Beowulf & Other Stories was first conceived in the belief that the study of Old English - and its close cousins, Old Icelandic and Anglo-Norman - can be a genuine delight, covering a period as replete with wonder, creativity and magic as any other in...
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Beowulf & Other Stories was first conceived in the belief that the study of Old English - and its close cousins, Old Icelandic and Anglo-Norman - can be a genuine delight, covering a period as replete with wonder, creativity and magic as any other in literature. Now in a fully revised second edition, the collection of essays written by leading academics in the field is set to build upon its established reputation as the standard introduction to the literatures of the time.Beowulf & Other Stories captures the fire and bloodlust of the great epic, Beowulf, and the sophistication and eroticism of
Cover; Half Title; Dedication; Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; List of plates and maps; Preface; Acknowledgements; Publisher's acknowledgements; 1 Why read Old English literature? An introduction to this book; Names to look out for; 2 Is it relevant? Old English influence on The Lord of the Rings; 3 Is violence what Old English literature is about? Beowulf and other battlers: an introduction to Beowulf; 4 Is there more like Beowulf? Old English minor heroic poems; 5 What else is there? Joyous play and bitter tears: the Riddles and the Elegies
6 How Christian is OE literature? The Dream of the Rood and Anglo-Saxon Northumbria7 How did OE literature start? Cædmon the cowherd and Old English biblical verse; 8 Were all the poets monks? Monasteries and courts: Alcuin and Offa; 9 What was it like to be in the Anglo-Saxon or Viking world? Material culture: archaeology and text; 10 Did the Anglo-Saxons write fiction? Old English prose: King Alfred and his books; 11 How difficult is the Old English language? The Old English language; 12 When were the Vikings in England? Viking wars and The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Notes on the Old Norse language13 What gods did the Vikings worship? Viking religion: Old Norse mythology; 14 Just who were the Vikings anyway? Sagas of Icelanders; 15 Were there stories in late OE literature? Prose writers of the English Benedictine Reform; 16 What happened when the Normans arrived? Anglo-Norman literature: the road to Middle English; Epilogue The end of Old English?; The editors and the contributors; Index
