The Dating of Beowulf

Chase, Colin (ed.)

ISBN 10: 0802078796 / ISBN 13: 9780802078797

Published by Center for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1997

About this Item

(4), 228 pp, editor's preface, abbreviations, The Dating of Beowulf; Opinions on the Date of Beowulf, 1815-1980 by Colin Chase; The 11th-Century Origin of Beowulf and the Beowulf Manuscript by Kevin Kiernan; The Nowell Codex and the Poem of Beowulf by Leonard E. Boyle; A Reconsideration of the Language of Beowulf; by Angus Cameron, et al.; Metrical Style as Evidence for th Date of Beowulf by Thomas Cable; Hetware and Hugas: Datable Anachronisms in Beowulf by Walter Goffart; Beowulf, the Danish Invasions, and Royal Genealogy by Alexander Callander Murray; The Audience of Beowulf and the Vikings by R.I. Page; Skaldic Verse and the Date of Beowulf by Roberta Frank; Variation in Beowulf and the Poetic Edda: A Chronological Experiment by Rory McTurk; Saints' Lives, Royal Lives, and the Date of Beowulf by Colin Chase; Style as the Criterion for Dating the Composition of Beowlf by Peter Clemoes; On the Date of Composition of Beowulf by John C. Pope; The Date of Beowulf: Some Doubts and No Conclusions by E.G. Stanley; Afterword: The Uses of Uncertai;nty: On the Dating of Beowulf by Nicholas Howe; index. Toronto Old English Studies: First Edition, 1997. "The date of Beowulf, debated for almost a century, is a small question with large consequences. Does the poem provide us with an accurate if idealized view of early Germanic culture? Or is it rather a creature of nostalgia and imagination, born of the desire of a later age to create for itself a glorious past? If we cannot decide when, between the 5th and 11th centuries, the poem was composed, we cannot distinguish what elements in Beowulf belong properly to the history of material culture, to the history of myth and legend, to political history, or to the development of the English literary imagination. This book represents both individual and concerted attempts to deal with this important question, and presents one of the most important inconclusions in the study of Old English. The contributors raise so many doubts, turn up so much new and disturbing information, dismantle so many long-accepted scholarly constructs." Pristine, no wear. Clean, tight and strong binding with no underlining, highlighting or marginalia. Illustrated wrappers. Size: Large 8vo.

Seller Inventory # 000155

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Dating of Beowulf
• Publisher: Center for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto Press, Toronto
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802078796
• ISBN 13: 9780802078797
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: As New
• Book Type: Book
• Seller catalogs:
  • LITERARY CRITICISM

About this title

Synopsis

The date of Beowulf, debated for almost a century, is a small question with large consequences. Does the poem provide us with an accurate if idealized view of early Germanic culture? Or is it rather a creature of nostalgia and imagination, born of the desire of a later age to create for itself a glorious past? If we cannot decide when, between the 5th and 11th centuries, the poem was composed, we cannot distinguish what elements in Beowulf belong properly to the history of material culture, to the history of myth and legend, to political history, or to the development of the English literary imagination.

This book represents both individual and concerted attempts to deal with this important question, and presents one of the most important inconclusions in the study of Old English. The contributors raise so many doubts, turn up so much new and disturbing information, dismantle so many long-accepted scholarly constructs that Beowulf studies will never be the same: henceforth every discussion of the poem and its period will begin with reference to this volume.

About the Author

The late Colin Chase (1935-1984) was a member of the Department of English and of the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto.