Of unknown authorship, Beowulf is an Old English epic poem which incites contentious debate and has been endlessly interpreted over the centuries. This Reader's Guide provides a much-needed overview of the large body of Beowulf criticism, moving from eighteenth-century reactions to twenty-first-century responses. Jodi-Ann George: charts the changes in critical trends and theoretical approaches applied to the poem includes discussion of J. R. R. Tolkein's pioneering 1936 lecture on Beowulf, and Seamus Heaney's recent translation analyses Beowulf in popular culture, addressing the poem's life in film versions, graphic novels, music and comics. Clear and engaging, this is an indispensable introductory guide to a widely-studied and enigmatic work which continues to fascinate readers everywhere.

JODI-ANNE GEORGE is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Dundee, UK, where she also runs the JOOT Theatre Company. She has published widely on early drama, Anglo-Saxon poetry and the Pre-Raphaelites, and her previous publications include the volume on Geoffrey Chaucer: The General Prologue which is also in the Readers' Guides series.