Boewulf Vs. Tolkien

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While Clark has many strengthens in his article there were some faults. To begin with, I think it would have been helpful if there were a quick summary of each story/text he would be making reference to. Someone like me, who has never read Maldon or anything regarding the Battle of Maldon, I had trouble trying the make the comparison between Sam and Byrhtnoth. Luckily, I have seen the Lord of the Rings series therefore I was able to relate and understand what Clark was saying.

Another fault I thought that Clark had made in the article was not expanding his brief talk of Christianity in the two texts. I think that if he had made that topic a whole other segment it would have really added to his article and made it stronger than it already is. He briefly acknowledge the Christian references and the implication of how the author was Christian but writing from a pagan view. If he had added onto this it could have made his article more powerful because religion does factor into the creation of a hero.

I found Clark’s approach to be helpful when analyzing the poem as well as interesting. Since I have a strong love for Lord of the Rings, I enjoyed seeing Clark’s perspective on how there is a connection between Beowulf and the Tolkien's idea of a hero. When looking at the epic, it is easy to miss details about the characters and the message that the poet was trying to communicate. By looking at a text that I was familiar with I found that helpful in trying to understand the hero’s and what defines a hero in these pieces of literature.

Overall, I enjoyed Clark’s article on arguing that even though Tolkien wanted to create a new hero and new heroism in his works like, Monster, Homecoming, and Lord of the Rings, he could not help but keep traditions of the standard hero. I believe that Clark had more strengthens than weaknesses in his article. His background information of the Anglo-Saxon culture and Old English grammar was helpful in understanding the viewpoints of heroes during this era in literature. He provided enough evidence to support his argument and changed my perspective on the epic poem.