A Beowulf Handbook

Jacket Description/Back: The individual chapters by eighteen scholars offer both a rapid 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 an annotated chronology of the most important books and articles on the particular topic it treats. The core of each chapter constitutes a 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. All of the chapters have been written to accommodate the needs of a broad audience - from nonspecialists who wish simply to read and enjoy Beowulf to scholars at work on their own research. Biographical Note: Robert E. Bjork is a professor of English at Arizona State University. He is the author of "The Old English Verse Saints' Lives: A Study in Direct Discourse and the Iconography of Style." John D. Niles is a professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of "Beowulf: The Poem and Its Tradition."Marc Notes: Originally published: Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1997.; Includes bibliographical references and index.; Written to appeal to non-specialists as well as scholars, this guide to 'Beowulf', the most revered work composed in Old English, offers both a rapid survey of scholarly trends in the study of the poem and a more sustained exploration of selected aspects. Publisher Marketing: The individual chapters by eighteen scholars offer both a rapid 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 an annotated chronology of the most important books and articles on the particular topic it treats. The core of each chapter constitutes a 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. All of the chapters have been written to accommodate the needs of a broad audience - from nonspecialists who wish simply to read and enjoy Beowulf to scholars at work on their own research.

Contributor Bio:  Bjork, Robert E A Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America, Robert E. Bjork is Foundation Professor of English and Director of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Arizona State University. Contributor Bio:  Niles, John D John D. Niles is Frederic G. Cassidy Professor of Humanities in the Department of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.