Out Now: Nokes on Beowulf in Comic Books and Graphic Novels

Just released this week. Congratulations to Scott Nokes:

Beowulf in Comic Books and Graphic Novels

Richard Scott Nokes

(Full details and ordering information from the publisher are available from this link.)

Bibliographic Details

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 209
Bibliographic Info: 25 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2023
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8778-0 ($49.95)
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4842-2
Imprint: McFarland

About the Book

The legendary story of Beowulf comes to us in only one medieval manuscript with no illustrations. Modern comic book and graphic novel artists have created visual interpretations of Beowulf for decades, both illustrating and altering the classic story to pull out new themes.
This book examines the growing canon of Beowulf comic books and graphic novels since the 1940s, and shows the remarkable emergence of new traditions—from re-envisioning the medieval look, to creating new plotlines, and even to transforming his identity. While placing Beowulf in a fantastical medieval setting, a techno-dystopia of the future, or modern-day America, artists have appropriated the tale to comment on social issues such as war, environmental issues, masculinity, and consumerism. Whether Beowulf is fighting new monsters or allying with popular comic book superheroes, these artists are creating a new canon of illustration that redefines Beowulf’s place in our culture.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vi
Timeline of Beowulf Comic Books and Graphic Novels ix
Note on Citations xi
Preface 1
Introduction 5
1. The Artist as Manuscript Illustrator 13
2. The Further Adventures of Beowulf 74
3. Beowulf as Storyteller 96
4. Beowulf Transformed 107
5. Beowulf for Younger Readers 129
Conclusion 172
Chapter Notes 177
Bibliography 189
Index 193

About the Author(s)

Richard Scott Nokes is a professor of medieval literature at Troy University in Troy, Alabama. His previous published research has focused on popular medievalism and manuscript culture.

CFP Decentering the White Male Gaze: Inclusivity and Diverse Voices in Beowulf Studies (9/25/21; NeMLA 2022)

Decentering the White Male Gaze: Inclusivity and Diverse Voices in Beowulf Studies (NeMLA 2022)

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2021/06/16/decentering-the-white-male-gaze-inclusivity-and-diverse-voices-in-beowulf-studies

deadline for submissions: September 25, 2021

full name / name of organization: Richard Fahey - NeMLA 2022

contact email: rfahey@nd.edu

Beowulf studies has traditionally been the domain of white male scholars who have historically dominated both the scholarship and translations of the poem. This session seeks to decenter the white male gaze and invites novel perspectives from often marginalized voices in the field to contribute to the many ongoing academic conversations focused on Beowulf.

Although in the field of Beowulf studies, Beowulf has long been regarded as a poem about men and for men, this session rejects such notions and seeks to highlight the formative role women play both in the poem and in the scholarship. Moreover, this session intends to explore the role of race in both the poem and the scholarship, and scholars of color, who have even more underrepresented that women in the field, are especially encouraged to submit proposals. Some recommended topics might include discussion of the role of women in the poem or women’s contributions to scholarship and translations of Beowulf. Other recommended topics might include exploring the role of race and tribalism in the poem, examining the effects of ethno-nationalism and toxic masculinity on interpretations of Beowulf and its literary afterlives, highlighting scholars of color’s contributions to Beowulf studies or centering the perspectives of the monsters.

Please send paper proposals (along with your contact information and a brief academic biography) and/or questions directly to session organizer, Richard Fahey at rfahey@nd.edu. Unless otherwise directed, he will submit the panel details to the conference.

Last updated June 23, 2021

Blog Launch

The Old English epic Beowulf remains familiar to readers through its editions and translations as well as its more varied transformations into other media. These three types of Beowulfiana represent a massive corpus of between 500 to 700 works according to entries in Hans Sauer’s 205 Years of Beowulf: Translations and Adaptations (2005-2010) and the Beowulf’s Afterlives Bibliographic Database; though, as medievalists, we tend to focus on the first two categories rather than the last. New versions of the story feature in all forms of modern mediævalisms, yet (as is true with most medieval texts) research continues to focus primarily on depictions of Beowulf on screen (about 40 examples according to the Internet Movie Database). We hope in this blog and through our outreach efforts to expand our view of Beowulf’s reception and (re)interpretation by creative artists and look more deeply at the text’s wider use. We are particularly interested in explorations of the adaptation and/or appropriation of the text, its characters, and its themes in less explored media. For instance, traditional literary texts (such as novels, short stories, and poems) include at least 200 works according to the Internet Speculative Fiction Database and much more are recorded by the Beowulf’s Afterlives Bibliographic Database. In addition, the comics include at least 300 examples according to the Grand Comics Database. Besides these, there remain many new and neglected works on film, television, entertainment consoles, and the Internet. Still other media (such as musical theater) remain largely uncataloged.