I only wish I could have read this essay when I was learning Beowulf in 11th grade. Although if it is anything like his essay "On Fairy Stories" which is a critique of the fantasy genre, it is not likely to be a page turner.
Our son was studying "Beowulf" in a college English course recently. His translation was done by Seamus Heany. I had planned to use it for our kids when they do the Medival era in homeschool late next year, but I hope the Tolkien version will be published by then! I know Tolkien did "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" which we are going to use in Medieval studies as well. It will be fun to compare the Heany and Tolkien versions of "Beowulf". I don't remember ever reading it before when I was in high school or college, so it will be fun for me, also!