"most important article ever written about the poem. Scholars of Anglo-Saxon agree that the work was influential, transforming the study of ""Beowulf"". J. R. R. Tolkien's essay """"Beowulf"": The Monsters and the Critics"", initially delivered as a lecture in 1936, is regarded as a formative work in modern ""Beowulf"" studies. In it, Tolkien speaks against critics who play down the monsters in the poem, namely Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon, in favour of using ""Beowulf"" solely as a source for Anglo-Saxon history. Tolkien argues that rather than being merely extraneous, these elements are key to the narrative and should"
"Beowulf (hero) Beowulf (; Old English: ""Bēoƿulf"" ) is a legendary Geatish hero in the epic poem named after him, one of the oldest surviving pieces of literature in the English language. A number of origins have been proposed for the name ""Beowulf"". Henry Sweet, a philologist and early linguist specializing in Germanic languages, proposed that the name ""Bēowulf"" literally means in Old English ""bee-wolf"" or ""bee-hunter"" and that it is a kenning for ""bear"". This etymology is mirrored in recorded instances of similar names. ""Biuuuwulf"" is recorded as a name in the AD 1031 ""Liber Vitae"". The name is"
"Grendel Grendel is a character in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem ""Beowulf"" (AD 700–1000). He is one of the poem's three antagonists (along with Grendel's mother and the dragon), all aligned in opposition against the protagonist Beowulf. Grendel is feared by all but Beowulf. Grendel is described as descended from the lineage of the Biblical figure Cain, from Genesis 4 of the Bible. He is usually depicted as a monster or a giant, although his status as a monster, giant, or other form of supernatural being is not clearly described in the poem and thus remains the subject of scholarly debate."
"was ""gren-dael[ed]"" or ""grin-divid[ed]"", after having his arm torn off at the shoulder by Beowulf, whose name means ""bee-wolf"" or ""bear"". Grendel appears in many other cultural works. Grendel Grendel is a character in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem ""Beowulf"" (AD 700–1000). He is one of the poem's three antagonists (along with Grendel's mother and the dragon), all aligned in opposition against the protagonist Beowulf. Grendel is feared by all but Beowulf. Grendel is described as descended from the lineage of the Biblical figure Cain, from Genesis 4 of the Bible. He is usually depicted as a monster or a giant,"
"Weohstan Weohstan, ""Wēohstān"" or ""Wīhstān"" (Proto-Norse *""Wīhastainaz"", meaning ""sacred stone"", Old Norse ""Vésteinn"" and ""Wǣstēn"") is a legendary character who appears in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem ""Beowulf"" and scholars have pointed out that he also appears to be present in the Norse ""Kálfsvísa"". In both ""Beowulf"" and ""Kálfsvísa"", Weohstan (""Vésteinn"") fought for his king Onela (""Áli"") against Eadgils (""Aðils""). According to ""Beowulf"", Weohstan is the father of Wiglaf, and he belongs to a clan called the ""Wægmundings"". Ecgþeow, the father of Beowulf, also belonged to this clan, so Weohstan is in some degree related to Beowulf. Thus he counts Weohstan's"
"won the battle. Weohstan Weohstan, ""Wēohstān"" or ""Wīhstān"" (Proto-Norse *""Wīhastainaz"", meaning ""sacred stone"", Old Norse ""Vésteinn"" and ""Wǣstēn"") is a legendary character who appears in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem ""Beowulf"" and scholars have pointed out that he also appears to be present in the Norse ""Kálfsvísa"". In both ""Beowulf"" and ""Kálfsvísa"", Weohstan (""Vésteinn"") fought for his king Onela (""Áli"") against Eadgils (""Aðils""). According to ""Beowulf"", Weohstan is the father of Wiglaf, and he belongs to a clan called the ""Wægmundings"". Ecgþeow, the father of Beowulf, also belonged to this clan, so Weohstan is in some degree related to Beowulf. Thus"
"Grendel's mother Grendel's mother () is one of three antagonists in the anonymous Old English poem ""Beowulf"" (c. 700–1000 AD). The other antagonists are Grendel and the dragon, all aligned in opposition to the hero Beowulf. She is introduced in lines 1258b to 1259a as: ""Grendles modor/ides, aglæcwif"". Grendel's mother, who is never given a name in the text, is the subject of ongoing controversy among medieval scholars. This is due to the ambiguity of a few words in Old English which appear in the original ""Beowulf"" manuscript. While there is consensus over the word ""modor"" (mother), the phrase ""ides,"
"finds the dying Grendel and decapitates him. Beowulf returns home to become king of the Geats. After some 50 years, a dragon whose treasure had been stolen from his hoard in a burial mound begins to terrorize Geatland. Beowulf, now in his eighties, tries to fight the dragon but cannot succeed. He follows the dragon to his lair where Beowulf's young relative Wiglaf joins him in the fight. Eventually, Beowulf slays the dragon but is mortally wounded. In the end, his followers bury their king in a mound by the sea. Tolkien's translation of ""Beowulf"" has been compared to Seamus"
"trigger a chain of events in ""The Hobbit"". The ""Beowulf"" dragon is the earliest example in literature of the typical European dragon and first incidence of a fire-breathing dragon. The ""Beowulf"" dragon is described with Old English terms such as ""draca"" (dragon), and ""wyrm"" (reptile, or serpent), and as a creature with a venomous bite. Also, the ""Beowulf"" poet created a dragon with specific traits: a nocturnal, treasure-hoarding, inquisitive, vengeful, fire-breathing creature. The fire is likely symbolic of the hellfire of the devil, reminiscent of the monster in the Book of Job. In the Septuagint Bible, Job's monster is characterized"
"who travels to Denmark to defeat a monster known as Grendel, who is terrorising the kingdom of Hrothgar, and later, Grendel's Mother as well. Following this, he later becomes the king of Geatland before finally dying in battle with a dragon. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, it was commonly believed that ""Beowulf"" was not an Anglo-Saxon pagan tale, but a Scandinavian Christian one; it was not until the influential critical essay """" by J. R. R. Tolkien, delivered in 1936, that ""Beowulf"" was established as a quintessentially English poem that, while Christian, looked back on a living memory"
"Beowulf Beowulf (; ) is an Old English epic story consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It may be the oldest surviving long story in Old English and is commonly cited as one of the most important works of Old English literature. The date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars; the only certain dating pertains to the manuscript, which was produced between 975 and 1025. The author was an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet, referred to by scholars as the """"Beowulf"" author"". The story is set in Scandinavia. Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar,"
"kills a beast that has been ravaging the Danish court for two years. The monster in ""Hrólf Kraki""'s saga, however, is quite unlike the Grendel of ""Beowulf""; but it does have characteristics of a more typical dragon, a creature which appears later in ""Beowulf"". Just as Beowulf and Wiglaf slay a dragon at the end of ""Beowulf"", Bödvar Bjarki and Hjalti help each other slay the creature in Denmark. Proponents of this theory, like J. R. R. Tolkien, argue that both the names ""Beowulf"" (lit. ""bee-wolf"", a kenning for ""bear"") and ""Bjarki"" are associated with bears. Bodvar Bjarki is constantly"
"Unferð In the Old English epic poem ""Beowulf"", Unferth or Hunferth is a thegn (a retainer, servant) of the Danish lord Hrothgar. His name appears four times in the poem (always spelled Hunferð), at lines 499, 530, 1165, and 1488, as well as in line 980 by the appellation ""the son of Eclafes"". The name ""Unferth"" does not appear in any Old English manuscript outside of the Nowell Codex, which contains ""Beowulf"", and the meaning of the name is disputed. Several scholarly theories about Unferth have been proposed. Unferth is also the name of a character in the modern novel"
"editors of Bosworth's monumental dictionary of Anglo-Saxon propose that Beowulf is a variant of beado-wulf meaning ""war wolf"" and that it is cognate with the Icelandic Bodulfr which also means ""war wolf"". Scholars have long debated the origins of the character Beowulf. Some have argued that Beowulf existed in heroic-legendary tradition prior to the composition of ""Beowulf,"" while others have believed that the ""Beowulf"" poet invented his Geatish protagonist. Leonard Neidorf has argued that Beowulf was present in (now lost) heroic-legendary cycles before ""Beowulf"" was composed. Neidorf argued that the seventh-century usage of the name ‘Biuuulf’ (Beowulf), which involves an"
"which he never stops telling. His Russian name ""Begemot"" means hippopotamus, but also refers to the legendary Biblical monster. Behemoth (Master and Margarita) Behemoth () is a character from the novel ""The Master and Margarita"" by the Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov. He is an enormous (said to be as large as a hog) demonic black cat who speaks, walks on two legs, and can even transform to human shape for brief periods. He has a penchant for chess, vodka, pistols, and obnoxious sarcasm. He is evidently the least-respected member of Woland's entourage; Margarita boldly takes to slapping Behemoth on the"
"Bugbear A bugbear is a legendary creature or type of hobgoblin comparable to the bogeyman (or bugaboo or babau), and other creatures of folklore, all of which were historically used in some cultures to frighten disobedient children. Its name is derived from the Middle English word ""bugge"" (a frightening thing), or perhaps the old Welsh word ""bwg"" (evil spirit or goblin), or old Scots ""bogill"" (goblin), and has cognates in German ""bögge"" or ""böggel-mann"" (goblin), and most probably also English ""bogeyman"" and American English ""bugaboo"". In medieval England, the Bugbear was depicted as a creepy bear that lurked in the"
"a poem on the ""Beowulf"" theme. Beowulf, a prince of the Geats, and his followers set out to help king Hroðgar of the Danes in his fight against the monster Grendel. Because Grendel hates music and noise he frequently attacks Hroðgar's mead hall Heorot killing the king's men in their sleep. While Beowulf cannot kill Grendel directly in their first encounter, he still wounds him fatally. Afterwards he has to face Grendel's mother who has come to avenge her son. Beowulf follows her to a cavern beneath a lake where he slays her with a magical sword. There he also"
"kings upon the earth, The statement is clear, except for the final word, ""lof-geornest"" ('keenest to seek fame'), which is two-edged. It is no shame for a hero to seek fame, but it may be possible to be too eager for it. Beowulf (hero) Beowulf (; Old English: ""Bēoƿulf"" ) is a legendary Geatish hero in the epic poem named after him, one of the oldest surviving pieces of literature in the English language. A number of origins have been proposed for the name ""Beowulf"". Henry Sweet, a philologist and early linguist specializing in Germanic languages, proposed that the name"
"Wiglaf Wiglaf (Old English Wīġlāf pronunciation: ) is a character in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem ""Beowulf"". He is the son of Weohstan, a Swede of the Wægmunding clan who had entered the service of Beowulf, king of the Geats. Wiglaf is called ""Scylfing"" as a metonym for Swede, as the Scylfings were the ruling Swedish clan. While in the service of the Scylfing Onela, king of the Swedes, Weohstan killed the rebel prince Eanmund and took his sword as a trophy; Wiglaf later inherited it. Weohstan belonged to the clan of the Wægmundings, the same clan Beowulf's father Ecgþeow belonged"
"""Ugly troll-lady"" (Trask) and ""monstrous hag"" (Kennedy). Doreen M.E. Gillam's 1961 essay, ""The Use of the Term 'Æglæca' in Beowulf at Lines 893 and 2592,"" explores Klaeber's dual use of the term ""aglæca/æglæca"" for the heroes Sigemund and Beowulf as well as for Grendel and Grendel's mother. She argues that ""aglæca/æglæca"" is used in works besides ""Beowulf"" to reference both ""devils and human beings"". She further argues that this term is used to imply ""supernatural,"" ""unnatural"" or even ""inhuman"" characteristics, as well as hostility towards other creatures. Gillam suggests: ""Beowulf, the champion of men against monsters, is almost inhuman himself."
"Nægling Næġling () is the name of one of the swords used by Beowulf in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem of ""Beowulf"". The name derives from ""næġl"", or ""nail"", and may correspond to Nagelring, a sword from the ""Vilkina saga"". It is possibly the sword of Hrethel, which Hygelac gave to Beowulf (ll. 2190-94). Næġling is referenced many times as a fine weapon—it is ""sharp"", ""gleaming"", ""bright"", ""mighty"", ""strong"", and has a venerable history as an ""excellent ancient sword"", ""old heirloom"", and ""old and grey-coloured"". However, the sword does not survive Beowulf's final encounter with the dragon, snapping in two—not because"
"than with a lizard-like or dinosaur-like body as in later belief (though the dragon of Beowulf does show several features that would later become popularized with dragons–namely, it breathes fire–lives underground, and collects treasure). The most famous lindworm in Norse and Germanic mythology is Fafnir The Germanic stories of lindworms have them guarding a treasure hoard. The Fafnir lindworm guarded earthen mounds full of ancient treasure. The treasure was cursed and brought ill to those who later possessed it. Sea serpents are also called orms in Nordic languages, wyrms in Old English and worms in Middle English. These ""dragons"" are"
"where the deer appeared. Satet, goddess of the hunt, was shown with the horns of a deer, and sometimes a deer's face. An Anglo-Saxon royal scepter found at the Sutton Hoo burial site in England features a depiction of an upright, antlered stag. In the Old English language poem ""Beowulf"", much of the first portion of the story focuses on events surrounding a great mead hall called Heorot, meaning ""Hall of the Hart"". In the ""Poetic Edda"" poem ""Grímnismál"" the four stags of Yggdrasil are described as feeding on the world tree, Yggdrasil, and the poem further relates that the"
"Hrunting Hrunting was a sword given to Beowulf by Unferth in the ancient Old English epic poem ""Beowulf"". Beowulf used it in battle against Grendel's Mother. Beowulf is described receiving the sword in lines 1455-1458: However, although the sword possessed great power and was claimed to have never failed anyone who used it, when Beowulf descended to the bottom of the lake to fight Grendel's mother, the sword proved ineffective. As the ""fabulous powers of that heirloom failed,"" Beowulf was forced to discard it. Swords have great significance in the war-centred Anglo-Saxon culture from which ""Beowulf"" arises. Therefore, emphasis is"
"Eggther's name is identical to that of Ecgtheow, the father of Beowulf from the Old English epic poem of the same name. However, he agrees with Andy Orchard who states in his ""Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend"" that this parallel is most likely a red herring. Eggthér In Norse mythology, Eggthér (or Egdir) is a giant and herdsman who is described as sitting on a mound and joyfully playing his harp while the red rooster Fjalar begins to crow, heralding the onset of Ragnarök. According to stanza 42 of the poem ""Völuspá"" from the ""Poetic Edda"": The identity of"
"be called Thorin Oakenshield). Gandalf (mythology) Gandalf (""Gandálfr"") is a Dvergr (Norse dwarf) in Norse mythology, appearing in the so-called 'Tally of the Dwarves' within the poem Völuspá from the Poetic Edda, as well as in the Prose Edda. The name derives from the Old Norse words ""gandr"" (magic staff) and ""álfr"" (elf), thus a protective spirit who wields a magical wand. The name was also used for a Norse king in the ""Heimskringla"". In his fictional writings, J. R. R. Tolkien eventually named his wizard Gandalf after the Dvergr, but initially used the name for the head of the"
"in common to them. A monster called ""Orcus"" is mentioned in Edmund Spenser's ""Faerie Queene"" (Book II, Canto XII, line xlvii). The word ultimately comes from Latin ""Orcus"", the demonic Roman god of death, who should not be confused with Pluto, the god of the underworld, and has transformed by several stages from the meanings ""underworld"", ""hell"", ""devil"", ""evil creature"" to ""ogre"". Tolkien and the lexicons he used attributed the origin of the doubtful Old English ""orc"" to ""Orcus"" and in one of his invented languages, the word for orc also had the form ""orco"". Words derived from or related"
"Wulfings The Wulfings, Wylfings or Ylfings (the name means the ""wolf clan"") was a powerful clan in ""Beowulf"", ""Widsith"" and in the Norse sagas. While the poet of ""Beowulf"" does not locate the Wulfings geographically, Scandinavian sources define the Ylfings (the Old Norse form of the name) as the ruling clan of the Eastern Geats. The Wulfings play an important role in ""Beowulf"" as Beowulf's father Ecgþeow of the Wægmunding clan had slain one of its members, and was banished for not paying the weregild. The Danish king Hroðgar, who was married to Wealhþeow, a Wulfing woman, graciously paid the"
"similar water spirits. Grindylow In English folklore, grindylow or grundylow is a creature in the counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire. The name is thought to be connected to Grendel, a name or term used in ""Beowulf"" and in many Old English charters where it is seen in connection with meres, bogs and lakes. Grindylows are said to grab children with their long sinewy arms and drown them if they come too close to the waters edge. Grindylows have been used as a shadowed figure to frighten children away from pools, marshes or ponds where they could drown. Peg Powler and"
"Grindylow In English folklore, grindylow or grundylow is a creature in the counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire. The name is thought to be connected to Grendel, a name or term used in ""Beowulf"" and in many Old English charters where it is seen in connection with meres, bogs and lakes. Grindylows are said to grab children with their long sinewy arms and drown them if they come too close to the waters edge. Grindylows have been used as a shadowed figure to frighten children away from pools, marshes or ponds where they could drown. Peg Powler and Jenny Greenteeth are"
"or 'host'. In, If ""*orcné"" is to be glossed as ""orcus"" 'corpse', the meaning may be ""corpse from Orcus (i.e. the underworld)"", or ""devil-corpse"", understood as some sort of walking dead creature. This etymology is plausible, but it remains conjectural. ""Orc"" appears in two other locations in the poem ""Beowulf"", but refers to cups of precious metal found in a treasure-hoard. The Old English word ""þyrs"", given as a gloss for Latin ""orcus"", is cognate to Old Norse ""þurs"" 'giant', 'ogre', both originating from the unattested Common Germanic term ""thurisaz"", which in Norse mythology refers to one of the monstrous"
"and Wiglaf, who had been sleeping outside the hall during the attack, that it was the work of Grendel's mother. She is the last of the Water Demons, who were thought to have left the land. Beowulf and Wiglaf travel to the demon's cave to slay her. Beowulf enters the cave alone and encounters the demon, who takes the form of a beautiful woman. She seduces him with promises to make him king in exchange for the drinking horn and a son to replace Grendel. Beowulf returns to Heorot and announces he has killed the demon. Only Hrothgar is not"
"rather than Balmung. The legendary smith Wayland Smith forged the magic sword Mimung, which appears both in the Anglo-Saxon poem Waldere and in the German/Scandinavian ""Þiðrekssaga"". Beowulf wielded the sword Hrunting that was according to the poem annealed in venom. The sword was useless against Grendel's Mother. In desperation Beowulf grabbed a giant sword of great age and with it took off the head of the she monster. In Japanese mythology, there is a magical sword called Kusanagi, which was one of the three crown jewels given to the Emperor Jimmu by the goddess Amaterasu. Additionally, the katana forged by"