Beowulf

Old English poem of 3,182 lines, thought to have been composed in the first half of the 8th century. It is the only complete surviving example of Germanic folk epic and exists in a single manuscript copied in England about 1000 and now housed in the Cottonian collection of the British Museum, London.

The hero Beowulf delivers the Danish king Hrothgar from the water demon Grendel and its monstrous mother, and, returning home, succeeds his cousin Heardred as king of the Geats. After 50 years of prosperity, he is killed slaying a dragon.

The story is not one of rapid action; it is frequently reflective and mournful in tone, emphasizing the uncertainties of human existence and the frequent loss of stability and happiness to chaos, misery, and death.

There is no agreement over the date of the events narrated, although a minor character, Hygelac, corresponds to a historical figure who died in 520. The date of composition is controversial, but most scholars accept that it was early in the 8th century. The setting is southern Scandinavia and the poem makes no reference to Britain.