The Electronic Beowulf Project was developed by The British Library since spring 1993 in cooperation with the University of Kentucky and Western Michigan University. The first manuscript to digitize was the Old English epic poem Beowulf, and a huge collection of images was created. By 1998, the d...
Often busy with academic duties and also acting as an examiner for other universities, he produced few but influential scholarly publications, notably a standard edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1925; with E.V. Gordon) and a landmark lecture on Beowulf (Beowulf: The Monsters and ...
Gollum may seem like a singular figure in literature, but Tolkien actually based the character on Grendel, the marsh-dwelling villain of the Old English epic poemBeowulf. While the poem doesn’t go into details about Grendel’s physicality, he is referred to as a “shadow walker”, and his...
Beowulf puts his life in danger to kill adragonthat breathes fire, as well as Grendel’s mother. Although he is fatally wounded while battling the dragon, he survives to declare victory and guarantee the protection of the populace. There is a little mistake that Beowulf is the protagonist bec...
(1977)around the theories of Joseph Campbell’s book,The Hero with a Thousand Faces. The book tracked common mythological motifs and argued that myths from around the world that have been passed down through generations—like Beowulf orKing Arthur—share a basic structure.According to Campbell, ...
Beowulf, heroic poem, the highest achievement of Old English literature and the earliest European vernacular epic. It deals with events of the early 6th century and is believed by some to have been composed in the 8th century. Learn more about Beowulf in
Gilgamesh has borne the role of multiple ancient heroes. His actions in ancient Sumeria earned him his most frequent identity of Gilgamesh, but his adventures have also been misattributed to the Greek hero Hercules, the early Anglo legends of Beowulf, and the Hebrew stories of the strong man ...
The peoples of each of the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms spoke distinctivedialects, which evolved over time and together became known asOld English. Within that variety of dialects,an exceptionally rich vernacular literatureemerged. Examples include the masterful epic poemBeowulfand theAnglo-Saxon Chronicl...
onBeowulf(Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics, 1936). Tolkien had completed a translation ofBeowulfin 1926, and it was posthumously published, along with classroom lectures he had given on the subject, some of his notes, and an originalshort storyinspired by thelegend, asBeowulf: A ...
brilliant mathematician afflicted withmental illnessinProofand as aNew Zealandmotorcycle racerinThe World’s Fastest Indian. After enlivening the legal thrillerFracture(2007), Hopkins appeared in several big-budget movies rooted in mythology, includingBeowulf(2007; as King Hrothgar) andThe Wolfman(2010)...