boundaries of time).

Vili—Odin’s brother. With Odin and Vé, he created Midgard and ordered the world.

warg—Old Norse, “wolf.”

Weormgræf—“worm grave,” “dragon’s grave.”

wergeld, wergild—payment, in the form of money or a human life, for murder and other very serious crimes.

World Serpent—(see Jörmungand).

Wylfings (also Wulfings)—an important tribe, perhaps the ruling clan of the Eastern Geats. Wealthow, wife of the Danish king Hrothgar was of the Wylfing clan, as was Heatholaf, slain by Beowulf’s father, Ecgtheow.

Yggdrasil, World Ash—in Norse mythology, the tree that stands at the center of the cosmos, uniting the nine worlds. The only two humans who will survive Ragnarök—Lif and Lifthrasir—will do so by seeking shelter in the boughs of Yggdrasil and feeding off the dew on its leaves.

Ymir—the first giant, licked from a block of rime by the first cow Audhumla. Ymir was killed and dismembered by the Æsir Odin, Vé, and Vili (the sons of Bur), who used his remains to shape the cosmos.

Yule, Yuletide—a pre-Christian winter solstice celebration, including feasting and sacrifice, present in many Northern European cultures.

Author’s Note: If a teacher or professor has assigned you Beowulf, this novelization doesn’t count. Not even close. For readers who would like to learn more about Norse mythology, I strongly recommend John Lindow’s Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs (Oxford University Press, 2001).

Author’s Note and Acknowledgments

Though in the writing of this novel I have generally and in the main followed the course set out for me by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avery’s screenplay, there are a number of additional sources I would like to acknowledge here. John Lindow’s Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs (Oxford University Press, 2001) has been indispensable and is recommended to anyone with an interest in the beliefs and practices of the “Viking Age.” Also, I should acknowledge a number of scholarly works which proved very helpful and were frequently consulted during the writing of this book: J. R. R. Tolkien’s “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics” (1936); John Leyerle’s “The Interlace Structure of Beowulf” (1967); Ralph Arnold’s “Royal Halls: The Sutton Hoo Ship Burial” (1967); Christine Alfano’s “The Issue of Feminine Monstrosity: A Reevaluation of Grendel’s Mother” (1992); Frank Battaglia’s “The Germanic Earth Goddess in Beowulf” (1991); John Grigsby’s Beowulf & Grendel: The Truth Behind England’s Oldest Legend (2005); Kevin S. Kiernan’s “Grendel’s Heroic Mother” (1984); E. G. Stanley’s “Did Beowulf Commit ‘Feaxfeng’ against Grendel’s Mother” (1976); and Doreen M. Gilliam’s “The Use of the Term ‘Aeglaeca’ in Beowulf at Lines 893 and 2592” (1961). While working on this book, I have also frequently consulted two translations of the anonymous Beowulf poem—E. Talbot Donaldson’s classic prose translation of 1966 and Seamus Heaney’s 2000 verse translation. When making my own translations from the original Anglo-Saxon, I have used A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary by J. R. Clark-Hall (University of Toronto Press, 1984) and Old English: A Historical Linguistic Companion by Roger Lass (Cambridge University Press; 1994), among others.

I would also like to thank the following persons and institutions: Poppy Z. Brite, for lending an ear; Neil Gaiman, for trusting me with his vision; my literary agent, Merrilee Heifetz; my editor on this book, Will Hinton and Je

© 2007 Paramount Pictures and Shangri-La Entertainment LLC.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

BEOWULF. Copyright© 2007 by Paramount Pictures and Shangri-La Entertainment LLC. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Mobipocket Reader August 2007 ISBN 978-0-06-154340-1

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