Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics writing in "The New Yorker", calls it "a paper that many people regard as not just the finest essay on the poem but one of the finest essays on English literature." She adds that "Tolkien preferred the monsters to the critics." Regina Weinreich, reviewing "The Monsters and the Critics: And Other Essays" in "The New York Times", wrote that the title essay "revolutionized the study of the early English poem "Beowulf," in which a young hero crushes a human-handed monster called Grendel. Against the scorn of critics, Tolkien defends the centrality and seriousness of literary monsters, declaring his own belief
Maxims (Old English poems) well. The reference in "Maxims I" of "A king has to procure a queen with payment, with goblets and with rings". and in "Maxims II" the gnome "The king belongs in his hall, sharing out rings". are evidence of this. In addition, both poems contain themes that coincide with the most famous Old English poem "Beowulf". "Maxims I" refers to Cain just as "Beowulf" does and contains maxims for the wife of a hero returning home from his exploits which is similar to Beowulf returning home from his adventures. Like "Beowulf", "Maxims II" refers to a dragon. "The dragon belongs