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FSC English professor
publishes first book

LAKELAND, Fla. (June 26, 2002) - Dr. Alexander Bruce, English professor and Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs at Florida Southern College, has written his first book, "Scyld and Scef: Expanding the Analogues." The book is published by Routledge and is available from Amazon Books and Barnes & Noble, or through the publisher.

The book explores two figures that appear in "Beowulf" and other early Germanic literature. The publisher states that "Scyld and Scef: Expanding the Analogues" gives "a fuller appreciation of not just 'Beowulf' but of the entire medieval Germanic world." Bruce offers commentary on all forty-three references to these figures, translating sources from across Western Europe, including works in medieval Latin, Anglo-Saxon, and Old Norse.

The two figures are never the focus of any story, said Bruce, but more like sideline players, always there. "They were important to those cultures, and thus by knowing more about the two figures, we know something more about the cultures that wrote of them," he said.

Bruce joined FSC in 1998 and teaches medieval English literature. He is currently working on a second book, "The Folklore of Florida Southern College," which he hopes to finish this summer.

About Florida Southern College
Florida Southern is a four-year, private, co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The college offers more than 40 undergraduate majors and a master of business administration degree accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Located in Lakeland, Fla., the college is home to the largest, single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world.

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