My sister, debradove, generously offered to write about Beowulf and violence, which was part of her dissertation at the University of Alabama (Roll Tide!) I happily took her up on it. Yes, we’re both medievalists. She focused more on the Early Middle Ages and I mucked around with Chaucer and manuscripts (when your area of study encompasses1200 years, there’s room enough for everyone to play without any sibling rivalry). Anyway, thanks, Deb, for adding balance to the conversation and helping us get a comprehensive look at the entire poem. I’m looking forward to the conversation this inspires.
Because she’s new to the whole group blogging thing, inadvertently she published tonight’s installment earlier today and, as we all know, there’s no takesie-backsies. So instead of just hoping you’ll find her piece by happenstance, you’ll find it at Beowulf: The Actions and the Digressions. Please welcome her formally to Readers and Book Lovers.
At this point, I’m going to get out of her way. Next week, we’ll bring everything full circle with a discussion about translations. The week after that, the topic will be works inspired by Beowulf. So if you have poems, artwork, plays, or favorite movies modeled on the great play, haul them out and shine them up (and yes, I want to talk about that Beowulf movie! The Angelina Jolie one. And the Antonio Banderas one. And some of the other ones). Meanwhile, please enjoy a subject very close to my sister’s heart. See you over there.
Earlier installments of this mini-series: