Beowulf and the North Before the Vikings / / Tom Shippey

• Autore: Shippey Tom
• Pubblicazione: Leeds : , : Arc Humanities Press, , 2022; London : , : Bloomsbury Publishing, , 2023
• Edizione: 1st ed.
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (136 pages)
• Disciplina: 737
• Soggetto topico: Beowulf - Criticism and interpretation; Civilization, Viking; Mythology, Norse
• Soggetto geografico: Scandinavia
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references.
• Nota di contenuto: Introduction : fantasy or history? -- Poetry and archaeology -- Old legend, new reality -- The bigger picture -- The non-national epic.
• Sommario/riassunto: 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?
• Titolo autorizzato: Beowulf and the North Before the Vikings
• ISBN: 1-64189-933-6; 1-80270-055-2; 1-80270-054-4
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Record Nr.: 9910820258903321
• Lo trovi qui: Univ. Federico II
• Serie: Past Imperfect.