Back from Fennish Norfolk

Beowulf has, of course, some claim to be the first English epic -- a great work that emerged from about 700AD in the glorious but bloody flowering of Anglo-Saxon England.


I first encountered Beowulf's great villain, Grendel, at an early age, and he made a big impression on me. Unlike many, I found myself feeling huge empathy with Grendel and his mother rather than with the eponymous "hero".

This may be unsurprising since I found them through John Gardner's Grendel rather than the original. Oh, come on, be fair -- I was only 11.


Over the years I have decided that -- for some Freudian reason or other -- there is also an association in my mind between Grendel's Mother and Sheela na Gigs. Although, as can be seen in the picture above, the fertility of Grendel's Mother can affect some of us deeply (what on earth is that representation of the Willendorf Venus doing in the bottom left corner?).


Having returned from another period in the (metaphorical) bosom of my mother, I have decided that there is a simple case of cross-projection going on here, an intermingling of archetypal themes.


Luckily, I have decided it is in no-one's interests for me to continue to pursue this subject so, instead, I have decided to introduce you to the charms of Liam Bergin.


There is a connection here, however tenuous. You see, LeDuc's mother is a huge, huge fan of soap operas, whereas Grendel himself can't bear them. It is only when he is ensnared in his mother's lair that he watches them.


Hence his delight at seeing, in EastEnders, the delightful introduction of the delightful actor Liam Bergin.


Liam clearly has an exuberant efflorescence of luxuriant chest hair, which pokes enticingly through the tops of his, er, tops.


His role has, so far, been tiny, and the only other role I can find him undertaking is, as you can see in the first of his photos, above, as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.


Alas, in Cockney Dirge-Fest EastEnders, he is surrounded by buxom wenches who believe acting is a process which involves pushing out your cleavage to its maximum extent at every opportunity.


Nothing else to say here, beyond remember the dismissal of soap operas by the great continuity announcer Susie Blake: "I'm just not interested in watching Cockneys sitting around eating jumbo sausage".