J.R.R. Tolkien discussed Beowulf in his influential 1936 lecture “The Monsters and the Critics.”
Tolkien delivered the lecture as a major contribution to the study of the Old English epic Beowulf. He argued that critics should treat the poem as a coherent work of art rather than judging it mainly as an imperfect historical document or a source of information about Germanic society.
The lecture defended the importance of the poem’s monsters, especially Grendel and the dragon. Tolkien maintained that these supernatural enemies were central to the poem’s meaning and structure, not embarrassing leftovers that scholars should explain away.
The essay became one of the most influential modern works of Beowulf criticism. It also helps explain Tolkien’s own literary interests: ancient languages, heroic traditions, monsters, elegy, and the tension between mortality and the desire for lasting fame. The lecture was published in 1937.