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Beoƿ, Beowa, Beowulf and Barleycorn

I've been playing Dungeon World (kind of D&D lite?  I guess?) with fambly.  It's quite enjoyable!  I've always kind of wanted to play D&D (after I got over the concern I'd get possessed by demonic dice) but never did.  I'm staring down the barrel of having to literally sing for my supper (and a poultice) and trying to pick the appropriate song for the occasion.  I decided on "John Barleycorn."  

The song is delightful.  It's an allegory about the creation of alcoholic beverages which MAY have ancient roots.  More on that later.  In one version, John Barleycorn gets in a scrum ... nay, a kerfuffle! ... with some other gentlemen named Thomas Goodale, Richard Beer and William White Wine.  Amazing!  A later version, much influenced by this rendering by Robert Burns, seems much more ancient than it's predecessor.  Three men (or kings) set upon John Barleycorn and kill him.  But he springs back up.  So they kill him again (by scythe) and do all manner of other horridries to him including grinding him between two stones.  But John Barleycorn wins out in the end because now he (in his form as alcohol) has brought all the others low.  They cannot function without him.  

Here's what interested me.  Kathleen Herbert in "Looking for the Lost Gods of England" argues that Barleycorn is directly descended from an Anglo-Saxon deity named Beoƿ (Beowa, Beaw, Bēow, Beo or Bedwig ... the "ƿ" is "wynn" or the letter "w").  That immediately set off all my "Beowulf" alarm bells, so I started digging and I have learned me some thangs.  

First, there's some confusion about the prologue of "Beowulf" of which I was not aware.  There is a person named Beowulf who is one of the progenitors of the Sheafings who is definitely not the same as the Beowulf for whom the poem is named, who was of the Geats.  Some scholars, including Tolkein, believe that the Sheafing Beowulf is better rendered as "Beoƿ/Beow."  This side-by-side translation of the prologue with the original, transliteration and translation does that (check the 2nd to last line in the 2nd stanza).  

Note: I've come to discover that a LOT of the stuff I had thought was true about pagan origins of Christian things is ... not rooted in actual history.  While many of the elements MIGHT have had roots in pagan practice, there's shockingly little evidence for it.  I'd heard and believed forever that St. Brigid was a pagan goddess morphed into a Christian saint.  Again ... little to no evidence for this.  And so forth.  I haven't researched the following part for myself, so take it with a grain of salt.  


According to Kathleen Herbert (and others), there is an Anglo-Saxon barley/agriculture god named Beoƿ (the Old English word for "barley").  What's interesting is that, in the prologue of Beowulf, Beoƿ is one of the Sheafings because he is the descendant of Scyld Sheafing or Scyld of the Sheaf.  Scyld refers to one of the oldest, legendary, Danish kings Skjöldr (Skioldus, Skjold or Skiold).  I can't find anything that says Skjöldr is in any way related to any kind of deity, so I don't know about that.  

But, if Tolkien is correct about the prologue referring to Beoƿ rather than Beowulf, then the prologue of "Beowulf" is mostly referring to "Barley, son of the Sheaf."  Despite my reservations, it seems like Kathleen Herbert may be on to something.  

The connection between Beoƿ and John Barleycorn, however, is purely conjecture and the kind of thinking that led to all the Christmas and St. Brigid stuff I was referring to earlier.  Or, I assume it is.  I haven't read the book.  But that seems like it would be INCREDIBLY difficult to trace all the way back to the 7th century or whenever. 

Regardless, I already loved the song and now I love it even more.  I'm wondering if the prologue to "Beowulf" could be set to the melody I learned for John Barleycorn.  

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