Beowulf http://www.lone-star.net/literature/beowulf/ http://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/Beowulf Beowulf is an old English heroic epic poem, consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia. It is cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature. "It survives in a single manuscript known as the Nowell Codex. Its composition by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet[note 2] is dated between the 8th[1][2] and the early 11th century.[3] In 1731, the manuscript was badly damaged by a fire that swept through a building housing a collection of Medieval manuscripts assembled by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton. The poem fell into obscurity for decades, and its existence did not become widely known again until it was printed in 1815 in an edition prepared by the Icelandic scholar Grmur Jnsson Thorkelin.[4] In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the help of Hrogar (the king of the Danes), whose mead hall (Heorot) has been under attack by Grendel. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is then also defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland in Sweden and later becomes king of the Geats. After a period of fifty years has passed, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is fatally wounded in the battle. After his death, his retinue buries him in a tumulus in Geatland." "Geats (Old English Geatas, [j ts]; Old Norse Gautar [ut r]; Swedish Gtar, [jtar]), and sometimes Goths[1]) were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting what is now Gtaland ("land of the Geats") in modern Sweden. The name of the Geats also lives on in the Swedish provinces of Vstergtland and stergtland, the Western and Eastern lands of the Geats, and in many other toponyms." "The Danes were a North Germanic tribe (East of the Rhine) residing in modern day Denmark. They are mentioned in the 6th century in Jordanes' Getica, by Procopius, and by Gregory of Tours." === "Old English literature (or Anglo-Saxon literature) encompasses literature written in Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) in Anglo-Saxon England, in the period from the 7th century to the Norman Conquest of 1066. These works include genres such as epic poetry, hagiography, sermons, Bible translations, legal works, chronicles, riddles, and others.[1] In all there are about 400 surviving manuscripts from the period, a significant corpus of both popular interest and specialist research.[1] Among the most important works of this period is the poem Beowulf, which has achieved national epic status in England.[1] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle otherwise proves significant to study of the era, preserving a chronology of early English history, while the poem Cdmon's Hymn from the 7th century survives as the oldest extant work of literature in English.[1]" "Anglo-Saxon England refers to the period of the history of that part of Britain, that became known as England, lasting from the end of Roman occupation and establishment of AngloSaxon kingdoms in the 5th century until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror. Anglo-Saxon is a general term referring to the Germanic peoples who came to Britain during the 5th and 6th centuries, including Angles, Saxons, Frisii and Jutes. "Anglo Saxon" also refers to the language spoken at the time in England, which is now called Old

English, and to the culture of the era, which has long attracted popular and scholarly attention.[1]" "The Old English poetry which has received the most attention deals with the Germanic heroic past. The longest (3,182 lines), and most important, is Beowulf, which appears in the damaged Nowell Codex. The poem tells the story of the legendary Geatish hero Beowulf, who is the title character. The story is set in Scandinavia, in Sweden and Denmark, and the tale likewise probably is of Scandinavian origin. The story is biographical and sets the tone for much of the rest of Old English poetry. It has achieved national epic status, on the same level as the Iliad, and is of interest to historians, anthropologists, literary critics, and students the world over." ==