The Misconception behind Beowulf's Name

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There are very few instances where I think Tolkien got something wrong, but this is probably one of those. The commonly shared anecdote that Beowulf's name means bee+wolf and is therefore a sort of bear kenning is exciting, but likely incorrect. In this video I talk about why we can be more confident that the name was most likely actually Beow + wulf.
#oldenglish #anglosaxon #beowulf #tolkien

Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
01:10 - Who came up with "bee wolf"?
02:19 - Tolkien and Beowulf's bearishness
06:21 - The problem with "bee wolf"
07:02 - The Beow theory
09:04 - Which theory should we go with?

Good papers to read about this:
Fulk, R. D., & Harris, J. (2002). Beowulf’s name. In: Daniel D.(Ed). Seamus H. (Trans.). Beowulf: A Verse Translation, 98-100. NY & London: W. W. Norton.
Fulk, R. D. (2007). The etymology and significance of Beowulf’s name. Anglo-Saxon, 1, 109–136.
Neidorf, L., Zhu, C. The Germanic Onomasticon and the Etymology of Beowulf’s Name. Neophilologus 106, 109–126 (2022).
Neidorf, Leonard, and Chenyun Zhu. 2022. “Minor Germanic Deities and the Etymology of Beowulf’s Name.” ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews 37 (2): 163–68.

About other names:
Fulk, R. D. (1987). Unferth and his name. Modern Philology, 85, 113–127.
Neidorf, L. (2018). Wealhtheow and her name: Etymology, characterization, and textual criticism. Neophilologus, 102, 75–89.

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