Beowulf and the Illusion of History

by John F. Vickrey

Most Beowulf scholars have held either that the poems' minor episodes are more or less based on incidents in Scandinavian history or at least that they entail nothing of the fabulous or monstrous. Beowulf and the Illusion of History contends that, like the poem's Grendelkin episodes, certain minor episodes involve monsters and contain motifs of the "Bear's Son" folktale. In the Finn Episode the monsters are to be taken as physically present in the story as we have it, while in the mention of the hero's fight with Daeghrefn and perhaps in the accounts of the fight with Ongenbeow, the principal foes, though originally monsters, appear now more like ordinary humans. The inference permits the elucidation of passages hitherto obscure and indicates that the capability of the Beowulf poet as a "maker" is greater than has been thought. John F. Vickrey, is Professor of English, Emeritus, at Lehigh University.

254 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2009

Reviews

[Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Without Vickery's innovative way of translating the word Eotan, my book would never would have gotten finished. I cannot possibly praise a non-fiction book used for research more. Many thanks for your insights, Vickrey!

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written study of certain plot digressions in the Beowulf poem. The author puts forward a theory that the Finn Episode, Hygelac's Frisian raid and Swedish wars actually have no historical basis, but share the same bears son folk tale motif as Beowulf's main plot. An enjoyable book but I'm not wholly convinced.