Published in 1963.
Was the 'Beowulf'-poet a Christian or was he a noble pagan whose outlook had been only slightly colored by exposure to Christian thinking? This is but one of the fascinating topics discussed in this anthology of criticism on the early medieval masterpiece.
The eighteen contribution to the anthology are arranged chronologically according to the date of the criticism's first publication. The outstanding scholars whose critical writing is presented here range from the turn-of-the-century critic F. A. Blackburn through the Englishman J. R. R. Tolkien to such contemporaries as Kemp Malone, Morton Bloomfield, and R. E. Kaske.
Nearly every aspect of the 'Beowulf' is discussed and controverted in terms of literary analysis. Old English, Old Norse, Latin, and Old French passages are translated in the accompanying text as an aid to undergraduate students meeting 'Beowulf' for the first time.
Author(s): Lewis E. Nicholson (ed.)
Edition: Sixth Printing
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
Year: 1980
Language: English
Pages: 400
Preface ix
1. F. A. BLACKBURN / The Christian Coloring in the "Beowulf" 1
2. H. MUNRO CHADWICK / "The Heroic Age", an Excerpt 23
3. LEVIN L. SCHÜCKING / The Ideal of Kingship in "Beowulf" 35
4. J. R. R. TOLKIEN / "Beowulf": The Monsters and the Critics 51
5. MARIE PADGETT HAMILTON / The Religious Principle in "Beowulf" 105
6. KEMP MALONE / "Beowulf" 137
7. MORTON W. BLOOMFIELD / "Beowulf" and Christian Allegory: An Interpretation of Unferth 155
8. D. W. ROBERTSON, JR. / The Doctrine of Charity in Mediaeval Literary Gardens: A Topical Approach Through Symbolism and Allegory 165
9. FRANCIS P. MAGOUN, JR. / The Oral-Formulaic Character of Anglo-Saxon Narrative Poetry 189
10. ALLEN CABANISS / "Beowulf" and the Liturgy 223
11. H. L. ROGERS / Beowulf’s Three Great Fights 233
12. HERBERT G. WRIGHT / Good and Evil; Light and Darkness; Joy and Sorrow in "Beowulf" 257
13. R. E. KASKE / "Sapientia et Fortitudo" as the Controlling Theme of "Beowulf" 269
14. C. L. WRENN / Sutton Hoo and "Beowulf" 311
15. M. B. MCNAMEE, S.J. "Beowulf" — An Allegory of Salvation? 331
16. PAULL F. BAUM / The "Beowulf" Poet 353
17. MORTON W. BLOOMFIELD / Patristics and Old English Literature: Notes on Some Poems 367
18. MARGARET E. GOLDSMITH / The Christian Perspective in "Beowulf" 373
