Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics most important article ever written about the poem. Scholars of Anglo-Saxon agree that the work was influential, transforming the study of "Beowulf". J. R. R. Tolkien's essay ""Beowulf": The Monsters and the Critics", initially delivered as a lecture in 1936, is regarded as a formative work in modern "Beowulf" studies. In it, Tolkien speaks against critics who play down the monsters in the poem, namely Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon, in favour of using "Beowulf" solely as a source for Anglo-Saxon history. Tolkien argues that rather than being merely extraneous, these elements are key to the narrative and should
Beowulf (hero) Beowulf (hero) Beowulf (; Old English: "Bēoƿulf" ) is a legendary Geatish hero in the epic poem named after him, one of the oldest surviving pieces of literature in the English language. A number of origins have been proposed for the name "Beowulf". Henry Sweet, a philologist and early linguist specializing in Germanic languages, proposed that the name "Bēowulf" literally means in Old English "bee-wolf" or "bee-hunter" and that it is a kenning for "bear". This etymology is mirrored in recorded instances of similar names. "Biuuuwulf" is recorded as a name in the AD 1031 "Liber Vitae". The name is