Beowulf

This article describes Beowulf, the epic poem. For the person Beowulf, see Beowulf (hero)

For other uses, see Beowulf (disambiguation).

Beowulf is a traditional heroic epic poem in Old English alliterative verse. At 3182 lines, it is far more substantial than any similar work in the language, representing about 10% of the extant corpus of Anglo-Saxon verse. The poem is untitled in the manuscript, but has been known as Beowulf since the early 19th century.

Background and origins

Beowulf is the oldest surviving epic poem in what is identifiable as a form of the English language. (The oldest surviving text in English is Caedmon's hymn of creation.) The precise date of the manuscript is debated, but most estimates place it close to AD 1000. The original composition of the poem, however, is under more debate. Some archaic forms of words that appear in the text suggest that the poem comes from the 8th century, probably the earlier half. The poem appears in what is today called the Beowulf manuscript, along with the shorter poem Judith. The text is the product of two different scribes, the second taking over roughly halfway through Beowulf.

The poem is a work of fiction, but it mentions in passing some people and events that were probably real, probably dating from between AD 450 to 600 in Denmark and southern Sweden (Geats and Swedes). It is a useful source for information not only about Anglo-Saxon traditions such as the fight at Finnsburg, but also about Scandinavian personalities, such as Eadgils and Hygelac, and about continental Germanic personalities such as Offa, king of the continental Angles. Many have pointed out that Beowulf relates similar events and personalities as the Hrólf Kraki tales (see Origins for Beowulf and Hrólf Kraki). The hero's name Beowulf means bee-wolf, a kenning for "bear" (due to their love of honey). Consequently, it has often been suggested that the name Beowulf was a kenning for Bödvar Bjarki (Battle Bear) who somewhat corresponds to Beowulf in Scandinavian sources.

The story came to England at a time when the Germanic peoples were still part of the same cultural sphere and spoke what really were just dialects of the same language. However, the arrival of this legend to England surprises modern Englishmen, who today are more isolated from the rest of the Germanic world.

The language of this version is called Late West Saxon, a dialect of Old English but the poem shows strong hints of being originally composed in an Anglian dialect, quite possibly Mercian. Old English is the ancestor language of modern English, but the language has changed so much over the years that most modern English speakers would not immediately recognise it as their own language.

It is known only from a single manuscript, kept in the British Library. The Beowulf manuscript first became known to scholars as Cotton Vitellius A.XV, enumerated in the catalog of Robert Bruce Cotton's holdings in the middle of the 17th century. The Cotton library was donated to the nation in the end of the 17th century. The manuscript suffered some irreversible damage in a fire when it was being held at the ominously-named Ashburnham House in 1731.

Icelandic scholar Grímur Jónsson Thorkelin made the first transcription of the manuscript in 1818, working under a historical research commission by the Danish government. Since that time, the manuscript has suffered additional decay, and the Thorkelin transcripts remain a prized secondary source for Beowulf scholars.

Storyline and translations

The story traces the life of a heroic king of the Geats called Beowulf, and his great battles with the troll-like monster Grendel, then Grendel's mother, and finally with a fire-breathing dragon in the battle which costs Beowulf his life. It is fundamentally a depiction of a pre-Christian warrior society, in which the relationship between the leader, or king, and his thanes is of paramount importance. This relationship is defined in terms of provision and service: the thanes defend the interest of the king in return for material provisions: weapons, armor, gold, silver, food, drinks.

This society is also strongly defined in terms of kinship; if a relative is killed then it is the duty of surviving relatives to exact revenge upon his killer: this could be either with his own life or with weregild, a reparational payment. Moreover, this is a world governed by fate and destiny. The belief that fate controls him is a central factor in all of Beowulf's actions which occur in the poem.

Beowulf represents the retelling of a classic Germanic tale for a Christian audience, a tale of which elements appear in Rolf Krake's saga. Certainly, the poem's characters are pagans, but the narrator places events in a thoroughly Christian context, casting Grendel as the kin of Cain. Consequently, scholars dispute whether Beowulf's main thematic thrust is pagan or Christian in nature.

There have been many translations of this poem, some better than others. Irish poet Seamus Heaney produced a well-known verse translation.

Another excellent translation is the one by E. Talbot Donaldson for Norton & Company of New York. This translation, more so than Heaney's, is good for serious readers who want a more accurate translation. Although some may balk at the denser, prose style, students of the epic will appreciate the sparse, vivid imagery and numerous kennings.

Beowulf themes of later writers

Beowulf was an important influence on J. R. R. Tolkien, who wrote the landmark essay "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics" while a professor at Oxford University and also translated the poem.

The Beowulf story was retold from the monster's point of view by John Gardner in his novel Grendel.

The Beowulf story, in combination with the tenth-century Arabic narrative of Aḩmad ibn Faḑlān, was used as basis for Michael Crichton's novel Eaters of the Dead. The novel itself was adapted for the film The 13th Warrior, starring Antonio Banderas as Ibn Faḑlān and Vladimir Kulich as Buliwyf (Beowulf).

The Heorot series of science-fiction novels, by Steven Barnes, Jerry Pournelle, and Larry Niven, is named after the stronghold of King Hrothgar, and partly parallels Beowulf.

Excerpt

Here is a small sample including the first naming in the poem of Beowulf himself.

After each line is the translation by Francis Gummere to modern English (though the translation is still hard to follow). Gummere's translation is now also out of copyright, and can be had at Project Gutenberg [1].

Line Count	Original	Translation
[332]	oretmecgas æfter æþelum frægn:	asked of the heroes their home and kin
[333]	"Hƿanon ferigeað ge fætte scyldas,	"Whence, now, bear ye burnished shields,
[334]	græge syrcan ond grimhelmas,	harness gray and helmets grim,
[335]	heresceafta heap? Ic eom Hroðgares	spears in multitude? Messenger, I, Hrothgar's
[336]	ar ond ombiht. Ne seah ic elþeodige	herald! Heroes so many ne'er met I
[337]	þus manige men modiglicran,	as strangers of mood so strong.
[338]	Ƿen ic þæt ge for ƿlenco, nalles for ƿræcsiðum,	'Tis plain that for prowess, not plunged into exile,
[339]	ac for higeþrymmum Hroðgar sohton."	for high-hearted valor, Hrothgar ye seek!"
[340]	Him þa ellenrof andsƿarode,	Him the sturdy-in-war bespake with words,
[341]	ƿlanc Ƿedera leod, ƿord æfter spræc,	proud earl of the Weders answer made,
[342]	heard under helme: "Ƿe synt Higelaces	hardy 'neath helmet: -- "Hygelac's, ƿe,
[343]	beodgeneatas; Beoƿulf is min nama.	fellows at board; I am Beowulf named.
[344]	Ƿille ic asecgan sunu Healfdenes,	I am seeking to say to the son of Healfdene
[345]	mærum þeodne, min ærende,	this mission of mine, to thy master-lord,
[346]	aldre þinum, gif he us geunnan ƿile	the doughty prince, if he deign at all
[347]	þæt ƿe hine sƿa godne gretan moton."	grace that we greet him, the good one, now."
[348]	Ƿulfgar maþelode (þæt ƿæs Ƿendla leod;	Wulfgar spake, the Wendles' chieftain,
[349]	his modsefa manegum gecyðed,	whose might of mind to many was known,
[350]	ƿig ond ƿisdom): "Ic þæs ƿine Deniga,	his courage and counsel: "The king of Danes,
[351]	frean Scildinga, frinan ƿille,	the Scyldings' friend, I fain will tell,
[352]	beaga bryttan, sƿa þu bena eart,	the Breaker-of-Rings, as the boon thou askest,
[353]	þeoden mærne, ymb þinne sið,	the famed prince, of thy faring hither,
[354]	ond þe þa ondsƿare ædre gecyðan	and, swiftly after, such answer bring
[355]	ðe me se goda agifan þenceð."	as the doughty monarch may deign to give."

External links

Annotated translation into Modern English from Project Gutenberg
Beowulf in the original Old English from Project Gutenberg, with list of names, notes, and glossary.
Summary of the story

References

Beowulf (Manchester Medieval Studies), Michael Swanton (Editor), Manchester University Press, ISBN 0719051460.
Beowulf: A New Verse Translation, Seamus Heaney (Translator), W.W. Norton 2001, ISBN 0393320979.

Beowulf (or Beowolf according to Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu: TREASURE) is also a fictional character from the Fire Emblem series, more specifically Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu.