Tolkien’s reading of Beowulf, and his ability to blend the epic with the novel, fiction and scholarship, shaped his sense of story 

Summary

The article from Arts & Letters Daily argues that J.R.R. Tolkien's interpretation of Beowulf significantly shaped his narrative style, enabling him to blend epic storytelling with novelistic techniques and scholarly analysis. It highlights how Tolkien's engagement with the ancient text informed his understanding of narrative structure and character development, suggesting a successful integration of different literary forms.