A Beowulf Handbook: (Exeter Medieval Texts and Studies)

The most revered work composed in Old English, "Beowulf" is a landmark of European literature. This handbook offers insights into all major aspects of this poem and its scholarly tradition, offering both a survey of scholarly trends in the study of "Beowulf" and a more sustained exploration of selected problems. Each chapter begins with a brief summary of its contents followed by a chronology of the most important books and articles on the particular topics it treats. The main part of the chapter covers the history of scholarly interest in the topic under consideration, a synthesis of present knowledge and opinion, and an analysis of scholarly work that remains to be done.

Table of Contents:
Preface 1. Introduction: On "Beowulf", Truth and Interpretation - John D. Niles 2. Date, Provenance, Author, Audiences - Robert E. Bjork and Anita Obermeier; 3. Textual Criticism - R. D. Fulk 4. The Prosody Of "Beowulf" - Robert P. Stockwell; 5. Diction, Variation, The Formula - Katherine O'Brien O'Keeffe 6. Rhetoric and Style - Ursula Schaefer; 7. Sources and Analogues - Theodore M. Andersson 8. Structure and Unity - Thomas A. Shippey 9. Christian and Pagan Elements - Edward B. Irving 10. Digressions and Episodes - Robert E. Bjork 11. Myth and History - John D. Niles 12. Symbolism and Allegory - Alvin A. Lee; 13. The Social Milieu - John M. Hil 14. Gender Roles - Alexandra Hennessey Olsen 15. The Hero and the Theme - George Clark; 16. "Beowulf" and Contemporary Critical Theory - Seth Lerer; 17. "Beowulf" and Archaeology - Catherine M. Hills 18. Translations, Versions, Illustrations - Marijane Osborn List of Abbreviations Works Cited

About the Author :
Robert E. Bjork is a Professor of English at Arizona State University. His published work includes four books on Old English poetry and translations of seven modern Swedish novels. He serves on the Council of the Medieval Academy of America, is past President of the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists, and for the 2004-2005 academic year, was a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. John D. Niles is a Professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since the early 1970s. He is a specialist in the earliest period of English literature.

Review :
This valuable compendium covers the main areas of scholarly inquiry into the poem in eighteen short chapters, followed by lengthy bibliographies and an index. Each chapter is prefaced by a summary of its contents and a detailed, annotated chronology of major contributions to the area treated ... It is of course immensely convenient to have all the major issues relating to Beowulf treated between one set of covers, by acknowledged experts in their fields, and A Beowulf Handbook can be recommended with enthusiastic confidence for use by undergraduates and advanced students alike. A Beowulf Handbook presents an impressively detailed digest and assessment of the history of the perceived major areas of Beowulf scholarship and criticism, as they have developed from the earliest days of the recovery of the poem to the 1990s, and it gives an informed overview of the current state of scholarly debate about the poem. This is a good book for scholars and graduate students working on Beowulf at any level and should become one of the poem's standard research tools.' ' ... a must for every university library where study of Old English is pursued. It would serve extremely well as recommended reading for any seminar in Beowulf, and appropriate parts of it should be required wherever serious attention is given to textual and philological investigation of the poem. This work fills a need long felt by students of Beowulf. In its eighteen well-organized, clear, and concise chapters, A Beowulf Handbook outlines major moments in scholarship on a wide variety of issues pertaining to the study of Beowulf ... it is able to serve as both a reference work and an introduction.