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Ever since Tolkien’s famous lecture in 1936, it has been generally accepted that the poem Beowulf is a fantasy, and of no use as a witness to real history. This book challenges that view, and argues that the poem provides a plausible, detailed, and consistent vision of pre-Viking history which is most unlikely to have been the poet’s invention, and which has moreover received strong corroboration from archaeology in recent years. Using the poem as a starting point, historical, archaeological, and legendary sources are combined to form a picture of events in the North in the fifth and sixth centuries, at once a Dark and a Heroic Age, and the time of the formation of nations. Among other things, this helps answer two long-unasked questions. Why did the Vikings come as such a shock? And what caused the previous 250 years of security from raiders from the sea?
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Beowulf and the North before the Vikings, Tom Shippey
- Lingua
- Pubblicato
- 2022
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- (In brossura)
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- Titolo
- Beowulf and the North before the Vikings
- Lingua
- Inglese
- Autori
- Tom Shippey
- Editore
- Arc Humanities Press
- Pubblicato
- 2022
- Formato
- In brossura
- ISBN10
- 1802700137
- ISBN13
- 9781802700138
- Serie
- Tag
- Saggistica, Storia, Medioevo, Archeologia
- Valutazione
- 4,75 su 5
- Descrizione
- Ever since Tolkien’s famous lecture in 1936, it has been generally accepted that the poem Beowulf is a fantasy, and of no use as a witness to real history. This book challenges that view, and argues that the poem provides a plausible, detailed, and consistent vision of pre-Viking history which is most unlikely to have been the poet’s invention, and which has moreover received strong corroboration from archaeology in recent years. Using the poem as a starting point, historical, archaeological, and legendary sources are combined to form a picture of events in the North in the fifth and sixth centuries, at once a Dark and a Heroic Age, and the time of the formation of nations. Among other things, this helps answer two long-unasked questions. Why did the Vikings come as such a shock? And what caused the previous 250 years of security from raiders from the sea?