Beowulf is on the march again or so it would seem from this week’s debate at Hampton Court and the ravings of some European leaders over the summer. For many, the Anglo-Saxon descendents of this monster-slaying hero are the new bogeymen.

The collapse of the European Union constitution and deepening economic problems in parts of the continent have polarised debate into a Manichean division between a more protectionist social model and the market-friendly “Anglo-Saxon” one preferred by Britain and the US.