Which Tolkien essay, first published in 1936, changed modern academic views of Beowulf?
Answer
Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics
The Tolkien essay that changed modern academic views of Beowulf was Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.
Tolkien delivered the essay as a lecture at Oxford in 1936, and it was published the same year. He argued that scholars had focused too heavily on historical fragments and linguistic evidence while undervaluing the poem as a work of art.
His defense of the monsters, especially Grendel and the dragon, helped redirect attention toward the poem’s structure, themes, and imaginative power. The essay became one of the most influential works of modern Beowulf criticism.
The title is sometimes confused with Tolkien’s other scholarly and literary essays. On Fairy-Stories discusses fantasy and subcreation, whereas Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics addresses the Old English epic directly.