Beowulf Hwaet?
Beowulf is the conventional title of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature, as it is the first known written recording of a story. It survives in a single manuscript known as the Nowell Codex. (depicted right) Its composition by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet is dated between the 8th and the early 11th century
"In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats in Scandinavia, comes to the help of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall (in Heorot) has been under attack by a monster known as 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 attendants bury him in a tumulus, a burial mound, in Geatland." A rough translation of the Old Anglo-Saxon into modern english:
Hwæt! Wé Gárdena in géardagumListen! þéodcyninga þrym gefrúnon· hú ðá æþelingas ellen fremedon.Oft Scyld Scéfing sceaþena þréatumOften Scyld. We --of the Spear-Danes in the days of yore, of those clan-kings-- heard of their glory. how those nobles performed courageous deeds. Scef's son, from enemy hosts. |