Written by a Christian poet surveying a not-so-distant pagan past, the 8th-century poem Beowulf presents to our eyes the tragic splendour of the old heathen world. Centering on the figure of Beowulf, this story recounts man’s futile struggle against a dark and hostile age: an age of blood-lust and vengeance, of monsters and ruin.
But as it does, it primes our hearts for the arrival of the King whose light was about to rise on this monstrous world. The King who would speak peace to the nations and whose reign would be from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth.
The ancient Danes had yet to hear of this great King, but His coming was as sure as the dawn. As John said, the true Light was coming into the world—indeed, it was here already. And that Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
