First page of the Beowulf manuscript.

Andrew Klavan has read Beowulf, and he wrote an essay on it for an anthology called Thrillers: 100 Must Reads. As would be expected from a writer of Klavan’s sensibilities, he gets the point entirely:

We in the modern West have been so powerful, so dominant, so safe in our homes for so long that we slip too easily into the illusion that we live at peace. We are never at peace, not really. When we go to the ballet or walk in the park or stop to smell a rose or read a book, we only do so by the good graces of the fighters who stand ready to kill and die to defend us. Soldiers on our borders, police officers on our streets—only the threat of their physical force keeps those who would murder, rob, or enslave us at bay. Every moment of tranquility and freedom implies the warrior who protects it. The world of Beowulf is the real world.

Read it all.

There’s big archaeological news today. A collection of about 70 ancient books, written on lead sheets bound with lead rings, has appeared in Israel (Jordan claims that they came originally from its territory, and is trying to get them back). Written in coded Hebrew, they appear to be the oldest extant Christian documents, and scholars are eager to examine them (if they ever get out of court.)

The director of the Jordan’s Department of Antiquities, Ziad al-Saad, says the books might have been made by followers of Jesus in the few decades immediately following his crucifixion.

“They will really match, and perhaps be more significant than, the Dead Sea Scrolls,” says Mr Saad.

“Maybe it will lead to further interpretation and authenticity checks of the material, but the initial information is very encouraging, and it seems that we are looking at a very important and significant discovery, maybe the most important discovery in the history of archaeology.”

This will be cool.

Of course it’s always fun until Opus Dei sends in its paid assassins.

Kidding! Kidding!

(Tip: Cronaca.)

Abbie Riddle of Abbie Reviews gives my West Oversea a glowing review here.

And I got an invitation to lecture on another Norway cruise today. Of course this kind of lecturing is only for the financially flush, which I no longer am, so I politely declined. But it’s nice to know I don’t have a black spot next to my name in the Great Ledger. (Or, alternatively, they may just be very, very desperate for lecturers. Maybe the armadillo juggler got sick.)