Summary
Composed about 1000 CE, Beowulf is the longest known poem written in Old English. Considered one of the great epics, the Anglo-Saxon saga relates the heroic deeds of the warrior Beowulf, who kills the man-eating monster Grendel and the monster’s mother. Replete with monsters, quests, and acts of bravery
and containing touches of Christian and pagan symbolism, Beowulf stands as the precursor to medieval and Renaissance literature. It also influenced J.R.R. Tolkien, and helped spawn the fantasy genre so popular today in literature and film. Arm students for immersion in the study of this mythic adventure with Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations. Newly updated, Beowulf includes full-length, interpretive essays that provide expert commentary, as well as introductions, a chronology, notes on the contributors, and a bibliography.
Specifications
Chronology. Bibliography. Index.
About the Author(s)
Harold Bloom is Sterling Professor of the Humanities at Yale University. Educated at Cornell and Yale universities, he is the author of 30 books, including Shelley's Mythmaking (1959), The Visionary Company (1961), Blake's Apocalypse (1963), Yeats (1970), A Map of Misreading (1975), Kabbalah and Criticism (1975), Agon: Toward a Theory of Revisionism (1982), The American Religion (1992), The Western Canon (1994), Omens of Millennium: The Gnosis of Angels, Dreams, and Resurrection (1996), and Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human (1998), a 1998 National Book Award finalist. The Anxiety of Influence (1973) sets forth Professor Bloom's provocative theory of the literary relationships between the great writers and their predecessors. His most recent books include How to Read and Why (2000), Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds (2002), Hamlet: Poem Unlimited (2003), Where Shall Wisdom Be Found? (2004), and Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine (2005). In addition, he is the author of hundreds of articles, reviews, and editorial introductions. In 1999, Professor Bloom received the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Criticism. He has also received the International Prize of Catalonia, the Alfonso Reyes Prize of Mexico, and the Hans Christian Andersen Bicentennial Prize of Denmark.