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Lewis on Beowulf

Comprising most of Lewis' writings.
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Lewis on Beowulf

Postby ladysherlockian » January 1st, 2010, 4:38 pm

I was listening to the recording of a lecture my friend did for me when I was sick, and I heard something new about CS Lewis and his scholarly work. The lecturer mentioned an essay by CS Lewis about Beowulf, in which Lewis considers the epic a thoroughly Christian work, telling a story of pride and its punishment. Unfortunately, the lecturer did not give the title of the essay and I was not there to ask him. What is the title of this essay and in which book by CS Lewis can I find it?

Please forgive my mistakes, English is not my native language.
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Re: Lewis on Beowulf

Postby Adam Linton » January 1st, 2010, 7:09 pm

Lewis was not known as a Beowulf specialist, and I can't recall an essay of his for which it is the main topic.

J. R. R. Tolkien, however, was one of the premier Beowulf scholars of the last one hundred years. His essay, "The Monsters and the Critics" changed the course of Beowulf studies. It's included in the Tolkien essay collection of the same name [try Amazon UK]. It's also one of the essays in the Norton Critical Editions of Beowulf.
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Re: Lewis on Beowulf

Postby ladysherlockian » January 1st, 2010, 9:09 pm

Tolkien and his works are my main interest, and I learned about CS Lewis thanks to Tolkien, he was mentioned as his friend so I got interested in Lewis too. I am not very knowledgeable about Lewis, but what the lecturer said surprised me, as I've read that Tolkien wrote about Beowulf, I've heard about the essay you have mentioned, but I've never heard anything about Beowulf and Lewis. Before I asked this question, I did an Internet search on the topic, but with no conclusive results. This have interested me deeply, is it possible that the lecturer made some mistake? This seems very unlikely, as it was a lecture on English and American novel.
Last edited by ladysherlockian on January 31st, 2010, 3:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Lewis on Beowulf

Postby Sven » January 1st, 2010, 9:13 pm

There's rather a lot about Beowulf in A Preface to Paradise Lost, but I don't recall anything along the specific lines you mention.
Rat! he found breath to whisper, shaking. Are you afraid?
Afraid? murmured the Rat, his eyes shining with unutterable love.
Afraid! Of Him? O, never, never! And yet -- and yet -- O, Mole, I am afraid!
Then the two animals, crouching to the earth, bowed their heads and did worship.
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Re: Lewis on Beowulf

Postby Larry W. » January 2nd, 2010, 12:31 pm

Would Lewis have approved of modern prose translations of poems such as Donaldson's Beowulf? That was the one I read in college many years ago, though it still would be considered modern today if one considers the age of the poem itself and its many translations. There was the advantage of not having to cram lines into verse from new English into old Anglo-Saxon. Most people today aren't scholars of Old English (especially young college/university students), and they certainly benefit by having a clear modern translation (such as Donaldson's) in their own language.

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Re: Lewis on Beowulf

Postby ladysherlockian » January 19th, 2010, 2:47 pm

I have listened to the recording once again, more carefully than before, but the lecturer indeed did not give the name of the essay on Beowulf. What he did say was that this essay was the most important and well-known scholarly work of Lewis, and he described how in Lewis's time it was believed that the Christian elements and allusions in Beowulf were just later additions by monks who wanted to make it more Christian, and these were not originally in the poem. Other scholars wanted to get rid of the Christian elements and return to what they believed was the original, pagan spirit of the poem. According to the lecturer, Lewis protested against these opinions, claiming that Beowulf was essentially and inherently Christian and these Christian elements were there at the beginning, pointing to the Christian moral of punished pride. Lewis was also of the opinion that Beowulf was a much later thing, written when England was already Christian - at least, according to the lecture. I don't know what to think of it. Would it be possible to post here some excerpts from Lewis's work that may be relevant to this issue - I mean the things about Beowulf in the Preface to Paradise Lost? Lewis's works are quite hard to get here in Poland, especially the scholarly ones. Thank you in advance for your helpful comments.
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Re: Lewis on Beowulf

Postby archenland_knight » January 19th, 2010, 2:52 pm

Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
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Re: Lewis on Beowulf

Postby ladysherlockian » January 31st, 2010, 7:35 pm

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Re: Lewis on Beowulf

Postby Larry W. » February 1st, 2010, 2:48 am

I bought (or more accurately, received it free with two other books bought at Barnes & Noble) a nice hardcover verse translation of Beowulf Friedrich Klaeber the other day. Has anyone here read that translation?

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Re: Lewis on Beowulf

Postby matdonna » February 2nd, 2010, 4:12 am

Translation? I have Klaeber's edition of the OE text. From university days.
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Re: Lewis on Beowulf

Postby Larry W. » February 2nd, 2010, 12:24 pm

The edition I have is a modern English translation. The translator was John McNamara, not Friedrich Klaeber, the person that I had mistakenly listed in my last message. (whose text the translation is based on). Your Beowulf in the original Old English is probably a much rarer and more valuable book for collectors. I haven't read mine yet, but I think it is good for general readers and students who don't know any Anglo Saxon. The translator seems to have been a good OE scholar. Anyway, this was quite a good deal for a bargain book. :smile: I wondered if colleges and universities actually offer courses in Anglo Saxon so that students can read Beowulf in the original. They don't in my country (at least they didn't when I was in college many years ago), but perhaps they do in England where the poem is studied in more depth in its original language. Most colleges and universities here in the U. S. don't require students to read The Illiad and The Odyssey in original Greek, either. I guess we received our classics second hand, which may not be as good, but at least we read them. :smile:

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Re: Lewis on Beowulf

Postby JDMalament » May 20th, 2010, 11:57 pm

I remember reading somewhere about Lewis originally having difficulty teaching Beowulf because of the poor instruction that he, himself, received. This led to his sucessful "Beer and Beowulf" evenings, which I believe, also involved J.R.R. Tolkien. Apparently, the mixture of undergraduates, alcohol, and epic poetry is a good mix.

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