Beowulf

:This article describes Beowulf, the epic poem. For the character Beowulf, see Beowulf (hero). For other uses, see Beowulf (disambiguation).

Background and origins

Beowulf is one of the oldest surviving epic poems in what is identifiable as an early form of the English language (the oldest surviving text in Old English is Caedmon's hymn of creation). The precise date of the manuscript is debated, but most estimates place it close to 1000. There is no general agreement on when the poem was originally composed. Some scholars argue that archaic forms of words that appear in the text suggest that the poem comes from the early 8th century, while others place it as late as the 10th century, near the time of the manuscript's copying. The poem appears in what is today called the Beowulf manuscript or Nowell Codex (British Library MS Cotton Vitellius A.xv), along with the shorter poem Judith and a handful of other works. The manuscript is the product of two different scribes, the second taking over roughly halfway through Beowulf.

Related Topics:
English language - Old English - Caedmon - 1000 - 8th century - 10th century - Nowell Codex - Scribe

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The poem is a work of fiction, but it mentions a historic event, the raid by king Hygelac into Frisia, ca 516. Several of the personalities of Beowulf (e.g., Hrothgar, Hrothulf and Ohthere) and some of the events also appear in early Scandinavian sources, such as the Prose Edda, Gesta Danorum, the fornaldarsagas, etc. In these sources, especially the Hrólf Kraki tales deal with the same set of people in Denmark and Sweden (see Origins for Beowulf and Hrólf Kraki). The hero himself, appears to correspond to Bödvar Bjarki, the battle bear, and it is possible to read the name Beowulf as bee-wolf, a kenning for "bear" (due to their love of honey).

Related Topics:
Fiction - Hygelac - Frisia - 516 - Hrothgar - Hrothulf - Ohthere - Prose Edda - Gesta Danorum - Fornaldarsaga - Hrólf Kraki - Denmark - Sweden - Origins for Beowulf and Hrólf Kraki - Bödvar Bjarki - Name - Kenning

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Consequently, many people and events depicted in the epic were probably real, dating from between 450 and 600 in Denmark and southern Sweden (Geats and Swedes). As far as Sweden is concerned this dating has been confirmed by archaeological excavations of the barrows indicated by Snorri Sturluson and by Swedish tradition as the graves of Eadgils and Ohthere in Uppland. Like the Finnsburg Fragment and several shorter surviving poems, Beowulf has consequently been used as a source of information about Scandinavian personalities such as Eadgils and Hygelac, and about continental Germanic personalities such as Offa, king of the continental Angles.

Related Topics:
450 - 600 - Denmark - Sweden - Geats - Swedes - Barrows - Snorri Sturluson - Eadgils - Ohthere - Uppland - Finnsburg Fragment - Hygelac - Offa - Angles

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The traditions behind the poem would have arrived in England at a time when the Anglo-Saxons were still in close dynastic and personal contacts with their Germanic kinsmen in Scandinavia and northern Germany. It is the only substantial Old English poem to survive that addresses matters heroic rather than Christian.

Related Topics:
Hero - Christian

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The poem is known only from a single manuscript. The spellings in the surviving copy of the poem mix the West Saxon and Anglian dialects of Old English, though they are predominantly West Saxon, as are other Old English poems copied at the time. The earliest known owner is the 16th century scholar Lawrence Nowell, after whom the manuscript is known, though its official designation is Cotton Vitellius A.XV due to its inclusion in the catalog of Robert Bruce Cotton's holdings in the middle of the 17th century. It suffered irrepairable damage in the Cotton Library fire at the ominously-named Ashburnham House in 1731.

Related Topics:
West Saxon - Anglian dialects - 16th century - Lawrence Nowell - Robert Bruce Cotton - 17th century - 1731

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Icelandic scholar Grímur Jónsson Thorkelin made the first transcription of the manuscript in 1786 and published it in 1815, working under a historical research commission of the Danish government. Since that time, the manuscript has suffered additional decay, and the Thorkelin transcripts remain a prized secondary source for Beowulf scholars. Their accuracy has been called into question, however (e.g., by Chauncey Brewster Tinker in The Translations of Beowulf, a comprehensive survey of 19th century translations and editions of Beowulf), and the extent to which the manuscript was actually more readable in Thorkelin's time is unclear.

Related Topics:
Iceland - Grímur Jónsson Thorkelin - 1786 - 1815 - Danish - Chauncey Brewster Tinker

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