| Beowulf: The Monsters And The Critics |
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| essays by j. r. r. tolkien | |
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This paper is widely regarded as a formative work in early 20th century '' Beowulf '' studies; some claim that without it, the poem, ''Beowulf'', might not be studied today. In this talk, Tolkien speaks against critics who play down the fantastic elements of the poem (namely Grendel and the Dragon ) in favour of using ''Beowulf'' solely as a source for Anglo-Saxon history. Tolkien argues that rather than being merely extraneous, these elements are key to the narrative and should be the focus of study. In doing so he drew attention to the previously neglected "literary" qualities of the poem and argued that it should be studied as a work of art, not just as an historical document. Later critics who disagreed with Tolkien on this point have routinely had to cite him and systematically defend their arguments. The paper remains the first port of call for students of the Anglo-Saxon epic and has been quoted admiringly by Nobel-laureate Seamus Heaney in the introduction to his best-selling translation of the poem. Apart from its obvious importance as the field-defining paper in '' Beowulf '' studies, the paper also sheds light on many of Tolkien's ideas about literature and is an indispensable source for those seeking to understand his own writing. The lecture is based on a longer lecture series which exists in two manuscript versions, published together in 2002 as '' Beowulf And The Critics By J. R. R. Tolkien '', edited by Michael D. C. Drout , Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies 248 (Arizona Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies), ISBN 0-8669-8290-6. EDITIONS "Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics" is available in several book forms including:
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