Beowulf is written mostly in the West Saxon dialect of Old English, but many other dialectal forms are present, suggesting that the poem may have had a long and complex transmission throughout the dialect areas of England.Īnglo-Saxon poetry is constructed very differently from a modern poem. Scholars have debated whether Beowulf was transmitted orally, affecting its interpretation: if it was composed early, in pagan times, then the paganism is central and the Christian elements were added later, whereas if it was composed later, in writing, by a Christian, then the pagan elements could be decorative archaising some scholars also hold an intermediate position. After his death, his attendants cremate his body and erect a tower on a headland in his memory. Fifty years later, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is mortally wounded in the battle. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland (Götaland in modern Sweden) and becomes king of the Geats. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is then defeated. Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall in Heorot has been under attack by the monster Grendel. The story is set in pagan Scandinavia in the 6th century. Scholars call the anonymous author the "Beowulf poet". The date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars the only certain dating is for the manuscript, which was produced between 9.
It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. Beowulf is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines.
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