J.R.R. Tolkien loved Beowulf, as evidenced by his landmark lecture, “The Monsters and the Critics,” his posthumously published prose translation (released in 2014), and his inclusion of Anglo-Saxon themes and words throughout The Lord of the Rings. In this week’s episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Dr. Ben Weber, Associate Professor of English at Wheaton College and specialist in Medieval literature to discuss the significance of Beowulf itself as literature, Tolkien’s fascination with the poem, as well as how reading this Old English heroic poem can help modern minds grapple with death and forces of chaos beyond our control.