New Medieval Books: Beowulf and the North Before the Vikings
How much history is there in the story of Beowulf? The author argues that we can learn more about the people and places mentioned in the poem than has been commonly accepted, and it also sheds light on the Viking raids that began at the end of the eighth century.
New Medieval Books: Beowulf: Translation and Commentary
This edition and translation of the classic Old English tale comes from a leading scholar in the field.
Beowulf was connected to King Cnut, study finds
When King Cnut sailed to Denmark in 1019, did he bring a copy of Beowulf with him?
New Medieval Books: Wolves in Beowulf and Other Old English Texts
Wolves rarely get positive depictions in the Middle Ages, and the same is true for Old English texts.
What is hwæt?
What is that first word, the one that would eventually become modern English ‘what’?
Which translation of Beowulf should I read?
There are dozens of Modern English translations of Beowulf. The following three translations are a good place to start
Book Review: Beowulf: A New Translation, by Maria Dahvana Headley
Headley fuses Old English language and poetry devices with contemporary idiom and slang.
The Beowulf Manuscript
Beowulf may be one of the world’s most famous poems, but there’s a lot more to its manuscript than this poem alone. This week, Danièle looks into the other content of the Beowulf manuscript, its history, and what makes it both unique and special.
Beowulf at the Movies: From Anglo-Saxon Poetry to Modern Cinema
Are there differences between the character’s portrayal in the poem and the cinematic adaptations? To what extent has cinema reinvented monstrosity in Beowulf? How does this reflect our modern day view of humanity or the beast within?
How well do you know Beowulf?
It is one of the most popular epic tales from the Middle Ages. If you have read Beowulf, can you remember what’s missing from these ten passages?
Earth, air, fire, and water in Beowulf
In this thesis, I explore the intersection of nature and human society in the poem Beowulf.
Looking at the hero: Beowulf and graphic novels in the 21st Century
ln the not so vast panorama of adaptations into comics of medieval literature, Beowulf is clearly an exception. Whilst several comic books series and graphic novels are inspired by the world of Icelandic sagas, very few of them can be considered as retellings of a specifics source text.
Beowulf before Beowulf: Anglo-Saxon Anthroponymy and Heroic Legend
Since the inception of Beowulf scholarship approximately two hundred years ago, debate has persisted concerning the nature of the poem’s eponymous hero. Is he a historical Geatish prince or is he a fictional character inserted into a historico-legendary world?
Get Thee to a Nunnery: Unruly Women and Christianity in Medieval Europe
These texts also demonstrate that women’s power waned in the shift between pre-Christian and Christian Europe.
BOOK REVIEW: Grendel’s Mother: The Saga of the Wyrd-Wife by Susan Signe Morrison
Grendel’s Mother tells the story of Brimhild, a child found abandoned in a boat on the shores of Denmark. Taken in by a…
On Heroes and Monsters: The Proposed Influence of the Aeneid on Beowulf
The proposed study will take an indepth approach by examining two sets of passages to show that the similarities between the behaviors, descriptions, and lineages of the heroes and monsters are so precise that they exclude many other possible influences of Beowulf.
TV Preview: Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands
Viewers in the United Kingdom will be the first to see Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands, as the new series premieres on ITV tonight at 7:00 pm. American viewers will need to wait until January 23rd, when the Esquire Network begins airing episodes.
Why Tolkien’s Beowulf is an ‘amazing book but a terrible translation’
In the spring of 2014 a translation of Beowulf by J.R.R. Tolkien was published. Last week, Andy Orchard, one of the leading scholars of Old English, offered his thoughts about the book and revealed that he will be writing his own translation of the famous medieval poem.
Scribal Practice in the Beowulf Manuscript
There was a time, not too long ago, when we thought we knew a great deal more about Beowulf than we do now.
Senses of the Past: The Old English Vocabulary of History
How did the Anglo-Saxons think about history?
Beowulf and the Comic Book: Contemporary Readings
This paper explores the appropriation of the Old English poem by modern popular culture in such a distinctive 20th-century art-form as the comic book, which proves that a heroic, legendary story already old for the Anglo-Saxons —it was set in geardagum, ‘the ancient days’— still elicits the interest of the audience in the modern world.
Gareth Hinds’ Beowulf
Dark and visceral, the graphic novel version of Beowulf created by Gareth Hinds is considered to be one of the most successful adaptations of the Old English tale.
Reinventing the Hero: Gardner’s Grendel and the Shifting Face of Beowulf in Popular Culture
In twentieth- and twenty-first century Anglophone culture, the impact of Beowulfiana — what we call that amorphous mass of materials that have accumulated around the poem — has been widespread yet subtle.
Grendel and Cain’s Descendants
The figure of Cain, the first rebel against the Lord and murderer of kin, acted as a particularly significant link in identifying ancient belief with the new faith through his descendant Grendel
Roses are Red, Violets are Beowulf
Let’s take five minutes to look at medieval alliterative poetry, using some of the most famous poems of the period.