SOURCE: “The Beowulf Poet,” in Philological Quarterly, Vol. XXXIX, No. 4, October, 1960, pp. 389-99.

In the essay below, Baum explores the possible audience for which Beowulf was composed and argues that internal evidence suggests the poet intended to create a “quasi-heroic” poem for his own enjoyment, with the hope that others might also be pleased with his work.

Some years ago (1936) Professor Tolkien, in his British Academy lecture, created an academic stir with his complaints that the scholars had been too busy about their own concerns and had neglected the criticism of Beowulf as a poem.¹ Latterly, Miss Whitelock (1951) attempted to recreate the ‘audience’ of Beowulf in the interests of bringing forward its date from the early to the late eighth century.² Though the two subjects are not closely related, one may be used to throw light on the other.

Tolkien was attacked and defended, but the questions are...