This course will select its monsters, villains, and wives from early English, French, and Anglo-Norman literature, ranging from the giant Grendel (and his mother) in Beowulf to the arch-villain Ganelon in The Song of Roland, from the faithless queen Guinevere to the seductive wife of the enigmatic Green Man in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. We will finish by considering the survival of magical monsters in the modern-day fantasy classic The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien, and in The Mere Wife, by Maria Dahvana Headley. We will also trace Tolkien’s career as a medievalist himself and especially as a Beowulf scholar.

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 25

Crosslisted Courses:

Prerequisites: None. Not open to students who have taken WRIT 143 in Fall 2022.

Instructor: Lynch

Distribution Requirements: LL - Language and Literature

Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Not Offered

Notes: