“Beowulf” was the predecessor for J.R.R. Tolkien’s works. Many of the ideas for “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” came from “Beowulf,” for example the dragon guarding the treasure and the hero having to fight for it.

“Beowulf” is an epic poem composed between middle of seventh and end of 10th century in Old English. “Beowulf” is a tale of a man who encounters monsters throughout his life as a nobleman and a king. The poem starts off with a young Beowulf who wins prestige after his encounter with Grendel and ends with the fatal encounter with the dragon. The poem is filled with themes of loyalty, bravery, kinship, foreshadowing, comitatus code, humility and gift giving.

“Lovers of great books are invited to the 2006 EIU Literature Conference, featuring the epic Anglo-Saxon poem ‘Beowulf,'” said Audrey Edwards, professor in the secondary education and foundation department.

The conference will start off with a showing of “Beowulf and Grendel” at 7 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union. Most people who have heard of “Beowulf” have read it from Beowulf’s perspective, but in 1988, John Gardner wrote a novel titled “Grendel” showing the events from Grendel’s perspective.

“The movie can be seen from both perspectives,” said David Raybin, professor of English and comparative medieval literature.

The movie is a Canadian production that was filmed in Iceland.

“It is an extremely rare film to be seen on the big screen,” Raybin said in response to its being widely released in Canada on DVD and the fact that it will never be released in the United States.

Raybin cautions that some scenes in the unrated film depict sex, violence and rough language.

Interested parties can attend two lectures Friday that are open to the public. They will delve into “Beowulf” beyond literature.

Allen J. Frantzen, English professor and Loyola Faculty Scholar at the University of Chicago, wants his lecture to be an hour and 15 minutes long.

“He wanted to talk for a half an hour and have half an hour of discussion,” Raybin said.

Frantzen will present a workshop on the archaeology, social space and heroic drama. Frantzen has gone on archaeology sites in Norway, where he has been conducting research on early medieval spaces and artifacts.

“I heard from a friend of mine that had him as a teacher in grad school that he is the best teacher at Loyola,” Raybin said.

The second main speaker of the conference is Charles Wright, professor of English at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Wright is a specialist in Anglo-Saxon language and literature.

“Wright is the Anglo Saxonist,” Raybin said.

The main purpose of the 16th literature conference is for high school teachers of Illinois to talk with other high school teachers about issues related to their jobs that the public would not be interested in. Edwards said this is why some of the workshop sessions are closed to the public.

“Because paying guest(s) paid for the conference,” Edward explained. “We want people to have interaction with the speakers.”

Eastern’s English department faculty members will lead six workshops with the help of some other faculty members from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Kent State University. These workshops have been filled to the capacity to allow discussion.