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The Monsters and the Critics, and Other Essays

First edition
Editor	Christopher Tolkien
Author	J. R. R. Tolkien
Language	English
Subjects	Anglo-Saxon mythology Old English poetry Philology Welsh language Conlanging Mythology
Publisher	George Allen & Unwin, Houghton Mifflin
Publication date	1983
Publication place	United Kingdom
ISBN	978-0261102637
OCLC	9945117
Dewey Decimal	820/.9 19
LC Class	PE27 .T65 1983
Preceded by	Finn and Hengest
Followed by	The Book of Lost Tales

The Monsters and the Critics, and Other Essays is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's scholarly linguistic essays edited by his son Christopher and published posthumously in 1983.

All of them were initially delivered as lectures to academics, with the exception of "On Translating Beowulf", which Christopher Tolkien notes in his foreword is not addressed to an academic audience.

Essays

The essays are:

• "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics" looks at the critics' understanding of Beowulf, and proposes instead a fresh take on the poem.
• "On Translating Beowulf" looks at the difficulties in translating the poem from Old English.
• "On Fairy-Stories", the 1939 Andrew Lang lecture at St Andrew's University, is a defence of the fantasy genre.
• "A Secret Vice" talks about creating imaginary languages, giving background to Tolkien's Quenya and Sindarin.
• "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" is a study of the medieval poem of the same name.
• "English and Welsh", the inaugural O'Donnell Memorial Lecture (1955), is a survey of the historical relationship between the two tongues, including an analysis of the word Welsh.
• "Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford", given upon his retirement in 1959.

Versions

• The Monsters and the Critics, and Other Essays (1983). J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien. George Allen and Unwin. ISBN 0-04-809019-0

--- (1984) Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-35635-0

--- (1997) HarperCollins. ISBN 0-261-10263-X

v t e J. R. R. Tolkien
Bibliography Letters
Poetry and songs	Songs for the Philologists (1936) "Bagme Bloma" The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son (1953) "A Walking Song" (1954) The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (1962) "Errantry" "Fastitocalon" "The Sea-Bell" "The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late" The Road Goes Ever On (1967) Bilbo's Last Song (1974) The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún (2009) The Fall of Arthur (2013) The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien (2024) List of Tolkien's alliterative verse
Fiction	The Hobbit (1937) "Leaf by Niggle" (1947) The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun (1945) Farmer Giles of Ham (1949) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (1954) The Two Towers (1954) The Return of the King (1955) Tree and Leaf (1964) The Tolkien Reader (1966) Smith of Wootton Major (1967)
Posthumous fiction	The Father Christmas Letters (1976) The Silmarillion (1977) Unfinished Tales (1980) Mr. Bliss (1982) The History of Middle-earth (1983–1996) The Book of Lost Tales The Lays of Beleriand The Shaping of Middle-earth The Lost Road and Other Writings The History of The Lord of the Rings Morgoth's Ring The War of the Jewels The Peoples of Middle-earth Roverandom (1998) The Children of Húrin (2007) The History of The Hobbit (2007) The Story of Kullervo (2015) Beren and Lúthien (2017) The Fall of Gondolin (2018) The Nature of Middle-earth (2021) The Fall of Númenor (2022)
Academic works	Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Middle English text, 1925) "The Devil's Coach Horses" (1925) "Ancrene Wisse and Hali Meiðhad" (1929) "Sigelwara Land" (1932–34) "Chaucer as a Philologist: The Reeve's Tale" (1934) "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics" (1936) "On Fairy-Stories" (1939) Eucatastrophe "On Translating Beowulf" (1940) Sir Orfeo (1944) Ancrene Wisse (1962) "English and Welsh" (1963) Jerusalem Bible (as translator and lexicographer, 1966)
Posthumous academic	Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo (translations, 1975) Exodus (1981) Finn and Hengest (1982) The Monsters and the Critics, and Other Essays (1983) Beowulf and the Critics (2002) Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary with "Sellic Spell" (2014) A Secret Vice (2016)
Scholars	Biographers Humphrey Carpenter J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography (1977, authorized biography) John Garth Tolkien and the Great War The Worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien Catherine McIlwaine Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth Charles Moseley Christian Stratford Caldecott Matthew T. Dickerson Colin Duriez Peter Kreeft Holly Ordway Joseph Pearce Fleming Rutledge Ralph C. Wood Literary critics Douglas A. Anderson Nicholas Birns Bradley J. Birzer Janice Bogstad & Philip Kaveny Picturing Tolkien David Bratman Janet Brennan Croft Tolkien on Film Patrick Curry Bradford Lee Eden Dimitra Fimi Tolkien, Race and Cultural History Jason Fisher Verlyn Flieger Interrupted Music A Question of Time Splintered Light Michael Foster Nick Groom Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull J. R. R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Bibliography The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion J. R. R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide Randel Helms Thomas Honegger Charles A. Huttar Paul H. Kocher Master of Middle-Earth Stuart D. Lee The Keys of Middle-earth Jared Lobdell A Tolkien Compass John D. Rateliff Robin Anne Reid Brian Rosebury Tolkien: A Cultural Phenomenon Amy H. Sturgis Anna Vaninskaya Richard C. West Elizabeth Whittingham Rose Zimbardo Understanding The Lord of the Rings Linguists Anthony Appleyard Helge Fauskanger Carl F. Hostetter Tom Loback David Salo Arden R. Smith Allan Turner Medievalists, Classicists Marjorie Burns Perilous Realms Jane Chance Tolkien and the Invention of Myth Tolkien's Art: 'A Mythology for England' Michael D. C. Drout J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia Jonathan Evans Vincent Ferré Gergely Nagy Tom Shippey J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century The Road to Middle-Earth Elizabeth Solopova Sandra Ballif Straubhaar Hamish Williams Tolkien and the Classical World Popular Lin Carter Robert Foster Glen GoodKnight Michael Martinez Charles Noad J. E. A. Tyler
Related	Family Francis Xavier Morgan Influences Artwork Languages constructed by Tolkien Impact of Tolkien's Middle-earth writings Inklings Mythlore Mythopoeic Society Elvish Linguistic Fellowship Tolkien's impact on fantasy Tolkien and the modernists Tolkien Estate Tolkien fandom Tolkien fan fiction The Tolkien Society Awards Tolkien Studies Memorials Reception Tolkien research Works inspired by Tolkien Tolkien (biographical film) Poems and Songs of Middle Earth (album) Language and Human Nature The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary

v t e Beowulf
Old English Alliterative verse Kenning
Clans (characters)	Geats Beowulf Heardred Hygd Hygelac Hundings Scyldings Æschere Healfdene Heorogar Hroðgar Unferð Scylfings Eadgils Eanmund Ohthere Onela Ongentheow Waegmundings Ecgþeow Weohstan Wiglaf Wulfings Wealhtheow Monsters Grendel Grendel's mother The Dragon
Translating Beowulf	List of translations Seamus Heaney Beowulf: A New Verse Translation J. R. R. Tolkien Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics" Beowulf and the Critics "On Translating Beowulf" "Sellic Spell" Finn and Hengest
Scholars	Nora K. Chadwick Michael D. C. Drout Robert D. Fulk Kevin Kiernan Leonard Neidorf John D. Niles Geoffrey Russom Tom Shippey
Related	Adaptations Anglo-Saxon paganism Battle of Finnsburg Beowulf and Middle-Earth Heorot Hrunting Nægling Nowell Codex

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