The Timeless Epic of Beowulf

Foundations of heroism & sacrifice

While J.R.R. Tolkien crafted The Lord of the Rings, the medieval poem Beowulf was arguably the one work of literature that inspired him more than any other. For 25 years the Oxford professor studied the Old English epic — convinced it had layers of meaning that others overlooked.

In 1936, Tolkien delivered a lecture entitled "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.” In it, he laid out a groundbreaking interpretation of the poem that didn't just revive Beowulf’s status as a masterpiece, but reshaped the way his peers understood heroism, sacrifice, and the battle against evil. Through Tolkien’s work with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, this understanding lives on and still influences us today.

But what is Beowulf, and why did Tolkien see it as the key to creating his own life’s work? Well, what he discovered changed the face of literature forever…