J.R.R. Tolkien wrote his famous 1936 lecture about the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf.
Tolkien’s lecture, titled “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics,” argued that the poem deserved to be studied as a work of literature rather than treated mainly as a historical document. He emphasized the artistic importance of its monsters, especially Grendel and the dragon, and described the poem’s structure as a balanced opposition between youth and age.
The lecture became one of the most influential modern discussions of Beowulf. Tolkien’s expertise as an Old English scholar shaped his interpretation, while his own creative imagination helped him take the poem’s supernatural elements seriously.
Beowulf survives in a single medieval manuscript, generally dated to around the year 1000. The poem tells of the hero Beowulf’s battles with Grendel, Grendel’s mother and a dragon. It is distinct from The Wanderer and The Battle of Maldon, which are also important Old English poems but are not the subject of Tolkien’s famous lecture.