Well, fortunately, I think I am finally done with a real (sort of) first draft of the first chunk of Beowulf. But now I am a little scared in that my "reference points are dated," as Prof. Watson said. Nonetheless. How does one write a new historical version of Beowulf when we know so little of the history? Or a cultural studies version? I think we don't. At least it would take someone more inventive than I am to pull it off.

Here is what I think I have come up with:

Get rid of all the bs that overstates the role of the sublime. Pull the sublime in under an umbrella: the ecstatic, the sublime, and the uncanny. Oppose it to beauty along with images of barrenness. Learn more about liminality and bring it in.

Cut length by 20%. Make claims 20% more conservative.