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Beowulf and the north before the Vikings
Paperback
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- Book Synopsis
- Ever since Tolkien's famous lecture in 1936, it has been generally accepted that the poem Beowulf is a fantasy, and of no use as a witness to real history. This book challenges that view, and argues that the poem provides a plausible, detailed, and consistent vision of pre-Viking history which is most unlikely to have been the poet's invention, and which has moreover received strong corroboration from archaeology in recent years. Using the poem as a starting point, historical, archaeological, and legendary sources are combined to form a picture of events in the North in the fifth and sixth centuries: at once a Dark and a Heroic Age, and the time of the formation of nations. Among other things, this helps answer two long-unasked questions: why did the Vikings come as such a shock? And what caused the previous 250 years of security from raiders from the sea?
- About The Author
- Tom Shippey has published extensively on Tolkien and on early medieval literature. His last book is Laughing Shall I Die: Lives and Deaths of the Great Vikings (2018).
- Product Details
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- ISBN
- 9781802700138
- Format
- Paperback
- Publisher
- Arc Humanities Press, (24 November 2022)
- Number of Pages
- 152
- Weight
- 146 grams
- Language
- English
- Dimensions
- 178 x 114 x 11 mm
- Series:
- See all books in this series
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