Beowulf and the North before the Vikings / Tom Shippey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shippey, Tom

Series:

Past Imperfect.

Past Imperfect

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Beowulf--Criticism and interpretation.

Beowulf.

Civilization, Viking.

Mythology, Norse.

Scandinavia.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (viii, 127 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Distribution:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023.

Place of Publication:

Leeds : Arc Humanities Press, 2022.

System Details:

text file HTML

Summary:

Ever since Tolkien's famous lecture in 1936, it has been generally accepted that the poem <i>Beowulf</i> 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?

Contents:

Introduction : fantasy or history?

Poetry and archaeology

Old legend, new reality

The bigger picture

The non-national epic.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 06 Dec 2022).

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9781641899338

1641899336

9781802700558

1802700552

9781802700541

1802700544

OCLC:

1345581564