For Halloween, reread Headley’s new translation of Beowulf, which uses the language of millennials and generation z.
If Dante had his Virgil, I have Beowulf. Both poets helped up negotiate dark times.
In protesting police violence against communities of color, protesters must avoid grief-fueled violence, the archetype of which is Grendel’s Mother.
Through describing their essays on “Beowulf,” I recount how five students are responding to the Covid crisis.
To teach students how to understand and respond to violence, Beowulf is a go-to work.
“Beowulf” and “Lord of the Rings” have blind spots but they are transcendent works for all that.
Thursday When I launched this blog over 10 years ago, I called it Better Living through Beowulf because Beowulf is the starting text for those of us specializing in British Literature. I used Beowulf to represent all of literature and felt free to write about any literary work that provides insight into the life we […]
Thursday Today I will be delivering the following talk as part of Sewanee’s Lifelong Learning series, delivered in a venue that used to be my high school and where I spoke 50 years ago. It may sound strange to some of you that a literary scholar such as myself would talk about fantasy. Aren’t we […]
Thursday I report today on a memorable encounter I had with an African American alum upon my first post-retirement return to St. Mary’s College of Maryland. I was talking with a former colleague when Candace looked in and began reminiscing. I didn’t recognize her, even after she told me her name, but something clicked when […]
