Beowulf and the North before the Vikings

Although this book examines the historical contexts of the Old English poem Beowulf from a variety of perspectives, it is directed not toward historians (although they are surely part of the book’s broader audience) but primarily toward students and scholars of Beowulf. The arguments of the book are presented in a very readable, accessible style, so it is also directed toward a general audience that is interested in either Beowulf or early Scandinavian history, or both.[...]Tolkien presented his British Academy lecture as a correction of what he saw as an over-emphasis on legendary history to the detriment of the poem as poem. Perhaps, if we are fortunate, Shippey’s book will contribute to a similar correction and return the historical dimensions of the poem to the center of our critical concerns. To this end, he explores these dimensions from as many perspectives as possible.

~Dennis Cronan, SELIM: Journal of the Spanish Society for Medieval English Language and Literature 28 (2023): 137–40