Is it written in the stars?

Words don't just tell the story-they can complete a deed, or they can begin one. The telling of a story can be part of the action itself. In the Anglo-Saxon world a deed was not complete until it was reported. That is why in Beowulf there is the recap once Beowulf returns home--he had to bring the story with him and report, else his task was not yet done. In this retelling the person is immortalized and the deed kept alive. If a persons deeds are great enough, they will be retold again and again, their tale preserved in stories and song. As Cohen says in The Last Hero, "I've got a sword and it's a good one, but all the bleedin' thing can do is keep someone alive ... A song can keep someone immortal."

Stories take on a life of their own, gaining a certain truthfulness regardless of the actual facts of the events they are reporting. They have the power to strike fear or to inspire, to teach or to caution. Every great person eventually fades from memory but the story endures, even if only in bits of popular wisdom or folklore.

"'In the olden days," she said, "when a hero had been really heroic, the gods would put them up in the stars." THE HEAVENS CHANGE, said Death. WHAT TODAY LOOKS LIKE A MIGHTY HUNTER MAY LOOK LIKE A TEACUP IN A HUNDRED YEARS' TIME. "That doesn't seem fair." NO ONE EVER SAID IT HAD TO BE. BUT THERE ARE OTHER STARS.'"

According to Genesis, the world was begun with a Word. The world then is the greatest story, which is constantly being told through peoples words and deed.