From Beowulf to WWII
Seeking the Wisdom of Wintered Hearts
In every age, there have been wars that defined a generation of men who took up arms to fight. The experiences these warriors encountered with their fellow comrades shaped their outlook till the end of their earthly walk. Memories from the trenches and in open combat—of close friends who made it and others who died—were ever-poignant while they lived. These warriors’ deep-seated recollections were often left below the surface, percolating, and in rarer moments were openly drawn upon and shared.
This was true of those who hazarded their lives during the First World War, which we now commemorate on the centennial of this conflict, even as it is true of those who fought in the Second World War that followed, whose veterans we have yet among us in ever-dwindling numbers.
This age-old reality was captured in the story of Beowulf. Following his defeat of the monster Grendel, the hero was wined and dined in the banquet hall of Hrothgar, King of the Danes, whose realm Beowulf had saved when he killed their nemesis.
Even as Beowulf’s feat was being celebrated at Hrothgar’s table, much older war stories were recounted by men then in the twilight of their days. The writer of this epic relates that, more than once during the feast, “a battle scarred veteran, bowed with age, would begin to remember the martial deeds of his youth and prime and be overcome as the past welled up in his wintry heart.” 1
Elsewhere in the story, we read of an aging man who had “wintered into wisdom,” 2 which brings to the fore a point we all would do well to heed: We have much to learn from the hoary-headed among us. This was true of the famed and youthful warrior, Beowulf, and it is true of us. Whether the tales told in his epic have any historical basis or not, we who are in the vigor of life have much to gain from those who’ve been seasoned by many winters.
So let us, with loving care, seek out insights from our battle-scarred elders, drawing out the hard-wrought wisdom they have to teach. Such is our duty before the Lord (Deuteronomy 32:7; Leviticus 19:32).
