Beowulf

• Beowulf is an epic poem written in Old English
  • The protagonist has to travel great distances, has to survive against impossible odds, battles beasts and demons
• The date of composition is unknown
• The manuscript itself was written between 975 and 1025 AD
• Beowulf survived to modern times in a single manuscript, named the Nowell Codex
• The author is also unknown, and scholars call them "the Beowulf poet"
• Whether the work was written by a pagan or a Christian is still a matter of contention among scholars

Plot

• The story is set in pagan Scandinavia in the 5th and 6th centuries
• Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, helps Hrothgar, king of the Danes, defeat the monster Grendel, who has been attacking the great all Heorot for twelve years
• Beowulf defeats Grendel. His mother takes revenge and is in turn defeated
• Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland and becomes king
• Fifty years later, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but dies in the battle
• After his death, his attendants cremate his body and erect a barrow (a burial mound) on a headland (a steep sea cliff)