“But I have read enough, I think, to venture the opinion that Beowulfiana is, while rich in many departments, especially poor in one. It is poor in criticism, criticism that is directed to the understanding of a poem as a poem.”
This quote is at the heart of what Tolkien wants to convey with this lecture. There is no doubt that Beowulf has been studied tirelessly by historians and professors of literature and linguistics. And Tolkien later goes on to somewhat validity the historians' effort as noble and necessary. However, Tolkien highlights the fact that up until now, this poem has been solely used to study northern Germanic themes and history. This may be because it is one of the only stories that we have that date back this far. Tolkien later goes on to talk about the poet's intentions when writing this poem. He claims that this poem was written by a christian on the cusp of a society denouncing the pagan lifestyle. Therefore it is a poem written about the past. The poet's intentions were to make the poem sound like a eulogy, and make it sound historic. Although the poet succeeded in doing so, this is possibly why so many scholars study Beowulf as a historic text and not a poem of the literature category. The author of the poem succeeded in what they wanted to do.
This quote is at the heart of what Tolkien wants to convey with this lecture. There is no doubt that Beowulf has been studied tirelessly by historians and professors of literature and linguistics. And Tolkien later goes on to somewhat validity the historians' effort as noble and necessary. However, Tolkien highlights the fact that up until now, this poem has been solely used to study northern Germanic themes and history. This may be because it is one of the only stories that we have that date back this far. Tolkien later goes on to talk about the poet's intentions when writing this poem. He claims that this poem was written by a christian on the cusp of a society denouncing the pagan lifestyle. Therefore it is a poem written about the past. The poet's intentions were to make the poem sound like a eulogy, and make it sound historic. Although the poet succeeded in doing so, this is possibly why so many scholars study Beowulf as a historic text and not a poem of the literature category. The author of the poem succeeded in what they wanted to do.
I found this essay interesting because Tolkien really goes after the critics that break down Beowulf into microscopic pieces in order to analyse them. It reminds me of a quote from Lord of the Rings:
White!' he sneered. 'It serves as a beginning. White cloth may be dyed. The white page can be overwritten; and the white light can be broken.'
In which case it is no longer white,' said I. 'And he that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.' - Gandalf”
I love that you were pretty much directly able to connect Tolkien's message in the essay to a quote from Lord of the Rings. Tolkien doesn't just point out the importance of understanding literature for what it is in an analytical essay, but instead brings that point into his own works. He doesn't simply make a point, but demonstrates his thoughts on the matter in his own writing. Things like this give his works so much more credibility in my opinion, because he's not simply criticizing other scholars for no reason, but because he feels this matter is very important and should be recognized as such.
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