J. R. R. Tolkien: Beowulf and the Critics

Out of Print

Revised Edition Now Available!

Scholars of both Beowulf and Tolkien have to this point been unaware that Tolkien’s important essay "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics" was a redaction of a much longer and more substantial work, Beowulf and the Critics, which he wrote in the 1930s. Drout’s critical edition of Beowulf and the Critics presents both unpublished versions of Tolkien’s lecture ('A' and 'B') and includes a description of the manuscript, complete textual and explanatory notes, and a detailed critical introduction. The many layers of writing and revision documented in the textual notes provide a window into Tolkien’s method of composition. The explanatory notes collect together all the sources Tolkien used for his work and detail the influences that shaped his critical understanding. This book illustrates the development of the thought of one of the twentieth century’s most influential authors and scholars.

Please visit the author's website.