The Art and Thought of the "Beowulf" Poet

In The Art and Thought of the Beowulf Poet , Leonard Neidorf explores the relationship between Beowulf and the legendary tradition that existed prior to its composition . The Beowulf poet inherited an amoral heroic tradition, which focused principally on heroes compelled by circumstances to commit horrendous deeds: fathers kill sons, brothers kill brothers, and wives kill husbands. Medieval Germanic poets relished the depiction of a hero's unyielding response to a cruel fate, but the Beowulf poe