Thinking about 'Beowulf'

by James Earl and James W. Earl

Book Overview

Bringing contemporary critical theory to bear on Beowulf, the author explores the literary originality of a poem often treated as oral and traditional. He grounds his work in three axioms about Beowulf. First, the poem cannot be dated with certainty and must be considered a portrait of an imaginary society. Second, the epic, a long narrative poem of the heroic age, is not necessarily a traditional genre. And third, there is no reason to believe...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0804727953
• ISBN13: 9780804727952
• Release Date: October 1996
• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.6"