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A review by bookwomble
Basilisks and Beowulf: Monsters in the Anglo-Saxon World by Tim Flight
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I really enjoyed this exploration of the Anglo-Saxon cultural relationship with monsters. Flight is an academic, and (as far as I can tell as a non-academic) he knows his stuff, which he communicates in a detailed but easygoing manner which makes for great reading.
The book is broken into chapters exploring themes of belonging and otherness in respect of geography and borders, civilisation and barbarity, order and chaos, Christianity and paganism, then moves on to Anglo-Saxon attitudes towards key monstrous figures, including wolves, dragons, whales and, of course, Grendel and his mother, and what they can tell us about the Anglo-Saxon world view. In setting out these perspectives, Flight invites the reader to reflect on the degree to which Englishness has changed, and what it has retained, his short concluding chapter explicitly stating some of the parallels he draws himself.
I was particularly interested in Flight's reflections on the plasticity of the state of monstrousness, of what defines and separates a true human being from a monster, how one can become the other, what monster tales told the Anglo-Saxons about themselves, and why we continue to be fascinated by ravening beasts who may decide us, physically or spiritually.
Loved it.
The book is broken into chapters exploring themes of belonging and otherness in respect of geography and borders, civilisation and barbarity, order and chaos, Christianity and paganism, then moves on to Anglo-Saxon attitudes towards key monstrous figures, including wolves, dragons, whales and, of course, Grendel and his mother, and what they can tell us about the Anglo-Saxon world view. In setting out these perspectives, Flight invites the reader to reflect on the degree to which Englishness has changed, and what it has retained, his short concluding chapter explicitly stating some of the parallels he draws himself.
I was particularly interested in Flight's reflections on the plasticity of the state of monstrousness, of what defines and separates a true human being from a monster, how one can become the other, what monster tales told the Anglo-Saxons about themselves, and why we continue to be fascinated by ravening beasts who may decide us, physically or spiritually.
Loved it.