What can be said with certainty is that the events of Beowulf happen during the 500 years of the Anglo-Saxon age. Guesses at the poem’s composition, however, range from the seventh to tenth centuries. There is not much evidence to conclusively put an exact date to Beowulf, though most scholars think that the poem was written around the year 750 AD.
However, his culture had recently embraced Christianity, and the poet lived during a time where these two cultures blended together. The Beowulf poet was an Anglo-Saxon who felt quite at home in Scandinavian culture.
However, the Anglo-Saxons were beginning to distance themselves from their pagan past, and this is seen in some of the Beowulf passages that reveal slight Christian overtones. He lived in an early Christian society one which was still very close to its pagan Scandinavian roots. What we do know, however, is that the Beowulf poet lived in what is now modern day England. As time passed, the anonymous author came to be known as the " Beowulf poet". To the disappointment of many scholars, not much is known about who authored the poem. The original author of Beowulf is unknown. Now, let’s dive into the world of monsters, mead, brave men, and dragons - the world of Beowulf!
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Feel free to skip ahead to the section that most interests you. To keep it simple and uncomplicated, I have divided the article into different sections. I hope this article on Beowulf gets you curious enough to go ahead and explore this ancient masterpiece for yourself. The poem explores several different themes, ranging from glory to vanity, courage to cowardice, and triumph to loss.
While Beowulf celebrates the triumphs of an extraordinary man who performed great feats, it also mourns his tragic death and defeat. It tells of the exploits of Beowulf and his battles with two monsters and a dragon, to whom Beowulf finally succumbs at the end.ĭon’t be fooled though - Beowulf is much more than just mead and monsters. The poem narrates the story of the Scandinavian hero Beowulf, the son of Ecgtheow and nephew of Hygelac, the king of the Geats. Vikings, mead, and monsters, oh my! These are three cornerstone elements of the Old English masterpiece, Beowulf.Ī heroic epic poem, Beowulf blends fiction, legend, and aspects of old Scandinavian culture seamlessly within its 3,182 alliterative lines.Ĭonsidered by many to be the first piece of English literature, Beowulf is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature.
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