Beowulf the Jute; His Life and Times


Book Description

The epic poem "Beowulf" has been explored by many scholars, but personal acquaintance revealed that some important aspects always seem to have been overlooked. This book's intention was to correct such omissions, but discrepancy turned out to be widespread. Rather than being solely a contribution to Scandinavia's history, the material mainly illustrates aspects of English origins as viewed by one of their own kind. A post-Roman doomed culture arose in eastern England. Largely ignored in English records, the history of this is obscure, but the geography is even more so, since reliable place-names are but few. The poem predominantly served as an allegorical tool and, laced with folklore, was used to comment on the behaviour of those in leadership roles, both in politics and religion. Synthesis even allows an identity to be suggested for the poet.




Beowulf's Popular Afterlife in Literature, Comic Books, and Film


Book Description

Beowulf's presence on the popular cultural radar has increased in the past two decades, coincident with cultural crisis and change. Why? By way of a fusion of cultural studies, adaptation theory, and monster theory, Beowulf's Popular Afterlife examines a wide range of Anglo-American retellings and appropriations found in literary texts, comic books, and film. The most remarkable feature of popular adaptations of the poem is that its monsters, frequently victims of organized militarism, male aggression, or social injustice, are provided with strong motives for their retaliatory brutality. Popular adaptations invert the heroic ideology of the poem, and monsters are not only created by powerful men but are projections of their own pathological behavior. At the same time there is no question that the monsters created by human malfeasance must be eradicated.




Adam and Evolution


Book Description

Let us start with the obvious. Living matter, having once emerged from obscure beginnings on this planet Earth - the home selected for it in the Universe - has continued to exist in countless different forms right to the present time. As a means to cope with the enormous diversity involved, natural scientists have created a comprehensive classification system. This enables one to get a grasp of the complexities of the chronological and biological relationships that all forms of life bear to one another. It is called the Linnaean System, named after Carl von Linné, its Swedish instigator. This is known more generally as taxonomy and the immediately following discourse is by way of a résumé to aid those to whom it is not entirely familiar. Yet is it ultimately a completely satisfactory method? Will it ever be able to explain all aspects of evolution? In later chapters there will be some discussion on this matter and suggestions made that are meant to clarify points that hitherto have been inexplicable.




Not Quite Trite


Book Description

These poems range from the nonsensical, through reflections on personal experiences, to comments on the state of the planet upon which we all live. During a long lifetime, diverse interests or specific events—either in the author’s personal life or in the wider world—have led to an emotional artistic outlet being sought in the composition of poetry. The work leads off with a limerick. This is exemplary of the style usually followed, namely one based on rhyme and rhythm. The bulk of the work is in English, but the author’s interest in foreign languages—and having spent time abroad—has led to a few forays into the wider linguistic experience to be found in other Western European cultures. So it came to be: For better or for worse, release the hounds of verse. There is no intention to educate, but it is hoped that the reader might sometimes be amused and sometimes be provoked, or even perhaps inspired. The poems are in no particular order apart from that of the alphabet. They are followed by a notes section, giving information on the timing and circumstances of each poem, and, occasionally, supplemented by illustrations. Two of the latter are cartoons by Luke Pearson, the author’s grandson.




Beowulf to Blake


Book Description







Longman Anthology of Old English, Old Icelandic, and Anglo-Norman Literatures


Book Description

The Longman Anthology of Old English, Old Icelandic and Anglo-Norman Literatures provides a scholarly and accessible introduction to the literature which was the inspiration for many of the heroes of modern popular culture, from The Lord of the Rings to The Chronicles of Narnia, and which set the foundations of the English language and its literature as we know it today. Edited, translated and annotated by the editors of Beowulf and Other Stories, the anthology introduces readers to the rich and varied literature of Britain, Scandinavia and France of the period in and around the Viking Age. Ranging from the Old English epic Beowulf through to the Anglo-Norman texts which heralded the transition Middle English, thematically organised chapters present elegies, eulogies, laments and followed by material on the Viking Wars in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Vikings gods and Icelandic sagas, and a final chapter on early chivalry introduces the new themes and forms which led to Middle English literature, including Arthurian Romances and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Laying out in parallel text format selections from the most important Old English, Old Icelandic and Anglo-Norman works, this anthology presents translated and annotated texts with useful bibliographic references, prefaced by a headnote providing useful background and explanation.










From the earliest times to the accession of Edward the First.-v.2. From the accession of Edward the First to the death of Henry the Seventh.-v.3. From the accession of Henry the Eighth to the death of Elizabeth.-v.4. From the accession of James the First to the death of Anne.-v.5. From the accession of George the First to the Battle of Waterloo.-v.6. From the Battle of Waterloo to the present day


Book Description