Bea Wolf

by Zach Wienersmith and Boulet

A graphic novel adaptation of Beowolf for kids.

“Hwaet” = “Hey, wait!” I loved this.

Hrothgar is Roger, Heorot is Treeheart (the treehouse). All the heros in the story are little kids.

Hey, wait!

Listen to the lives of the long-ago kids, the world-fighters,

the parent-unminding kids, the improper, the politeness-proof,

the unbowed bully-crushers, the bedtime-breakers, the raspberry-blowers,

fighters of fun-killers, fearing nothing, fated for fame.

Roger’s kingdom opposes adults – “grim-faced joy gobblers.” Treeheart (his treehouse, where they all hang out and eat candy) is right next to the property of Mr. Grindle, the adultiest adult of all.

Grindle comes one night: “The tie-manacled monster mounted the ladder, mad-eyed, malice-mawed, wrath unmoored, middle-aged man-beast!”

Any kid Grindle touches turns into… an adult! In his attack on Treeheart, “ten kids turned teenaged, tired-eyed, ever texting. Eight turned middle aged, aching, anxious, angry at the internet.”

There are so many good details in this writing it’s ridiculous. Just in that last sentence, all the “A” sounds – he even chose the number of kids as “eight” for that reason.

Or this description of a foam sword: “Eamglay, blade of legend, born before safety standards.” Eamglay = gleam in Pig Latin! (86)

Bea describing her friendship with another girl: “Many a promise had we pledged, forged upon pinioned pinkies…” (116)

Grindle’s “soul was a snowbank unsledded, a snowcone unsweetened, a snowman unscarfed.” (149)

I wondered how Grindle would be defeated. In the original, he’s eating everyone, munching on their bones, and Beowulf fights him bare-handed and rips his arm off. In this version, he’s turning kids into adults, and Bea’s fight with him is mostly about dodging his touch. Finally, she rips off… his tie! And he turns back into a kid.

There is also an excellent afterward by Zach Wienersmith, directed to younger readers, about the history of Beowolf. He describes the “Nowell codex,” named for Lawrence Nowell. Lawrence wrote his name in it in 1563. “It just goes to show you how far you can get in life by writing your name on other people’s stuff.”

“Around 300 years ago, the Nowell codex… caught fire. The building it was in was literally called Ashburnham House, so maybe they should’ve put the book somewhere else.” (187)

I love the thought he closes with:

At one point, late in the original Beowulf poem, a dragon grows angry because a man steals from his golden hoard. Beowulf is part of the golden hoard of our language. Tolkien stole from it for his stories, and you should too. You might summon up a dragon of your own.

Vocab

• kenning - in poetry, “a sort of riddle with words.” E.g., a sea-wood is a boat. A storm of swords is a battle.
• thole - endure, suffer