This review of the critical reception of Old English literature from 1900 to the present moves beyond a focus on individual literary texts so as to survey the different schools, methods, and assumptions that have shaped the discipline.

• Examines the notable works and authors from the period, including Beowulf, the Venerable Bede, heroic poems, and devotional literature


• Reinforces key perspectives with excerpts from ten critical studies


• Addresses questions of medieval literacy, textuality, and orality, as well as style, gender, genre, and theme


• Embraces the interdisciplinary nature of the field with reference to historical studies, religious studies, anthropology, art history, and more