The Canning of a Poem

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One of the things these old poems do and there are several traditions that do it is they use these little phrases they're almost like riddles, and they use repeatedly so you know what they are. The fact that it's a mom is really unusual. And I think I like that interpretation David why he does a lot more with it he goes on for pages and very thoughtfullyI just I recommend that book generally it's a it's a lovely book.

Tolkien read it as a tale about mortality. The poet David Whyte said it was a metaphor for the psychological demons deep in our minds. And that, insists the cartoonist and writer Zach Weinersmith, is precisely Beowulf's appeal: Its richness opens the door to endless interpretation. Listen as the author of Bea Wolf, a graphic novel for children based on the Old English poem, speaks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about poetry in general, Beowulf in particular, whether we should require students to memorize poems, and the value of stories for children even without a moral lesson.