do anyone read Beowulf?
How old is this book?
100 years?
I think it is very boring!
How old is this book?
100 years?
I think it is very boring!
do anyone read Beowulf?
A HUNDRED years? Good lord, that's not even in ENGLISH as we know it! Beowulf is old, old, old; written around 1100 AD. And I'm pretty sure almost every native English-speaker had to suffer through it in school ... I know I did.
I never actually read Beowulf in school (I think it would have taken too long to learn Old English, which would be a pre-req for reading Beowulf). Reading Chaucer (written around 1400?) was bad enough.
The date of 'Beowulf' is not known exactly, but is well before 1000AD, possibly the 8th century. I studied quite a bit of it at university, but cheated by reading the modern English translation. I enjoyed it, actually.
I agree it's beautiful, although sometimes a bit weird for the modern taste.
I've read a few sort like stories and apparently, in the stories of those days, a real hero dies...
I've read a few sort like stories and apparently, in the stories of those days, a real hero dies...
I think it is very boring, but I can read it (it is nice anyway)
Is it so old as 1000 years old???
and I cannot understand the original Beowulf language
Is it so old as 1000 years old???
and I cannot understand the original Beowulf language
My daughter in middle school is now reading it. I'm glad Candy mentioned there is modern translation. Don't mean to cheat, but it'll help tremendously if she really really doesn't have a clue what it says.
<<Is it so old as 1000 years old??? >>
Older.
When I was at univ., the generally accepted date (by my tutors anyway) was 8th century. It's set in Scandinavia in the 5th century, as far as I remember. The theory then (in my univ. time, I mean, not the 5th century! :) was that it wouldn't have been written in the 9th century, because England was being invaded by the Vikings for a lot of that century and nobody would have written a poem set in Scandinavia. But I really don't know for sure.
I understand if people don't like it - it's pretty alien to modern tastes. But on its own terms, it's fabulous. It has a pretty intricate structure and some wonderful imagery.
<<I'm glad Candy mentioned there is modern translation.>>
Luis: there's a wonderful modern translation by Seamus Heaney, an Irish poet, that was published around 5 years ago.
Older.
When I was at univ., the generally accepted date (by my tutors anyway) was 8th century. It's set in Scandinavia in the 5th century, as far as I remember. The theory then (in my univ. time, I mean, not the 5th century! :) was that it wouldn't have been written in the 9th century, because England was being invaded by the Vikings for a lot of that century and nobody would have written a poem set in Scandinavia. But I really don't know for sure.
I understand if people don't like it - it's pretty alien to modern tastes. But on its own terms, it's fabulous. It has a pretty intricate structure and some wonderful imagery.
<<I'm glad Candy mentioned there is modern translation.>>
Luis: there's a wonderful modern translation by Seamus Heaney, an Irish poet, that was published around 5 years ago.
Read the translated version. Not the original.
Beowulf isn't boring. Isn't boring to people such as Americans, Australians and other less-cultured peoples.
Beowulf isn't boring. Isn't boring to people such as Americans, Australians and other less-cultured peoples.
That should be - "IT'S boring to people such as Americans, Australians and other less-cultured peoples."
I agree (with the first sentence)
Beowulf written in Old Saxon (Old English) is much harder than a modern day translation.Because Old English hadn't yet experienced the huge loaning of Romance (Especially French) words.
Beowulf written in Old Saxon (Old English) is much harder than a modern day translation.Because Old English hadn't yet experienced the huge loaning of Romance (Especially French) words.
BEOWULF
Beowulf , written in Old English sometime before the tenth century A.D., describes the adventures of a great Scandinavian warrior of the sixth century.
A rich fabric of fact and fancy, Beowulf is the oldest surviving epic in British literature.
Beowulf exists in only one manuscript. This copy survived both the wholesale destruction of religious artifacts during the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII and a disastrous fire which destroyed the library of Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (1571-1631).
The poem still bears the scars of the fire, visible at the upper left corner of the photograph. The Beowulf manuscript is now housed in the British Library, London.
Here's a photo of the original version - http://www.lone-star.net/literature/beowulf/fpage.gif
---------------------
PROLOGUE
Early History of the Danes
Listen:
You have heard of the Danish Kings
in the old days and how
they were great warriors.
Shield, the son of Sheaf,
took many an enemy's chair,
terrified many a warrior,
after he was found an orphan.
He prospered under the sky
until people everywhere
listened when he spoke.
He was a good king!
Shield had a son,
child for his yard,
sent by God
to comfort the people,
to keep them from fear--
Grain was his name;
he was famous
throughout the North.
Young princes should do as he did--
give out treasures
while they're still young
so that when they're old
people will support them
in time of war.
A man prospers
by good deeds
in any nation.
Shield died at his fated hour,
went to God still strong.
His people carried him to the sea,
which was his last request.
In the harbor stood
a well-built ship,
icy but ready for the sea.
They laid Shield there,
propped him against the mast
surrounded by gold
and treasure from distant lands.
I've never heard
of a more beautiful ship,
filled with shields, swords,
and coats of mail, gifts
to him for his long trip.
No doubt he had a little more
than he did as a child
when he was sent out,
a naked orphan in an empty boat.
Now he had a golden banner
high over his head, was,
sadly by a rich people,
given to the sea.
The wisest alive can't tell
where a death ship goes.
Grain ruled the Danes
a long time after his father's death,
and to him was born
the great Healfdene, fierce in battle,
who ruled until he was old.
Healfdene had four children--
Heorogar, Hrothgar, Halga the Good,
and a daughter who married
Onela, King of the Swedes.
Hrothgar Becomes King of the Danes
After Hrothgar became king
he won many battles:
his friends and family
willingly obeyed him;
his childhood friends
became famous soldiers.
So Hrothgar decided
he would build a mead-hall,
the greatest the world had
ever seen, or even imagined.
There he would share out
to young and old alike
all that God gave him
(except for public lands and men's lives).
I have heard that orders
went out far and wide;
tribes throughout the world
set to work on that building.
And it was built, the world's
greatest mead-hall.
And that great man
called the building
"Herot," the hart.
After it was built,
Hrothgar did what he said
he would: handed out gold
and treasure at huge feasts.
That hall was high-towered,
tall and wide-gabled
(though destruction awaited,
fire and swords of family trouble;
and outside in the night waited
a tortured spirit of hell).
The words of the poet,
the sounds of the harp,
the joy of people echoed.
The poet told how the world
came to be, how God made the earth
and the water surrounding,
how He set the sun and the moon
as lights for people
and adorned the earth
with limbs and leaves for everyone.
Hrothgar's people lived in joy,
happy until that wanderer of the wasteland,
Grendel the demon, possessor of the moors,
began his crimes.
He was of a race of monsters
exiled from mankind by God--
He was of the race of Cain,
that man punished for
murdering his brother.
From that family comes
all evil beings--
monsters, elves, zombies.
Also the giants who
fought with God and got
repaid with the flood.
end of episode one
-------------------------------------------
Grendel Attacks
One night, after a beer party,
the Danes settled in the hall
for sleep; they knew no sorrows.
The evil creature, grim and hungry,
grabbed thirty warriors
and went home laughing.
At dawn, when the Danes learned
of Grendel's strength,
there was great weeping.
The old king sat sadly,
crying for his men. Bloody
footprints were found.
That was bad enough,
but the following night
Grendel killed more--
blinded by sin,
he felt no remorse.
(You can bet the survivors
started sleeping elsewhere.)
So Grendel ruled,
fighting right,
one against many,
and the greatest hall
in all the earth
stood empty at night.
Twelve years this went on,
Hrothgar suffering
the greatest of sorrows.
Poets sang sad songs
throughout the world,
how Grendel tormented Hrothgar;
how no warrior,
no matter how brave,
could kill Grendel.
How Grendel wasn't
about to stop,
or pay damages.
Grendel kept ambushing from his lair,
the moors which lay in perpetual darkness.
Then, the cruelest of all injuries,
he moved into the hall--
stayed there every night
(though God would never allow
such an evil thing
to actually touch the throne).
Hrothgar was broken;
council after council proposed
what to do against the attacks.
They even went to heathen temples,
worshipped idols, and called
to the Devil for help.
The Danes forgot God.
(Woe be to those who go
to the fire's embrace,
even in great distress--
There is no consolation there.)
No counselor, no warrior
could destroy the evil.
They wept and seethed.
Beowulf Hears of Grendel
But a warrior of Hygelac's
heard of Grendel's doings;
he was the strongest of men
alive in that day,
mighty and noble.
That man called for a ship,
said he would cross the ocean
and help the king who needed help.
Wise men urged him
to that adventure
though he was dear to them.
They examined omens
and whetted him on.
So the good Geat chose
the bravest warriors,
fourteen of them,
and that crafty sailor
led them to the land's brim,
to the ship.
They readied the ship
on the waves under the cliffs
and the warriors stood at the prow
as the water wound against the sand.
The warriors bore
into the ship's bosom
bright weapons,
fitted armor.
The men shoved
the well-braced ship
out on the journey
they'd dreamed of.
The foamy-necked ship
went out like a bird
so that the next day
its curved prow
had gone so far
that the seafarers saw land,
shining shore cliffs
and steep mountains.
Their journey was already over
and the Geat warriors
pulled their ship to the shore
and stood on land
in their rattling shirts,
their war-clothes. They
thanked God for an easy trip.
From his wall the sea-guard of the Danes,
protector of the cliffs,
saw bright shields
and ready war dress
coming over the gang plank
and he wondered
who those men were.
Hrothgar's warrior rode
to shore on his horse.
Shaking a mighty spear, he spoke:
"Who are you, in armor,
who come over the sea-road
in that steep keel?
Listen: I guard here
so that no forces
hostile to the Danes
may raid. Never has
one so openly brought
a ship's army, warriors,
without the permission of my kinsmen.
And never have I seen
a greater man on earth,
any man in armor,
than is one among you.
Unless I'm wrong,
that is no hall-man,
just wearing armor--
his stature is peerless.
I wish to know your lineage now
so I know you are not spies
going into the land of the Danes.
You far-dwellers, seafarers,
hear my simple thought:
you had best hurry to tell me
where you come from."
Beowulf, leader of the host
unlatched his word-hoard:
"As to kin, we are of the Geat nation,
Hygelac's hearth-companions.
My father was a leader well known
among the people: Edgtheow.
He stayed many winters
before he went away,
aged, from the court.
Every wise man readily remembers
him throughout the earth.
We have come with friendly hearts
to see your lord, Healfdene's son,
protector of the people.
Be good counsel to us:
we have come on a great errand
to the king of the Danes.
I think it foolish
to keep secrets. You know
if it is true what we have heard,
that a dark enemy in the nights
works violence and slaughter
on the Danes. . . . Perhaps
in kindness I may advise Hrothgar
how he, wise and famous,
may overcome this enemy--
if change will ever come,
relief from this evil--
and how this seething sorrow
might become cool.
Otherwise, he will suffer tribulation
as long as he lives in that high place,
the best of houses."
The protector of the coast,
still on his horse, spoke
(a wise shield warrior,
one who thinks well,
must judge two things:
works and words):
"I see that you are a band
friendly to the lord of the Danes.
Go forth, bearing arms and equipment.
I will guide you. Also,
I will order my men
to protect your ship,
that new-tarred boat on the sand,
until it bears you again
back over the water streams
with its curved wooden neck,
back to the land of the Geats--
if it be granted that you
endure the battle."
They left then the well-made ship
pulling at its rope.
On the gold-adorned helmets
figures of boars shone,
those guards over war-like minds.
The men excitedly marched until
they saw that ornamented hall,
the finest building on earth,
that glittered light over many lands,
where the mighty one waited.
The one brave in battle pointed
toward the resplendent hall;
the guard of the coast turned
his horse and said after them:
"It is time for me to go.
May the Father Omnipotent hold you
safe and sound in kindness!
I will go back to the sea
to hold against hostile bands."
End of episode two
For the rest, go here - http://www.lone-star.net/literature/beowulf/
Beowulf , written in Old English sometime before the tenth century A.D., describes the adventures of a great Scandinavian warrior of the sixth century.
A rich fabric of fact and fancy, Beowulf is the oldest surviving epic in British literature.
Beowulf exists in only one manuscript. This copy survived both the wholesale destruction of religious artifacts during the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII and a disastrous fire which destroyed the library of Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (1571-1631).
The poem still bears the scars of the fire, visible at the upper left corner of the photograph. The Beowulf manuscript is now housed in the British Library, London.
Here's a photo of the original version - http://www.lone-star.net/literature/beowulf/fpage.gif
---------------------
PROLOGUE
Early History of the Danes
Listen:
You have heard of the Danish Kings
in the old days and how
they were great warriors.
Shield, the son of Sheaf,
took many an enemy's chair,
terrified many a warrior,
after he was found an orphan.
He prospered under the sky
until people everywhere
listened when he spoke.
He was a good king!
Shield had a son,
child for his yard,
sent by God
to comfort the people,
to keep them from fear--
Grain was his name;
he was famous
throughout the North.
Young princes should do as he did--
give out treasures
while they're still young
so that when they're old
people will support them
in time of war.
A man prospers
by good deeds
in any nation.
Shield died at his fated hour,
went to God still strong.
His people carried him to the sea,
which was his last request.
In the harbor stood
a well-built ship,
icy but ready for the sea.
They laid Shield there,
propped him against the mast
surrounded by gold
and treasure from distant lands.
I've never heard
of a more beautiful ship,
filled with shields, swords,
and coats of mail, gifts
to him for his long trip.
No doubt he had a little more
than he did as a child
when he was sent out,
a naked orphan in an empty boat.
Now he had a golden banner
high over his head, was,
sadly by a rich people,
given to the sea.
The wisest alive can't tell
where a death ship goes.
Grain ruled the Danes
a long time after his father's death,
and to him was born
the great Healfdene, fierce in battle,
who ruled until he was old.
Healfdene had four children--
Heorogar, Hrothgar, Halga the Good,
and a daughter who married
Onela, King of the Swedes.
Hrothgar Becomes King of the Danes
After Hrothgar became king
he won many battles:
his friends and family
willingly obeyed him;
his childhood friends
became famous soldiers.
So Hrothgar decided
he would build a mead-hall,
the greatest the world had
ever seen, or even imagined.
There he would share out
to young and old alike
all that God gave him
(except for public lands and men's lives).
I have heard that orders
went out far and wide;
tribes throughout the world
set to work on that building.
And it was built, the world's
greatest mead-hall.
And that great man
called the building
"Herot," the hart.
After it was built,
Hrothgar did what he said
he would: handed out gold
and treasure at huge feasts.
That hall was high-towered,
tall and wide-gabled
(though destruction awaited,
fire and swords of family trouble;
and outside in the night waited
a tortured spirit of hell).
The words of the poet,
the sounds of the harp,
the joy of people echoed.
The poet told how the world
came to be, how God made the earth
and the water surrounding,
how He set the sun and the moon
as lights for people
and adorned the earth
with limbs and leaves for everyone.
Hrothgar's people lived in joy,
happy until that wanderer of the wasteland,
Grendel the demon, possessor of the moors,
began his crimes.
He was of a race of monsters
exiled from mankind by God--
He was of the race of Cain,
that man punished for
murdering his brother.
From that family comes
all evil beings--
monsters, elves, zombies.
Also the giants who
fought with God and got
repaid with the flood.
end of episode one
-------------------------------------------
Grendel Attacks
One night, after a beer party,
the Danes settled in the hall
for sleep; they knew no sorrows.
The evil creature, grim and hungry,
grabbed thirty warriors
and went home laughing.
At dawn, when the Danes learned
of Grendel's strength,
there was great weeping.
The old king sat sadly,
crying for his men. Bloody
footprints were found.
That was bad enough,
but the following night
Grendel killed more--
blinded by sin,
he felt no remorse.
(You can bet the survivors
started sleeping elsewhere.)
So Grendel ruled,
fighting right,
one against many,
and the greatest hall
in all the earth
stood empty at night.
Twelve years this went on,
Hrothgar suffering
the greatest of sorrows.
Poets sang sad songs
throughout the world,
how Grendel tormented Hrothgar;
how no warrior,
no matter how brave,
could kill Grendel.
How Grendel wasn't
about to stop,
or pay damages.
Grendel kept ambushing from his lair,
the moors which lay in perpetual darkness.
Then, the cruelest of all injuries,
he moved into the hall--
stayed there every night
(though God would never allow
such an evil thing
to actually touch the throne).
Hrothgar was broken;
council after council proposed
what to do against the attacks.
They even went to heathen temples,
worshipped idols, and called
to the Devil for help.
The Danes forgot God.
(Woe be to those who go
to the fire's embrace,
even in great distress--
There is no consolation there.)
No counselor, no warrior
could destroy the evil.
They wept and seethed.
Beowulf Hears of Grendel
But a warrior of Hygelac's
heard of Grendel's doings;
he was the strongest of men
alive in that day,
mighty and noble.
That man called for a ship,
said he would cross the ocean
and help the king who needed help.
Wise men urged him
to that adventure
though he was dear to them.
They examined omens
and whetted him on.
So the good Geat chose
the bravest warriors,
fourteen of them,
and that crafty sailor
led them to the land's brim,
to the ship.
They readied the ship
on the waves under the cliffs
and the warriors stood at the prow
as the water wound against the sand.
The warriors bore
into the ship's bosom
bright weapons,
fitted armor.
The men shoved
the well-braced ship
out on the journey
they'd dreamed of.
The foamy-necked ship
went out like a bird
so that the next day
its curved prow
had gone so far
that the seafarers saw land,
shining shore cliffs
and steep mountains.
Their journey was already over
and the Geat warriors
pulled their ship to the shore
and stood on land
in their rattling shirts,
their war-clothes. They
thanked God for an easy trip.
From his wall the sea-guard of the Danes,
protector of the cliffs,
saw bright shields
and ready war dress
coming over the gang plank
and he wondered
who those men were.
Hrothgar's warrior rode
to shore on his horse.
Shaking a mighty spear, he spoke:
"Who are you, in armor,
who come over the sea-road
in that steep keel?
Listen: I guard here
so that no forces
hostile to the Danes
may raid. Never has
one so openly brought
a ship's army, warriors,
without the permission of my kinsmen.
And never have I seen
a greater man on earth,
any man in armor,
than is one among you.
Unless I'm wrong,
that is no hall-man,
just wearing armor--
his stature is peerless.
I wish to know your lineage now
so I know you are not spies
going into the land of the Danes.
You far-dwellers, seafarers,
hear my simple thought:
you had best hurry to tell me
where you come from."
Beowulf, leader of the host
unlatched his word-hoard:
"As to kin, we are of the Geat nation,
Hygelac's hearth-companions.
My father was a leader well known
among the people: Edgtheow.
He stayed many winters
before he went away,
aged, from the court.
Every wise man readily remembers
him throughout the earth.
We have come with friendly hearts
to see your lord, Healfdene's son,
protector of the people.
Be good counsel to us:
we have come on a great errand
to the king of the Danes.
I think it foolish
to keep secrets. You know
if it is true what we have heard,
that a dark enemy in the nights
works violence and slaughter
on the Danes. . . . Perhaps
in kindness I may advise Hrothgar
how he, wise and famous,
may overcome this enemy--
if change will ever come,
relief from this evil--
and how this seething sorrow
might become cool.
Otherwise, he will suffer tribulation
as long as he lives in that high place,
the best of houses."
The protector of the coast,
still on his horse, spoke
(a wise shield warrior,
one who thinks well,
must judge two things:
works and words):
"I see that you are a band
friendly to the lord of the Danes.
Go forth, bearing arms and equipment.
I will guide you. Also,
I will order my men
to protect your ship,
that new-tarred boat on the sand,
until it bears you again
back over the water streams
with its curved wooden neck,
back to the land of the Geats--
if it be granted that you
endure the battle."
They left then the well-made ship
pulling at its rope.
On the gold-adorned helmets
figures of boars shone,
those guards over war-like minds.
The men excitedly marched until
they saw that ornamented hall,
the finest building on earth,
that glittered light over many lands,
where the mighty one waited.
The one brave in battle pointed
toward the resplendent hall;
the guard of the coast turned
his horse and said after them:
"It is time for me to go.
May the Father Omnipotent hold you
safe and sound in kindness!
I will go back to the sea
to hold against hostile bands."
End of episode two
For the rest, go here - http://www.lone-star.net/literature/beowulf/
Beowulf characters -
The Geats - Beowulf's clan - a seafaring tribe residing in the south of Sweden. As the poem suggests, the Geats appear to have been conquered and disappeared into history. The seafaring Geats appear to be the invading `Danes' of whom Gregory of Tours writes concerning an attack by Chlochilaicus (Hygelac) against the Franks in 520. Later they were connected to the Gautar people who were eventually subjugated by the Swedes in territory inland of Sweden.
Given this history, F.R. Klaeber speculates that Beowulf himself was born in about the year 495. He defeats Grendel and his mother to save Hroðgar's kingdom in 515. Following Hygelac's raid in 520, he eventually becomes king of the Geats when Heardred was killed in 533. Fifty years after that, the poem says that Beowulf is killed by the dragon, but few scholars are willing to commit to any specific date.
The Geats are referred to as the Geatas, Guð-Geatas (War-), the Sæ-Geatas (Sea-), and the Weder-Geatas (Weather-).
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Danes were residents of Denmark. Hroðgar's Heorot is likely to have been located on the island of Sjaelland near the present day city of Roskilde.
The Scylding line is known through Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon sources; the Anglo-Saxon king Cnut (1016-1042, a period coincident with the composition of the Beowulf manuscript) is known to have descended from this line. The poem Widsið, with its catalogue of Germanic kings, list Hroðgar and Hroðulf as co-rulers of the Danes at Heorot, and of the marriage arrangement with Ingeld of the Heaðo-Bards.
The Danes are referred to as the Dena, Beorht-Dena (Bright-), Gar-Dena (Spear-), Hring-Dena (Ring-, Corselet-), East-Dena, Norð-Dena (North-), Suð-Dena (South-), West-Dena, Scyldings (Sons of Scyld), Ar-Scyldingas (Honour-), Here-Scyldingas (Army-), Sige-Scyldingas (Victory-), Þeod-Scyldingas (People-), and Ingwines (Ing's Friends).
----------------------------------
The Swedes lived in Sweden north of the Vaner and Volter lakes, north of the Geats. Archaeology in Sweden reveals the grave mounds of Ongenþeow who was buried in 510-515, and his grandson Eadgils, buried in 575. These dates correspond with the events described in Beowulf.
Known as the Sweon (Swedes), the Scylfingas (Sons of Scylf), Guð-Scylfingas (War-), and Heaðo-Scylfingas (War-).
----------------------------------------
The fragment of the Finnsburh poem and the Finnsburh reference in Beowulf somewhat overlap. The song sung during the celebration at Heorot follows the events described in the poem. This overlap in narratives is one reason why these two works are studied together.
The original manuscript of the Fight at Finnsburh is now lost, but it is known to have existed on a single leaf in the Lambeth Palace Library, page 489. The text was published in a transcription made by George Hikes in 1705.
The Fight at Finnsburh is an example of a typical Germanic `heroic lay' describing warriors' deeds in battle and the speeches of significant warriors during the battle. The poem resembles others of the same genre such as The Battle of Maldon, and is quite different from the epic form of Beowulf.
Beowulf is the only poem that associates the parties involved as Danes and Frisians.
--------------------------------------
Grendel (http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~beowulf/pics/grendel.jpg) - a monster, one of a giant race which survived the great flood, slain by Beowulf. It is told that his origins stretch back to Cain, who killed Abel. He is of particular cause of trouble to Hrothgar because of his disregard for law and custom: he refuses to negotiate a peace settlement or to accept tributes of gold.
There is reference to "Grendel's Mere", "Grendel's Pit" and "Grendel's Peck" in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The references seem to collaborate the underground or water lair of the Beowulf epic, but it is unclear what the true origins of these names were.
Grendel's mother is supposedly a smaller creature than her son. She is a vengeful creature who illustrates the constant cycle of war in the poem, even when the enemy appears to be defeated.
As part of a mythical giant race, both Grendel and his mother appear impervious to normal swords, hence the difficulty the Danes must have had in trying to deal with them. Beowulf eventually finds a sword forged by the giants themselves in order to defeat them, but their blood runs hot enough to melt even that blade.
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There is one manuscript in which Beowulf has survived to the present day. The earliest known owner of the manuscript is an early Anglo-Saxon scholar known as Laurence Nowell, Dean of Lichfield. Some time later, it entered into the manuscript collection of Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (1571-1631) and was shelved under the bust of Roman Emperor Aulus Vitellius shelf A, position 15; hence the name Cotton Vitellius A. xv. It is a composite manuscript consisting of two codices (the Southwick Codex and the Nowell Codex) and nine different works between them. Beowulf follows three prose works in the Nowell Codex and precedes the poem Judith.
Cotton Vitellius A. xv.
The Southwick Codex
1 - The Soliloquia of St. Augustine
2 - The Gospel of Nicodemus
3 - The Debate of Solomon and Saturn
4 - St. Quintin Homily (ending lost)
The Nowell Codex
1 - The Life of St. Christopher (beginning lost)
2 - The Wonders of the East
3 - Alexander's Letter to Aristotle
4 - Beowulf
5 - Judith
In 1700, Cotton's collection was donated to the British people. By 1722, Cotton's house had deteriorated and the collection was moved to Essex House in Strand. Seven years later, it was moved again to Ashburnham House in Westminster. In 1731, Ashburnham House caught fire. Cotton Vitellius A. xv. was badly burned around the edges when it was saved by being thrown from the window with many other manuscripts.
G.J. Thorkelin, an Anglo-Saxonist from Iceland, and a hired scribe made two transcripts of Beowulf in 1787. It was not until the next century that the British Museum went about systematically repairing the books damaged by the fire. By that time, much of the text of Beowulf had crumbled away from the edges of the pages. By 1845, Cotton Vitellius A. xv. was rebound mounted on paper frames that help slow the deterioration of the edges of the pages. In 1882, Julius Zupitza produced a black-and-white facsimile and transcription of Beowulf, followed by Kemp Malone's in 1969. In 1990, work on the Electronic Beowulf, a collection of high quality digitizations with fibre-optic and ultra-violet lighting headed by Kevin Kiernan, continues at the British Library and the University of Kentucky.
When the 1969 edition of Zupitza's facsimiles went to press, the manuscript measured 195 mm high by 115-130 mm wide with a written area 175 mm high by 105 mm wide.
On the whole, the manuscript remains fairly readable, but some folios in particular had seen much neglect. Folio 179/182 is argued to be palimpsest, that is, it had been erased in preparation for reuse or revision.
http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~beowulf/main.html
The Geats - Beowulf's clan - a seafaring tribe residing in the south of Sweden. As the poem suggests, the Geats appear to have been conquered and disappeared into history. The seafaring Geats appear to be the invading `Danes' of whom Gregory of Tours writes concerning an attack by Chlochilaicus (Hygelac) against the Franks in 520. Later they were connected to the Gautar people who were eventually subjugated by the Swedes in territory inland of Sweden.
Given this history, F.R. Klaeber speculates that Beowulf himself was born in about the year 495. He defeats Grendel and his mother to save Hroðgar's kingdom in 515. Following Hygelac's raid in 520, he eventually becomes king of the Geats when Heardred was killed in 533. Fifty years after that, the poem says that Beowulf is killed by the dragon, but few scholars are willing to commit to any specific date.
The Geats are referred to as the Geatas, Guð-Geatas (War-), the Sæ-Geatas (Sea-), and the Weder-Geatas (Weather-).
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The Danes were residents of Denmark. Hroðgar's Heorot is likely to have been located on the island of Sjaelland near the present day city of Roskilde.
The Scylding line is known through Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon sources; the Anglo-Saxon king Cnut (1016-1042, a period coincident with the composition of the Beowulf manuscript) is known to have descended from this line. The poem Widsið, with its catalogue of Germanic kings, list Hroðgar and Hroðulf as co-rulers of the Danes at Heorot, and of the marriage arrangement with Ingeld of the Heaðo-Bards.
The Danes are referred to as the Dena, Beorht-Dena (Bright-), Gar-Dena (Spear-), Hring-Dena (Ring-, Corselet-), East-Dena, Norð-Dena (North-), Suð-Dena (South-), West-Dena, Scyldings (Sons of Scyld), Ar-Scyldingas (Honour-), Here-Scyldingas (Army-), Sige-Scyldingas (Victory-), Þeod-Scyldingas (People-), and Ingwines (Ing's Friends).
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The Swedes lived in Sweden north of the Vaner and Volter lakes, north of the Geats. Archaeology in Sweden reveals the grave mounds of Ongenþeow who was buried in 510-515, and his grandson Eadgils, buried in 575. These dates correspond with the events described in Beowulf.
Known as the Sweon (Swedes), the Scylfingas (Sons of Scylf), Guð-Scylfingas (War-), and Heaðo-Scylfingas (War-).
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The fragment of the Finnsburh poem and the Finnsburh reference in Beowulf somewhat overlap. The song sung during the celebration at Heorot follows the events described in the poem. This overlap in narratives is one reason why these two works are studied together.
The original manuscript of the Fight at Finnsburh is now lost, but it is known to have existed on a single leaf in the Lambeth Palace Library, page 489. The text was published in a transcription made by George Hikes in 1705.
The Fight at Finnsburh is an example of a typical Germanic `heroic lay' describing warriors' deeds in battle and the speeches of significant warriors during the battle. The poem resembles others of the same genre such as The Battle of Maldon, and is quite different from the epic form of Beowulf.
Beowulf is the only poem that associates the parties involved as Danes and Frisians.
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Grendel (http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~beowulf/pics/grendel.jpg) - a monster, one of a giant race which survived the great flood, slain by Beowulf. It is told that his origins stretch back to Cain, who killed Abel. He is of particular cause of trouble to Hrothgar because of his disregard for law and custom: he refuses to negotiate a peace settlement or to accept tributes of gold.
There is reference to "Grendel's Mere", "Grendel's Pit" and "Grendel's Peck" in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The references seem to collaborate the underground or water lair of the Beowulf epic, but it is unclear what the true origins of these names were.
Grendel's mother is supposedly a smaller creature than her son. She is a vengeful creature who illustrates the constant cycle of war in the poem, even when the enemy appears to be defeated.
As part of a mythical giant race, both Grendel and his mother appear impervious to normal swords, hence the difficulty the Danes must have had in trying to deal with them. Beowulf eventually finds a sword forged by the giants themselves in order to defeat them, but their blood runs hot enough to melt even that blade.
---------------------------------------------------------
There is one manuscript in which Beowulf has survived to the present day. The earliest known owner of the manuscript is an early Anglo-Saxon scholar known as Laurence Nowell, Dean of Lichfield. Some time later, it entered into the manuscript collection of Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (1571-1631) and was shelved under the bust of Roman Emperor Aulus Vitellius shelf A, position 15; hence the name Cotton Vitellius A. xv. It is a composite manuscript consisting of two codices (the Southwick Codex and the Nowell Codex) and nine different works between them. Beowulf follows three prose works in the Nowell Codex and precedes the poem Judith.
Cotton Vitellius A. xv.
The Southwick Codex
1 - The Soliloquia of St. Augustine
2 - The Gospel of Nicodemus
3 - The Debate of Solomon and Saturn
4 - St. Quintin Homily (ending lost)
The Nowell Codex
1 - The Life of St. Christopher (beginning lost)
2 - The Wonders of the East
3 - Alexander's Letter to Aristotle
4 - Beowulf
5 - Judith
In 1700, Cotton's collection was donated to the British people. By 1722, Cotton's house had deteriorated and the collection was moved to Essex House in Strand. Seven years later, it was moved again to Ashburnham House in Westminster. In 1731, Ashburnham House caught fire. Cotton Vitellius A. xv. was badly burned around the edges when it was saved by being thrown from the window with many other manuscripts.
G.J. Thorkelin, an Anglo-Saxonist from Iceland, and a hired scribe made two transcripts of Beowulf in 1787. It was not until the next century that the British Museum went about systematically repairing the books damaged by the fire. By that time, much of the text of Beowulf had crumbled away from the edges of the pages. By 1845, Cotton Vitellius A. xv. was rebound mounted on paper frames that help slow the deterioration of the edges of the pages. In 1882, Julius Zupitza produced a black-and-white facsimile and transcription of Beowulf, followed by Kemp Malone's in 1969. In 1990, work on the Electronic Beowulf, a collection of high quality digitizations with fibre-optic and ultra-violet lighting headed by Kevin Kiernan, continues at the British Library and the University of Kentucky.
When the 1969 edition of Zupitza's facsimiles went to press, the manuscript measured 195 mm high by 115-130 mm wide with a written area 175 mm high by 105 mm wide.
On the whole, the manuscript remains fairly readable, but some folios in particular had seen much neglect. Folio 179/182 is argued to be palimpsest, that is, it had been erased in preparation for reuse or revision.
http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~beowulf/main.html