Which Tolkien lecture argued that monsters are central to Beowulf’s meaning?

Tolkien’s lecture arguing that monsters are central to Beowulf’s meaning was titled “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.”

Tolkien delivered the lecture in 1936 at the British Academy. He challenged approaches that treated Beowulf mainly as evidence about Germanic history, language, or folklore. Instead, he argued that the poem should be appreciated as a crafted work of literature, with its monsters forming an essential part of its design and significance.

The lecture became one of the most influential modern discussions of Beowulf. Tolkien emphasized the poem’s structure around encounters with Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon, and he defended the poet’s artistic choices. The essay was published in 1937. It is often remembered alongside Tolkien’s fiction because it shows the literary ideas behind his interest in heroic stories, monsters, elegy, and the tension between courage and mortality.