{"product_id":"the-art-and-thought-of-the-beowulf-poet-hardback-9781501766909","title":"The Art and Thought of the \"Beowulf\" Poet (Hardback) 9781501766909","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eThe Art and Thought of the \"Beowulf\" Poet\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eLeonard Neidorf (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781501766909\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 15 January 2023\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e216 pages\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.907 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNeidorf (Nanjing Univ., China) offers a refreshingly original approach to the Old English epic poem Beowulf. The author is convincing and thorough in making his arguments, which he presents in three concise chapters. In the first chapter, he contextualizes Beowulf within the larger tradition of Scandinavian and Germanic literature and explores marked departures that distinguish it.\u003c\/p\u003e (Choice) \u003cp\u003eThis book seeks to understand what makes Beowulf so unlike the kind of narrative that it is, paradoxically, so frequently considered to epitomize: the heroic legends of Germanic-speaking Europe in the Migration Age. This is a book on Beowulf well worth reading.\u003c\/p\u003e (Journal of the Spanish Society for Medieval English Language and Literature)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e The Art and Thought of the\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e Beowulf \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePoet\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e, Leonard Neidorf explores the relationship between\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e Beowulf\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e and the legendary tradition that existed prior to its composition\u003c\/b\u003e. The \u003ci\u003eBeowulf\u003c\/i\u003e poet inherited an amoral heroic tradition, which focused principally on heroes compelled by circumstances to commit horrendous deeds: fathers kill sons, brothers kill brothers, and wives kill husbands. Medieval Germanic poets relished the depiction of a hero's unyielding response to a cruel fate, but the \u003ci\u003eBeowulf\u003c\/i\u003e poet refused to construct an epic around this traditional plot. Focusing instead on a courteous and pious protagonist's fight against monsters, the poet creates a work that is deeply untraditional in both its plot and its values. In \u003ci\u003eBeowulf\u003c\/i\u003e, the kin-slayers and oath-breakers of antecedent tradition are confined to the background, while the poet fills the foreground with unconventional characters, who abstain from transgression, display courtly etiquette, and express monotheistic convictions. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eComparing \u003ci\u003eBeowulf\u003c\/i\u003e with its medieval German and Scandinavian analogues, \u003ci\u003eThe Art and Thought of the\u003c\/i\u003e Beowulf \u003ci\u003ePoet\u003c\/i\u003e argues that the poem's uniqueness reflects one poet's coherent plan for the moral renovation of an amoral heroic tradition. In \u003ci\u003eBeowulf\u003c\/i\u003e, Neidorf discerns the presence of a singular mind at work in the combination and modification of heroic, folkloric, hagiographical, and historical materials. Rather than perceive \u003ci\u003eBeowulf\u003c\/i\u003e as an impersonally generated object, Neidorf argues that it should be read as the considered result of one poet's ambition to produce a morally edifying, theologically palatable, and historically plausible epic out of material that could not independently constitute such a poem.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003e 1. Kin-Slaying and Oath-Breaking\u003cbr\u003e 2. Courtesy and Courtliness\u003cbr\u003e 3. Monotheism and Monstrosity\u003cbr\u003e Conclusion\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Cornell University Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52676746150168,"sku":"9781501766909","price":28.29,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/the-art-and-thought-of-the-beowulf-poet-hardback-9781501766909","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}