Returning to Heorot: Beowulf's Famed Hall and its Modern Incarnations

The concept of 'traditional referentiality', developing out of oral theory, has long proved a productive analytical tool in medieval literary studies. Close analysis of Beowulf's hall, Heorot, demonstrates the benefit of expanding the approach to visual media and material culture. In Beowulf, Heorot's physical characteristics are inextricably linked with the social functions of the hall and Germanic heroic ideals more broadly, and these particular associations retain a surprising degree of consistency in modern renderings. The connotative meanings shared by Anglo-Saxon halls and modern recreations help us better discern how the poem draws authors, filmmakers, and illustrators repeatedly back to the world of Beowulf.