Dating of Beowulf

This book will be a milestone and deserves to be widely read. The early Beowulf that overwhelmingly emerges here asks hard questions and the same strictly defined measures of metre spelling onomastics semantics genealogy and historicity all cry out to be tested further and applied more broadly to the whole corpus of Old English verse. Andy Orchard Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon University of Oxford. The dating of Beowulf has been a central question in Anglo-Saxon studies for the past two centuries since it affects not only the interpretation of Beowulf but also the trajectory of early English literary history. By exploring evidence for the poem's date of composition the essays in this volume contribute to a wide range of pertinent fields including historical linguistics Old English metrics onomastics and textual criticism. Many aspects of Anglo-Saxon literary culture are likewise examined as contributors gauge the chronological significance of the monsters heroes history and theology brought together in Beowulf. Discussions of methodology and the history of the discipline also figure prominently in this collection. Overall the dating of Beowulf here provides a productive framework for evaluating evidence and drawing informed conclusions about its chronological significance. These conclusions enhance our appreciation of Beowulf and improve our understanding of the poem's place in literary history. Leonard Neidorf is a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. Contributors: Frederick M. Biggs Thomas A. Bredehoft George Clark Dennis Cronan Michael D.C. Drout Allen J. Frantzen R.D. Fulk Megan E. Hartman Joseph Harris Thomas D. Hill Leonard Neidorf Rafael J. Pascual Tom Shippey