BEOWULF AN ANGLO-SAXON EPIC POEM TRANSLATED. 1 This file has been provided by the British Library from its digital collections.It is also made available on a. BEOWULF CONTEXT Beowulf, a mighty noble from Geatland (Sweden), arrives in Denmark to aid. BEOWULF – An Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem.

First page of Beowulf in Cotton Vitellius A. Xv Author(s) Unknown Language of Date c. 700–1000 AD (date of poem), c.

975–1010 AD (date of manuscript) State of existence Manuscript suffered damage from fire in 1731 Manuscript(s) First printed edition (1815) Genre Epic heroic poetry Verse form Length c. 3182 lines Subject The battles of Beowulf, the Geatish hero, in youth and old age Personages,,,,,,,,,,. Beowulf ( Old English: ) is an epic poem consisting of 3,182. It may be the oldest surviving long poem in Old English and is commonly cited as one of the most important works of. A date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars; the only certain dating pertains to the manuscript, which was produced between 975 and 1025. Powerplay Manager Tools Podcast. Microsoft Picture It Photo Premium 9 Updates on this page.

The author was an anonymous poet, referred to by scholars as the ' Beowulf poet'. The poem is set in., a hero of the, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, the king of the, whose in has been under attack by a monster known as. After Beowulf slays him, attacks the hall and is then also defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland ( in modern Sweden) and later becomes king of the Geats. After a period of fifty years has passed, Beowulf defeats a, but is mortally wounded in the battle.

After his death, his attendants cremate his body and erect a tower on a headland in his memory. The full poem survives in the manuscript known as the. It has no title in the original manuscript, but has become known by the name of the story's protagonist. In 1731, the manuscript was badly damaged by a fire that swept through in London that had a collection of medieval manuscripts assembled. The Nowell Codex is currently housed in the. Approximate central regions of tribes mentioned in Beowulf, with the location of the in. See for details of Scandinavia's political fragmentation in the 6th century.

The events in the poem take place over most of the sixth century, after the had started migrating to England and before the beginning of the seventh century, a time when the Anglo-Saxons were either newly arrived or were still in close contact with their in Northern Germany and southern Scandinavia. The poem may have been brought to England by people of Geatish origins. Many suggest that Beowulf was first composed in the 7th century at in, that the also shows close connections with Scandinavia, and that the East Anglian royal dynasty, the, may have been descendants of the Geatish. Others have associated this poem with the court of King or with the court of King. 's mound The poem deals with legends, was composed for entertainment, and does not separate between fictional elements and historic events, such as the raid by King into. Though Beowulf himself is not mentioned in any other Anglo-Saxon manuscript, scholars generally agree that many of the other figures referred to in Beowulf also appear in Scandinavian sources.

(Specific works are designated in the following section). This concerns not only individuals (e.g.,,,,, and ), but also (e.g.,, and Wulfings) and certain events (e.g. Procol Harum Torrent Pirate Site here. , the ). The dating of the events in the epic poem has been confirmed by archaeological excavations of the in, Sweden, indicated by and by Swedish tradition as the graves of Ohthere (dated to c. 530) and his son (dated to c. In Denmark, recent archaeological excavations at, where Scandinavian tradition located the seat of the Scyldings, i.e.,, have revealed that a hall was built in the mid-6th century, exactly the time period of Beowulf.

Three halls, each about 50 metres (160 ft) long, were found during the excavation. Finds from ' mound, left, excavated in 1874 at, Sweden, support Beowulf and the sagas. 's, right, has not been excavated. The majority view appears to be that people such as King Hroðgar and the Scyldings in Beowulf are based on historical people from 6th-century Scandinavia. Like the and several shorter surviving poems, Beowulf has consequently been used as a source of information about Scandinavian figures such as Eadgils and Hygelac, and about continental Germanic figures such as, king of the continental. 19th-century archaeological evidence may confirm elements of the Beowulf story. Was buried at according to.

When Eadgils' mound (to the left in the photo) was excavated in 1874, the finds supported Beowulf and the sagas. They showed that a powerful man was buried in a large barrow, c. 575, on a bear skin with two dogs and rich grave offerings. These remains include a sword adorned with gold and garnets and a with Roman pawns of ivory.