Beowulf | Structure, Characters, Summary, Analysis
Beowulf is the first surviving epic written in the English language. The poem was probably created by a scop, a professional Anglo-Saxon poet. A Scop used to be like bards who were engaged in creating poems to preserve the myths and histories of their people. These poems would be performed from memory at feasts or other public gatherings as part of an oral story-telling tradition. Since we do not know who actually wrote Beowulf, the anonymous writer is often referred to as the Beowulf poet.
It is a long Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. During the 11th century, two scribes got the job of preserving the oral story of Beowulf in a single cotton manuscript. The original poem and the poet were pagan, but the scribes were Christian and added Christian details to the poem: the poem now calls God the ultimate judge and ruler and even refers to events in the Old Testament. Through the study of Old English verse, most scholars believe that the poem was composed much earlier than the Cotton manuscript, between 650 and 800.
Beowulf has many Digressions from the main story. These digressions can be divided into four groups, namely the Scyld narrative at the start; many descriptions of the Geats, including the Swedish–Geatish wars, the "Lay of the Last Survivor" in the style of another Old English poem, "The Wanderer", and Beowulf's dealings with the Geats such as his verbal contest with Unferth and his swimming duel with Breca, and the tale of Sigemund and the dragon; history and legend, including the fight at Finnsburg and the tale of Freawaru and Ingeld; and biblical tales such as the creation myth and Cain as the ancestor of all monsters. Many scholars have researched Beowulf including J.R.R. Tolkien who was a Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University, and an authority on Beowulf: His novels The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy are steeped in the mythology and culture in which Beowulf is set. In addition, Tolkien borrowed the episode of the thief stealing a cup from the dragon in Beowulf and used it in The Hobbit.
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