Beowulf

Beowulf is the conventional title of an Old English epic poem set in Scandinavia. It is the oldest surviving epic poem in Old English and is thus commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature, and also – arguably – of the earliest vernacular English literature.

Beowulf was written in England by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet. It is dated between the 8th and the early-11th century. The full poem exists in only one manuscript known as the Nowell Codex, located in the British Library. The manuscript has no title, but the poem is given the name Beowulf after its protagonist​. In the eighteenth century, the manuscript was damaged in a library fire and the only remaining text was nearly lost to the world.

In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats in Scandinavia, comes to the aid of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall (in Heorot) has been under attack by a monster known as Grendel. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel’s mother attacks the hall and is then also defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland in Sweden and later becomes king of the Geats. After a period of fifty years has passed, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is fatally wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants bury him in a tumulus (a burial mound) in Geatland.

For the Venice, California-based hardcore punk/crossover thrash band Beowülf, see BWF.