3,182 lines
First lines:
Attend!
Great lines:
they said that he was of all the world's kings
the gentlest of men, and the most gracious,
the kindest to his people, the keenest for fame.
Perhaps the greatest and certainly the most prolific writer in history, Anonymous reached a creative peak in ancient times with some researchers even suggesting he was the real... more
Odd, for some reason Hollywood producers have never engaged in bidding wars to adapt epic Old English poetry for the silver screen. However, the classic themes and.... more
It wasn't actually called Beowulf until 1805 and was not printed till 1815, more than a millennium after its first "publication" by manuscript. But to the early Anglo-Saxons, the slaying of the monster Grendel and Grendel's mother by the hero Beowulf was a tale more spine-tingling than anything Stephen King or Steven Spielberg could come up with today.
Despite the work being known as an English classic, its story takes place in Scandinavia and northern Europe, where it likely originated, and it does not mention England at all. It tells of a young Beowulf, whose name means "bright wolf" or "noble wolf" and who achieves fame by killing a monster (something like what would later be called a dragon) in a foreign king's court and later its revenge-seeking mama in an underwater lair.
A lesser-known continuation of the epic jumps ahead fifty years, after Beowulf has ruled his own kingdom for fifty years and faces a new monster threatening his people. The conclusion of this battle is more tragic—and not just for the monster. A number of other epic stories are woven into the poem.
The original literary form of Beowulf is Old English heroic epic poetry, meant to be sung or chanted to simple musical accompaniment. Each line is divided into two parts that are united by alliteration and similar stresses. Some translations into modern English preserve these characteristics while others take a freer approach.
You can also find Beowulf translated into prose. Although this may strike the modern eye as easier to follow, I recommend a good verse translation that retains the alliterative poetry. Once you get used to it, you'll find the sound and rhythm will carry you along swimmingly. (See translations of Beowulf for samples and comparisons of different versions.)
— Eric
