Publisher's Synopsis
The Epic is a novel written by Lascelles Abercrombie, first published in 1914. The book is a modernist retelling of the epic poem Beowulf, set in a fictional kingdom called Heorot. The story follows the heroic journey of a young warrior named Sigurd, who is tasked with defeating a monstrous creature known as Grendel.As Sigurd sets out on his quest, he is joined by a band of loyal companions, including his best friend, the poet Weland, and a wise old warrior named Hrothgar. Together, they face a series of challenges and battles, both physical and emotional, as they strive to protect their kingdom and defeat their enemies.The Epic is a powerful exploration of themes such as heroism, loyalty, love, and sacrifice. It is a rich and complex work, filled with vivid imagery and evocative language, that captures the spirit of the original epic while also offering a fresh and modern perspective on the timeless story.The prime material of the epic poet, then, must be real and not invented. But when the story of the poem is safely concerned with some reality, he can, of course, graft on this as much appropriate invention as he pleases; it will be one of his ways of elaborating his main, unifying purpose--and to call it ""unifying"" is to assume that, however brilliant his surrounding invention may be, the purpose will always be firmly implicit in the central subject. Some of the early epics manage to do without any conspicuous added invention designed to extend what the main subject intends; but such nobly simple, forthright narrative as Beowulf and the Song of Roland would not do for a purpose slightly more subtle than what the makers of these ringing poems had in mind.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
