J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1936 lecture “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics” focused on the Old English poem Beowulf.
Delivered at Oxford, the lecture argued that Beowulf should be valued as a work of poetry, not treated merely as a historical source or a collection of folklore. Tolkien defended the poem’s monsters, especially Grendel and the dragon, as central to its artistic design. The lecture became one of the most influential pieces of modern Beowulf criticism.
Tolkien also produced a prose translation of Beowulf, but it was not published during his lifetime. His scholarly engagement with the poem influenced his own fiction, particularly his treatment of heroic societies, ancient treasures, monsters, and the passage of time. The 1936 lecture is therefore distinct from his later translation and from his work on other Old English texts.