Beowulf and the North before the Vikings /Tom Shippey.

By:

Shippey, T. A [Author]

Contributor(s):

Project Muse []

Material type: Text

text

Media type:

computer

Carrier type:

online resource

ISBN:

9781802700541

Subject(s):

Beowulf

Genre/Form:

Electronic Books.

LOC classification:

DL61 .B469 2022
PR1587

Online resources:

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Available additional physical forms:

Contents:

Poetry and archaeology -- Old legend, new reality -- The bigger picture -- The non-national epic.

Subject: Ever since Tolkien's famous lecture in 1936, it has been generally accepted that the poem Beowulf is a fantasy, and of no use as a witness to real history. This book challenges that view, and argues that the poem provides a plausible, detailed, and consistent vision of pre-Viking history which is most unlikely to have been the poet's invention, and which has moreover received strong corroboration from archaeology in recent years. Using the poem as a starting point, historical, archaeological, and legendary sources are combined to form a picture of events in the North in the fifth and sixth centuries: at once a Dark and a Heroic Age, and the time of the formation of nations. Among other things, this helps answer two long-unasked questions: why did the Vikings come as such a shock? And what caused the previous 250 years of security from raiders from the sea?

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Holdings
Item type	Current library	Collection	Call number	URL	Status	Date due	Barcode
Online Book (LOGIN USING YOUR MY CIU LOGIN AND PASSWORD)	G. Allen Fleece Library ONLINE	Non-fiction	DL61 (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Link to resource	Available		on1345581564

Includes bibliographical references.

Introduction : fantasy or history? -- Poetry and archaeology -- Old legend, new reality -- The bigger picture -- The non-national epic.

Ever since Tolkien's famous lecture in 1936, it has been generally accepted that the poem Beowulf is a fantasy, and of no use as a witness to real history. This book challenges that view, and argues that the poem provides a plausible, detailed, and consistent vision of pre-Viking history which is most unlikely to have been the poet's invention, and which has moreover received strong corroboration from archaeology in recent years. Using the poem as a starting point, historical, archaeological, and legendary sources are combined to form a picture of events in the North in the fifth and sixth centuries: at once a Dark and a Heroic Age, and the time of the formation of nations. Among other things, this helps answer two long-unasked questions: why did the Vikings come as such a shock? And what caused the previous 250 years of security from raiders from the sea?

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