Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics give it a powerful effect. He rebuts suggestions that the poem is an epic or exciting narrative, likening it instead to a strong masonry structure built of blocks that fit together. He points out that the poem's theme is a serious one, mortality, and that the poem is in two parts: the first on Beowulf as a young man, defeating Grendel and his mother; the second on Beowulf in old age, going to his death fighting the dragon. The work has been praised by critics including the poet and "Beowulf" translator Seamus Heaney. Michael D. C. Drout called it the
The Kine Saga The Kine Saga The Kine Saga is a heroic fantasy trilogy written by British author A. R. Lloyd (Alan Richard Lloyd). It comprises "Kine" (also published as "Marshworld"), "Witchwood" and "Dragon Pond" (first published as "Dragonpond"), and chronicles the life of a wild least weasel named Kine. The name "Kine" comes from an Old English word for the weasel. The first novel, titled simply "Kine," was originally published in October 1982 by Hamlyn. It was republished by Arrow in 1990 as "Marshworld." The sequel, "Witchwood," first published by Muller in August 1989, was also republished by Arrow in 1990; the