Beowulf and the North before the Vikings
Tom Shippey
Published by Arc Humanities Press, 2022
Past Imperfect presents concise critical overviews of the
latest research by the world's leading scholars. Subjects cross
the full range of fields in the period ca. 400 - 1500 CE which,
in a European context, is known as the Middle Ages. Anyone
interested in this period will be enthralled and enlightened by
these overviews, written in provocative but accessible language.
These affordable paperbacks prove that the era still retains a
powerful resonance and impact throughout the world today.
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?
Tom Shippey has published extensively on Tolkien and on early medieval literature.
His last book is Laughing Shall I Die: Lives and Deaths of the Great Vikings (2018).
(The text above comes from the back of the book)