Scyld and Grendel: Richard Fahey and Chris Vinsonhaler: “Scyld and Grendel: Two Reigns of Terror.” Journal of Early Medieval Northwestern Europe, 2023. This article reveals the poem’s enigmatic design via attributes linking Scyld Scefing, the “god cyning” (good king), with Grendel.
Oath-Swearers: Richard Fahey and Chris Vinsonhaler: “Aþum Swerian: Swearers of Oaths?” University of Notre Dame Medieval Studies Research Blog. Oct. 11, 2023. This essay identified problems with the conventional emendation to “aþum-sweoran” (fathers-and-son-in-law) and argues for an emendation to “aþum-swaran” (swearers of oaths).
Aglæca: Uncanny Marauder: Richard Fahey and Chris Vinsonhaler: “Aglæca: Awesome Opponent or Uncanny Invader?” University of Notre Dame Medieval Studies Research Blog. Sept. 6, 2023. See also Vinsonhaler’s analysis of the term across the corpus: Aglæca: Analysis across the corpus
Vengeance (fæhð): Click here for analysis.
The Grendel Episode: Chris Vinsonhaler: “The Hearmscaþa and the Handshake: Desire and Disruption in the Grendel Episode.” Comitatus, 2016.
Chris Vinsonhaler: The Prophetic Beowulf: Heroic-Hagiographic Hybridity in Beowulf, Juliana, and Andreas. Dissertation, University of Iowa. 2013.
Presentations
International Medieval Congress. “Hrothgar’s Crimes.” Leeds University, 2024.
International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University.” Beowulf in Translation: What’s Next?” May, 2024.
Southeastern Medieval Association Conference. “Beowulf’s Criminality.” October, 2023.
Southeastern Medieval Association Conference. ““The Drama of Exorcism in Beowulf and Juliana.” November, 2021.
International Medieval Congress, WMU. “The Soundscapes of Beowulf,” May 2019.
International Medieval Conference, Leeds, England. “Juliana: The Latin vs. the Old English,” July 2018.
National Endowment for the Humanities: Beowulf Seminar. Presentation: “Beowulf’s Soundscape,” 2016.
Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Arizona State University,
“Correcting Klaeber’s Supplement: A Reading of the Contest with Grendel,” February 2011.
New College Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Studies,
Sarasota, Florida. “The Performed Beowulf,” March 2006.
Southeastern Medieval Association Conference,
Daytona, Florida. “The Poetics of Repetition in Beowulf,” October 2005.
Medieval Colloquium, University of the South. Sewanee, Tennessee. March 2005.
International Medieval Congress, Kalamazoo, Michigan: “The Ironic Frame of Beowulf” May 2005.
Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Arizona State University, “The performed poetics of Beowulf,” February 2004.
Supporting Scholarship
Abels, Richard. Alfred the Great: War, Kingship, and Culture in Anglo-Saxon England. 2013. Abels offers a thorough review of Alfred’s leadership during the tumultuous Viking era.
Anlezark, Daniel: Water and Fire: The Myth of the Flood in Anglo-Saxon England. 2006. Anlezark identifies elements that frame Heorot with signs of apocalyptic annihilation.
Griffith, Mark: “Sigemund Reconsidered.” Anglo-Saxon England, 1995. Griffith observes various negative elements in the depiction of Sigemund, and he identifies a reference to Sigurd as the dragon-slayer.
Howlett, David: “Who’s Afraid of Beowulf?” The New Yorker, 2000. An article that reviews Howlett’s claim that Aethelstan composed and signed Beowulf during the reign of Alfred the Great.
Leneghan, Francis: “The Haunting of Heorot.” Media Aevum, January 2024 Leneghan observes signs of exorcism in the Grendel episode.
__ “Beowulf: The Wrath of God and the Fall of the Angels.” English Studies, 2024. Leneghan observes the paradoxical relationship between demonic wrath and divine anger.
Major, Tristan: Undoing Babel: The Tower of Babel in Anglo-Saxon Literature. 2018. Major identifies an array of elements that align Heorot with the Tower of Babel as a totem of idolatry.
Rauer, Christine: Beowulf and the Dragon: Parallels and Analogues. 2000. Rauer identifies the hagiographic analogues that define the dragon in Beowulf.