Beowulf: For Those Who Possess Attention Spans Of Incredulously Short Length And Are Easily Intimidated By Ancient Works Of Literature, The British Library in London
Within the British Library in London lies Cotton Vitellius A.xv, in which the Nowell Codex resides, and it is in this codex that exists the only copy of the epic poem “Beowulf” with which this page is concerned. The story revolves around our eponymous hero, Beowulf, who was “Noble and mighty, in this life he was / the strongest of men in those days” (196-197) yet also delves deep into the ancestry of kingdoms and the lore of its monsters, providing a most insightful look into its universe. Its impact is vast, stretching across time, land, and sea, yet its analysis and discussion are difficult, even in the modern day and age, as there remain a great number of complications in regards to the interpretation of the text and the extrapolation of its intended meaning.
Lawrence explains it best in his article, stating “The criticism of Beowulf is a tangled thicket, and whoever would make a clearing at a given point, and try to gain a wider view into the distance, must expect to find that there are more trees to be felled than he had supposed, and that the only path which lies open to him may be blocked by a monarch of the forest” (221). The epic poem of Beowulf is so ancient, its language so archaic, its historical and cultural impacts so pervasive, that to fully dissect such a behemoth of a work continues to be an endless task.
That isn’t to say, however, that we should therefore give up altogether. Quite the contrary, in fact, its unconquerable stature is what makes felling the trees of Beowulf all the more gratifying. Now, thanks to the modern marvel of technology and the instantaneous transferal of information through the internet, we can cast our attentive gaze upon the amalgam of innumerable years of academic and scholarly studies and examinations into the digestible morsel that is the concise yet informative video above, which explores Beowulf’s plot and its various historical and cultural influences in a charmingly drawn and spectacularly narrated summary.
Overly Sarcastic Productions' video is delightfully fast-paced, with each shot containing blink-and-you'll-miss-it visual gags and references, and an almost tangible sense of wit and humor. Perhaps even more importantly is that the review's very existence is a modern testament to Beowulf's withstanding of the test of time. Its legacy is found in the myriad of themes, story, characters, and tropes that are still relevant in our culture to this very day.
Works Cited
Lawrence, William Witherle. "Some Disputed Questions in Beowulf-Criticism." PMLA 24.2 (1909): 220-73. Web.
"The Grinnell Beowulf : A Translation with Notes (Revised)." Digital Grinnell |. Grinnell College, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2016.