Beowulf: An Introduction   

With the Greek epic Odyssey in movie theaters recently, it's a good time to go back to look at the first great English epic, Beowulf. This Viking tale about the hero's battles with monsters and a dragon vividly evokes the "Dark Ages" civilization of the north countries—of Denmark, where the tale takes place, and of Anglo-Saxon England, where it was composed and written down. Like much poetry in Old English, Beowulf is a haunting picture of the early medieval imagination, struggling to maintain life in a civilization beset by monsters and feuds. OLLI instructor Prof. Nicholas Jones will be our guide to Beowulf for this one-time Zoom lecture.