This dichotomy has led some to interpret the epic as the work of more than one author. Others have seen it as symbolic of the transition from paganism to Christianity in early medieval Britain. The extreme delicacy of the manuscript, the perceived two separate hands that inscribed the text, and the complete lack of clues to the identity of the author make a realistic determination difficult at best. Originally untitled, in the 19th century the poem was eventually referred to by the name of its Scandinavian hero, whose adventures are its primary focus.
While some historical elements run through the poem, the hero and the story are both fictional. The sole manuscript of "Beowulf" dates to around the year Handwriting style reveals that it was inscribed by two different people. Whether either scribe embellished or altered the original story is unknown. The earliest known owner of the manuscript was 16th-century scholar Lawrence Nowell.
The manuscript is now in the British Library, although in the manuscript suffered irreparable damage in a fire. Since the manuscript has decayed further, Thorkelin's version is highly prized, yet its accuracy has been questioned.
In , the pages of the manuscript were mounted in paper frames to save them from further damage. This protected the pages, but it also covered some of the letters around the edges.
Through the use of special infrared and ultraviolet lighting techniques, the covered letters were revealed as electronic images of the manuscript were made. Beowulf is a fictional prince of the Geats of southern Sweden who comes to Denmark to help King Hrothgar rid his fabulous hall, Heorot, of a terrible monster known as Grendel. The hero mortally wounds the creature, who flees the hall to die in its lair. The next night, Grendel's mother comes to Heorot to avenge her offspring and kills one of Hrothgar's men.
Beowulf tracks her down and kills her, then returns to Heorot, where he receives great honors and gifts before returning home. After ruling the Geats for half a century in peace, Beowulf must face a dragon who threatens his land. Unlike his earlier battles, this confrontation is terrible and deadly.
He is deserted by all his retainers except his kinsman Wiglaf, and though he defeats the dragon he is mortally wounded. His funeral and a lament end the poem. Much has been written about this epic poem, and it will surely continue to inspire scholarly investigation and debate, both literary and historical. For decades students have undertaken the difficult task of learning Old English in order to read it in its original language.
This is an image of the first page of the surviving original written copy of Beowulf. Now about 1, years old, it is referred to as the "Beowulf Manuscript" and is housed in the national British Library.
Here are a few of the books we have on this topic in the library. To find more, try a Power search in the library catalog.
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If you continue with this browser, you may see unexpected results. Beowulf: Beowulf, the Poem A guide to information about the origins and composition of the epic poem Beowulf. The Beowulf Manuscript The epic Beowulf, set in the pagan world of 6th century Scandinavia, was originally passed down from generation to generation through spoken performances and word-of-mouth.
Beowulf is now widely taught and is often presented as the first important work of English literature, creating the impression that Beowulf is in some way the source of the English canon. But because it was not widely read until the s and not widely regarded as an important artwork until the s, Beowulf has had little direct impact on the development of English poetry. In fact, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Marlowe, Pope, Shelley, Keats, and most other important English writers before the s had little or no knowledge of the epic.
It was not until the mid-to-late twentieth century that Beowulf began to influence writers, and, since then, it has had a marked impact on the work of many important novelists and poets, including W.
Beowulf is often referred to as the first important work of literature in English, even though it was written in Old English, an ancient form of the language that slowly evolved into the English now spoken.
As English history developed, after the French Normans conquered the Anglo-Saxons in , Old English was gradually broadened by offerings from those languages. Thus modern English is derived from a number of sources. As a result, its vocabulary is rich with synonyms. Fortunately, most students encountering Beowulf read it in a form translated into modern English. Still, a familiarity with the rudiments of Anglo-Saxon poetry enables a deeper understanding of the Beowulf text.
Old English poetry is highly formal, but its form is quite unlike anything in modern English. Each line of Old English poetry is divided into two halves, separated by a caesura, or pause, and is often represented by a gap on the page, as the following example demonstrates:. Because Anglo-Saxon poetry existed in oral tradition long before it was written down, the verse form contains complicated rules for alliteration designed to help scops, or poets, remember the many thousands of lines they were required to know by heart.
Each of the two halves of an Anglo-Saxon line contains two stressed syllables, and an alliterative pattern must be carried over across the caesura. Any of the stressed syllables may alliterate except the last syllable; so the first and second syllables may alliterate with the third together, or the first and third may alliterate alone, or the second and third may alliterate alone.
For instance:. In addition to these rules, Old English poetry often features a distinctive set of rhetorical devices. The most common of these is the kenning, used throughout Beowulf. Others moderate the use of kennings in deference to a modern sensibility. But the Old English version of the epic is full of them, and they are perhaps the most important rhetorical device present in Old English poetry.
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