Beowulf

The long Old English heroic poem known to modern audiences as Beowulf is probably the most famous product of the rich literary tradition of Anglo-Saxon England (which flourished in the period c. 650-1100). The poem tells the story of Beowulf, a heroic warrior, and later king, of the Geats (a possibly mythical Scandinavian tribe). The events of the poem are set during the Germanic 'heroic age' - a period stretching from the fourth to the sixth century by modern reckoning but described by the poet simply as geardagas ('days of old').

Read the essay: An Introduction to Beowulf by Daniel Thomas

#	Title	Description	Contributor
1	Beowulf - Scyld Scefing's Funeral	Beowulf - Scyld Scefing's Funeral - Read in Old English. The location is the reconstructed Anglo...	Matt Love
2	Beowulf	Dr Francis Leneghan gives a talk on Beowulf, one of the most important works in Anglo-Saxon...	Francis Leneghan

#	Title	Description	Contributor
1	What Tolkien learnt from Beowulf: Representations of Evil	Smaug the Golden, Sauron the Terrible, the Balrog of Moria... These are some of J. R. R. Tolkien...	Rafael J. Pascual
2	Why should we study Old English Literature?	Dr Francis Leneghan of St Cross College, Oxford, discusses his current research around Beowulf...	Francis Leneghan
3	Beowulf	Dr Francis Leneghan gives a talk on Beowulf, one of the most important works in Anglo-Saxon...	Francis Leneghan
4	Old English in Context Lecture 1 - Historical texts	Lecture by Dr S. D. Lee, Faculty of English, Oxford University - placing Old English literature...	Stuart Lee
5	Beowulf reading, ll. 26-52	Reading from Beowulf ll. 26-52 by Stuart D Lee, University of Oxford. Recorded March 2007.	Stuart Lee

#	Essay Title	Description	Contributor
1	An Introduction to Beowulf	The long Old English heroic poem known to modern audiences as Beowulf is probably the...	Daniel Thomas

#	Title	Description	Author
1	Making Sense of Ker's Dates: The Origins of Beowulf and Palaeographers	Article by Francis Leneghan (was Trinity College Dublin, now St Peter's College, Oxford)....	Francis Leneghan
2	Beowulf: A Verse Translation with Treasures of the Ancient North (Part 2)	Second part of Marijane Osborn's book Beowulf: A Verse Translation with Treasures of the...	Marijane Osborn, Marijane Osborn
3	Beowulf: A Verse Translation with Treasures of the Ancient North (Part 1)	First part of Marijane Osborn's book Beowulf: A Verse Translation with Treasures of the...	Marijane Osborn, Marijane Osborn
4	Who's Who and Backstory in Beowulf	A series of genealogical charts of the major figures in the poem, annotated by event and line...	Bruce Gilchrist, Bruce Gilchrist

#	Resource Title	Description	Contributor
1	Sutton Hoo helmet	Photograph by Ian Harvey of the Sutton Hoo helmet reconstruction. Note the bird flying up the...	Ian Harvey

You are here

Beowulf