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1. Getting intimate / Daniel C. Remein and Erica Weaver -- Part I: Beowulf in public -- 2. Community, joy, and the intimacy of narrative in Beowulf / Benjamin A. Saltzman -- 3. Beowulf and the intimacy of large parties / Roberta Frank -- 4. Beowulf as Wayland's work: thinking, feeling, making / James Paz -- Part II: Beowulf at home -- 5. Beowulf and babies / Donna Beth Ellard -- 6. At home in the fens with the Grendelkin / Christopher Abram -- Part III: Beowulf outside -- 7. Elemental intimacies: agency in the Finnsburg episode / Mary Kate Hurley -- 8. What the raven told the eagle: animal language and the return of loss in Beowulf / Mo Pareles -- Part IV: Beowulf's contact list -- 9. Men into monsters: troubling race, ethnicity, and masculinity in Beowulf / Catalin Taranu -- 10. Sad men in Beowulf / Robin Norris -- 11. Differing intimacies: Beowulf translations by Seamus Heaney and Thomas Meyer / David Hadbawnik -- Part V: Beowulf in bed -- 12. Beowulf and Andreas: intimate relations / Irina Dumitrescu -- 13. Beowulf, Bryher, and the Blitz: a queer history / Peter Buchanan -- 14. Dating Wiglaf: emotional connections to the young hero in Beowulf / Mary Dockray-Miller -- Index. Featuring essays from some of the most prominent voices in early medieval studies, Dating Beowulf playfully redeploys the word 'dating', which usually heralds some of the most divisive critical impasses in the field, to provocatively phrase a set of new relationships with an Old English poem. The volume argues for the relevance of the early Middle Ages to affect studies and vice-versa, offering a riposte to antifeminist discourse and opening avenues for future work by specialists in the history of emotions, literary theorists, students of Old English literature and medieval scholars alike. To this end, the essays embody a range of critical approaches from queer theory to animal studies and ecocriticism to actor-network theory "Dating Beowulf playfully redeploys the word 'dating' to direct attention to questions of intimacy, affect, and erotics. It thereby creates new relationships with an Old English poem that has not seen a radical reconsideration of its position within the field of literary studies for at least a decade.In addition to serving as a touchstone for critics engaged in debates about the future of early medieval studies, the book also opens affect to a premodern archive and vice-versa. It addresses urgent contemporary issues such as ecological imperialism and toxic masculinity, mobilizing queer and feminist readings in order expose the study of Old English literature to a more diverse range of voices and approaches. Featuring essays from some of the most prominent figures in the field, the book provides an alternative to the increasingly outmoded companions to the poem currently available, and will be useful to advanced undergraduate and graduate students as well as to scholars and teachers at all levels.As these essays reveal, the intimacies within Beowulf ultimately escape the charged confines of the poem, which remains - perhaps paradoxically - anonymous and undated. Dating Beowulf opens new avenues for future work by specialists in the history of emotions, literary theorists, students of Old English literature, and medieval scholars alike." -- Back cover
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