Dragons and kings are opposite things, or at least they ought to be. It lies in the nature of a dragon to hoard, but it lies in the nature of a good king to slay the beast, build a palace and, from it, to give gifts to men.
Take, for example, King Hrothgar in the ancient epic 'Beowulf'. This is how his lordship is described at the beginning of the poem:
"The Fortunes of war favoured Hrothgar.
Friends and kinsmen flocked to his ranks,
young followers, a force that grew
to a mighty army. So his mind turned
to hall-building: he handed down orders
for men to work on a great mead-hall
meant to be a wonder of the world forever;
It would be his throne-room and there he would dispense
His God-given goods to young and old -
But not the common land or people's lives."
- Beowulf, trans. Seamus Heaney
How do we know he was a good lord*? Because he built a hall for feasting, and from that throne he gave gifts. If his friends and kinsmen made covenant with him, then he would make them rich with glory, companionship, and gold.
This is how it was for an Anglo-Saxon; a good king was a gift-giver, a ring-lord, a dispenser of glories and treasure. A good king was a mead-hall builder, he provided a hearth for feasting and fellowship. And from loyalty to the king came covenant wealth, a cascade of good things.
The Gift Giving of the Covenant Lord
Whoever the poet of Beowulf was, his poetry pulls on threads that are clear in scripture. Our covenant Lord, the covenant Lord of Lords, is a gift-giver beyond all others, and to take an image and place it outside its time, he is the builder of a glorious mead-hall.
It’s hard to know where to begin when describing the gift-giving nature of our God. Everywhere we look there is somewhere new you could start. Look out your window and see the gifts of sun, and rain, and wind, and green things that are good for food or beauty or healing. Look at the faces of your children and see the gifts of life, the fruits of your strength, or look at the face of your wife and see the bride of your youth, and a queen like no other. Look at your shame and see the gift of repentance and forgiveness, look at your glories and see a greater glory reflected in them and shining through them. It’s hard to know where to begin, and it would be impossible to find somewhere to end.
In the Mead Hall of the Living God
There’s one particular nexus of gift-giving that Hrothgar in Heorot can draw in sharper relief for us, however. Each Sunday we enter the golden hall of our covenant Lord, to receive gifts from his gift-giving throne.
In this hall our king and brother sits, he who has plundered the house of the strong man, disarmed principalities and powers, and ascended on high giving gifts to men. He is the heir of this house built by our father and king, the giver of every good gift that comes from above.
Generosity is in the rafters as we pull-up a bench on Sunday morning. The throne set-up before us in this golden hall is a throne of gift and the table laid is a feast of companionship.
And yes, we respond in service, in praise and thanksgiving. And we listen with trembling as our king gives us his orders, reminding us of our loyalties. But these are loyalties bound by a gifted cup of fellowship, honey sweet, bought for us with a gift of blood.
To be a companion of the mead-hall of the living God is chiefly to be a receiver of gifts.
Doers of mighty deeds
The chief and greatest gift of this gift-giving throne is the gift of God’s Spirit. It’s by the work of that Spirit that we have access to this hall at all and to all those who come in simple faith, with nothing in their hands, this living water is poured out to overflowing.
But once given, the Spirit of God all glorious, becomes the wind in the sails of glorious deeds.
The mead-halls of the Anglo-Saxons were places where tales of courage and valour were sung, stories of loyalty and heroism. Glory is not a zero-sum game, and so each thread of glory redounded in both directions; glory to the hero and glory to the king.
And so it is for our people, for the companions of Christ the King. It’s not for nothing that the close of king David’s story is accompanied by a record of the valiant deeds of his mighty men:
“ These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the three. He wielded his spear against eight hundred whom he killed at one time...”
2 Samuel 23:8
The companions of the king do valiant deeds of loyal courage and faithfulness. And what more shall I say?
“For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”
Hebrews 11:32ff
Honour to David, Honour to Josheb-Basshebeth, honour to Gideon, Samson, Barak and the prophets of whom the world was not worthy. And in all and above all; glory be to the Father, and to the son, and to the Holy Ghost whose outstretched arm has done it all.
Therefore, fellow companions of the mead-hall of the living God:
“since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:1-2
Grendel and the Envious Offspring of Cain
If you know the story of Beowulf, you know that the mead-hall of Heorot is haunted by a monster:
“Grendel was the name of this grim demon
Haunting the marshes, marauding round the heath
And the desolate fens; he had dwelt for a time
In misery among the banished monsters,
Cain’s clan, whom the Creator had outlawed
And condemned as outcasts. For the killing of Abel.”
- Beowulf, trans. Seamus Heaney
Grendel is linked with Cain the son of Adam and first murderer who was cursed to wander the earth as an outcast because of his envious lack of faith and humility. Grendel is similarly envious, he envies the light of the hearth of Heorot, the warmth and companionship, the shining gifts of gold and glory. He can hear the sound of the party and, since he cannot come in, he would like to silence it with death.
There are others in the world associated with Cain, brothers driven mad with envy at the pleasure of the Father and the fellowship of those welcomed into the light of the hearth.
“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in.”
Luke 15:25-28
Like Grendel’s envy, and like the envy of Cain, that envy also ended in murder.
A murder, though, that has now been woven into the greatest song of our people, into a hymn of glory that sets the greatest son of David far above the valiant deeds of his father’s mighty men:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honour and glory and blessing!”Revelation 5:12
Nevertheless, we must acknowledge that the envious remain around us. There are still plenty who would burst apart the bonds of the Lord and his anointed if they could. Our message to them remains the same as it always has been:
Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.Psalm 2:10-12
And our rest in their midst remains the same as it has always been:
“You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.”Psalm 23:5-6
* How do we know Beowulf was a better king? Because he, unlike Hrothgar, slays Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and a dragon (whose gold he gives his life to gift to his people).