{"product_id":"beowulf-and-the-north-before-the-vikings-9781802700138","title":"Beowulf and the North Before the Vikings","description":"\u003cp\u003eEver since Tolkien's famous lecture in 1936, it has been generally accepted that the poem \u003cem\u003eBeowulf\u003c\/em\u003e is a fantasy, and of no use as a witness to real history. This book challenges that view, and argues that the poem provides a plausible, detailed, and consistent vision of pre-Viking history which is most unlikely to have been the poet's invention, and which has moreover received strong corroboration from archaeology in recent years. Using the poem as a starting point, historical, archaeological, and legendary sources are combined to form a picture of events in the North in the fifth and sixth centuries: at once a Dark and a Heroic Age, and the time of the formation of nations. Among other things, this helps answer two long-unasked questions: why did the Vikings come as such a shock? And what caused the previous 250 years of security from raiders from the sea?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTom Shippey =========== \u003cp\u003eTom Shippey has published extensively on Tolkien and on early medieval literature. His last book is \u003cem\u003eLaughing Shall I Die: Lives and Deaths of the Great Vikings\u003c\/em\u003e (2018).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"ARC Humanities Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50651624309010,"sku":"9781802700138","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_1282293e-dedf-4f8e-8ff1-3525e08daea2.jpg?v=1733305841","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/beowulf-and-the-north-before-the-vikings-9781802700138","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}