Beowulf Important Points To Remember

One of the most important and most often translated Old English epic poem, with 3,182 alliterative lines in it, Beowulf is a poem that survives in a single copy in the manuscript known as the Nowell Codex. In this blog post we will look at some of the important points to remember from this poem if you are a student or staff preparing for any competitive examinations on English Literature. This poem is considered as the highest achievement of Old English literature, so it is a must to learn for everyone who is associated with English Literature.

Representational: History Today

Important Points

• The poem is known only from a single manuscript, estimated to date from around 975–1025, in which it appears with other works.
  
  
• Scholars call the anonymous author the "Beowulf poet".
  
  
• The poem survives in a single copy in the manuscript known as the Nowell Codex.
  
  
• The poem blends fictional, legendary and historic elements.
  
  
• Beowulf is the protagonist and is called as the hero of Geats.
  
  
• A Christian narrator recounts the story in the third person.
  
  
• It’s estimated date of composition range between 700 and 1000 a.d. and is written in England and it deals with the events of the early 6th century
  
  
• The poem, which is the model of an epic, falls into two parts.
  
  
• J.R.R. Tolkien suggests that that the poem is more like a long, lyrical elegy than an epic.
  
  
• Translations into English by Seamus Heaney (1999) and Tolkien (completed 1926; published 2014) became best sellers.
  
  
• The poem opens by giving an picture of the Danes and also talks about the rise of Hrothgar, who is the Danish king.
  
  
• Then hero is described as living across the sea in Geatland and is described as the strongest warrior in the world, and his name is Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow and is the subject to King Hygelac.
  
  
• Grendel and Beowulf battle with their bare hands and Beowulf wins.
  
  
• Grendel's mother comes back to get revenge but is also defeated by Beowulf, who also kills the dragon at the end of the poem.
  
  
• After the battle with the dragon, Beowulf is injured and Wiglaf takes charge.
  
  
  

Also Read: Old English literature/Anglo-Saxon literature Key Points

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