It was first published as a paper in that year in the proceedings of the british academy, and has since been reprinted in many collections. The monsters and the critics, proceedings of the british academy, xxii 1936, 24595 argues that the central structural motif of beowulf is the balance between beginnings and endings, of youth and age. Another aspect of beowulf that critics seeking a tidier poem deplore is the constant switching of time planes. I realised how rusty the literature part of my brain was because this was difficult for me and its not aimed at a scholarly audience. One god and later still they merge into the medieval devil. His paper shaped the way nearly all subsequent critics viewed the monsters in the poemthat is, poetically and literarily, rather than. Tolkien argues that the monsters are the centre of the poem, and their inclusion was neither accidental nor poorly chosen tolki en 52. If you are looking for new, secondhand or outofprint books then abebooks uk may be able to help. Of all the characters in beowulf, grendels mother is one of the most interesting. My focus will be on comparing the monsters of beowulf to those of the lord.
Beowulf and the critics was written in the 1930s and was probably delivered as a series of lectures to undergraduates. Pdf the monsters and the critics download full pdf. The native learning cannot be denied in the case of. Beowulf is the earliest extant heroic poem in any modern european language. The monsters and the critics is generally accorded to be a seminal study of the great old english poem beowulf, focusing attention upon the work itself as a consciously crafted piece of literary creation rather than as merely something of historical or quaint antiquitarian interest. Ofthesecondcaseit maybe said that to ratea poem, a thing at the least in metrical form, as mainly ofhistorical interest should. Tolkien arising out of tolkiens work in medieval literature a companion to beowulf ruth a. Beowulf, presenting the monsters of the poem grendel, his. The monsters and the criticst in 1864 the reverend oswald. The monsters and the critics, in interpretations of beowulf. In the heroic siege and last defeat men and gods alike had been imagined in the same host. Tolkien read 25 november 1936 in 1864 the reverend oswald cockayne wrote of the reverend doctor joseph bosworth, rawlinsonian professor of anglosaxon. The contrast between beowulf, the protagonist, and grendel, one of the depicted monsters, symbolizes one of the most eternal topics the contradistinction and the eternal struggle between good and evil. The poem has come down through the centuries in a single manuscript, which was damaged and almost destroyed in the 1731.
Tolkien used many elements from beowulf as inspiration for his famous lord of the rings trilogy. Life is fleeting, all departs, light and life together. Think of other monsters from literature, television, or film that combine these features. In a seminal lecture, often anthologized see cliffsnotes resource center, english novelist and scholar j. The monsters and the critics summary, and i agree with j. The monsters and the critics, in proceedings of the british academy, vol. However, to write this paragraph, i kinda need to understand what the theme in beowulf. Pdf beowulf and the critics download read online free. The monsters of beowulf although the 2007 film beowulf, produced by robert zemeckis, was inspired by the old english epic poem by the same name, the writers, neil gaiman and roger avary, altered the story in several ways to fit the big screen. It is poor in criticism, criticism that is directed to the understanding of a poem as a poem. Furthermore, i will discuss tolkiens essay the monsters and the critics in which he claims that. Tolkiens 1936 lecture to the british academy on beowulf. The monsters had been the foes of the gods, the captains of men, and within time the monsters would win.
Gender, race, and ethnicity are too intimately entwined to focus on any one of these aspects in isolation, for as geraldine heng remarks, the. A spliced old english quotation in beowulf project muse. There are many qualities of beowulf that makes it one of the most prosperous poems. In the following excerpt from a 1936 british academy lecture, tolkien asserts that beowulf, in addition to. The monsters and the critics, was a redaction of this. The monsters and the critics, and other essays wikipedia.
The monsters and the critics there is not much poetry in the world like this. Beowulf was not commonly included in english literature courses until the middle part of the 20th century, after acclaimed author and linguistics professor j. The monsters and the critics does not start with the opening lines of beowulf the poem, but instead with the reverend oswald cockaynebest known for his threevolume leechdoms. The monsters and the critics was a 1936 lecture given by j. We dont hear much in the way of a physical description, and this is because its what grendel represents that is the horror for the original audience. Monsters like grendel often combine human and animal features. The monsters and the critics and other essays by j. The fault of beowulf is that there is nothing much in the story. The monsters and the critics, and other essays is a collection of j. The monsters and the critics 105 man as an historian of swedish origins beowulf is doubtless an important document, but he is not writin2 a history of en2lish poetry.
Kerr in epic and romance, the choice of a folktale main narrative was a serious fault. The monsters and the critics can be called the most important article on beowulf of the 20th century. Some brief notes on the monsters and the critics tolkiens famous essay, upon which i am writing something thats not for blogging. Incredible as it may now seem, prior to tolkien, beowulf had been seen primarily as a curious linguisticliterary artifact, useful as a source of information about the early germanic past customs, language, laws, toponymy, etc.
He used to recite the first fifty lines of beowulf. Within the poem itself, the old world and its traditions merged neatly for. The monsters and the critics to describe the theme of beowulf, does not appear anywhere in the corpus of anglosaxon. This lecturediscussion was given at middle tennessee state university on 9814 to my engl 4900 special topics. Tolkien on literary criticism on the old english heroic epic poem beowulf. This book has the essay that is the reason why we still read beowulf, namely, beowulf. A detailed work of reference and scholarship, this one volume encyclopedia includes discussions of all the fundamental issues in tolkien scholarship written by the leading scholars in the field. This edition of tolkiens lecture series includes both versions of the text together with detailed explanatory notes. During the twenty years that have passed since the publication of j. The symmetrical aesthetic of beowulf occurs both thematically and structurally. Monster versus monstrous a discussion of the characterisation of. Tolkien assembled in this edition were with one exception delivered as general lectures. Read the monsters in beowulf free essay and over 89,000 other research documents.
Nicholson, and harold blooms edition of beowulf criticism jrr tolkien. The monsters and the critics is a collection of essaylectures given by j. Coverage not only presents the most recent scholarship on j. This essay posited that beowulf was a work of poetic literature, rather than merely an historic document. The main interest which the poem has for us is thus not a purely literary interest. I have to write an annalytical paragraph that compares different sections in beowulf and tell how the comparison of these lines creates an opposition to what tolkien sees as the primary theme. And, whether its interpreted by critics or enjoyed as an adventure story, beowulf has become one of the most important pieces of literature in english. Tolkiens famous lecture, beowulf, the monsters and the critics, interest in beowulf as a work of art has increased gratifyingly, and many fine papers have made distinguished contributions to our understanding of the poem as poetry and as heroic narrative. That old english poem was largely ignored by anyone other than specialists in the language until tolkien explained to the world the wonders to be found therein. The hero is occupied in killing monsters, like hercules or theseus. In the very first line of his text we are alerted to the fact that the.
Tolkien, but also introduces and explores the author and scholars life and work within their. It is an invention by tolkien, created by splicing together a partial quotation from widsith. Tolkiens scholarly linguistic essays edited by his son christopher and published posthumously in 1983 all of them were initially delivered as lectures to academics, with the exception of on translating beowulf, which christopher tolkien notes in his foreword is not addressed to an academic audience. Beowulf is essentially like every other epic hero, brave and daring and quests to conquer all evil. The monsters and the critics is the title of a lecture by j. Note that the original and much longer manuscript of the lecture was published as beowulf and the critics in 2002, edited by michael d. This lecture entirely changed the course of beowulf studies, and is one of the most frequently cited academic papers of all time in the humanities. Cain is referred to as a progenitor of grendel, and of monsters in general. The compound nouns analysed above combine the monstrous and the. It has been said of beowulf itself that its weak ness lies in placing the.
Monsters lacked the dignity to carry the great argument with answerable style. The poem beowulf, believed to be written between 650 and 800 by a group of monks, contains several complex. I am reading from a pdf of the version of tolkiens essay. But beowulf is a true epic in its breadth of interests and sympathies, even though it is centered on the career of one man killing three. Tolkien argued that beowulf should be studied as a work of art, as opposed to merely just a historical document. Publication date 1997 topics english essays 20th century, english literature history and criticism publisher.
964 1490 1138 1446 1405 1359 192 354 554 530 263 407 89 985 707 31 50 161 719 210 349 1227 720 211 691 847 1496 792 456 788 1190 275 824 1485 1441 906