Gumtree, is Finn and Hengist good non-light reading for someone who reads sagas for pleasure?
Not really. It's an rather erudite scholarly study -Here's a little from the cover Blurb -
Tolkien's
most significant contribution to Anglo-Saxon studies is to be found in his lectures on the story of Finn and Hengest, two fifth-century heroes in northern Europe: the story is told in two Old English poems, Beowulf and The Fight at Finnesburg, but told so obscurely and allusively that its interpretation has been a matter of controversy for more than a hundred years. As elucidated by Tolkien the story is a classic tragedy of divided loyalties, of vengeance, blood and death... The story of Finn and Hengest is covered by what Tolkien refers to as 'The Fragment' and 'The Episode' from the poems . They are very short extracts -the
Fragment lines 1-48 from the Fight at Finnesberg and
Episode Beowulf lines 1063-1159 . Both are enigmatic to say the least ...
Naturally, Tolkien references lots of other texts - poems like
Widsith and historians eg Bede et al. Some I know but many I don't.
I bought the book by chance years ago when I saw it on a remainder stack and though it is rather too scholarly for me I go back to it from time to time and perhaps glean a little more from it. Now I've taken it down from the shelf I'll probably browse it tonight and then put it away again - til next time.
