BEOWULF, heti-will f, Anglo-Saxon epic, of great importance as one of the earliest extant pieces of literature in the English lan guage, as a source of information in regard to early manners, customs and traditions, and as an heroic poem of great dignity and beauty. The unique manuscript, now in the British Museum, dates from about 1000, but the com position of the poem must be placed some three centuries earlier. The manuscript, care lessly written by two scribes, is in the West Saxon dialect, but the original poem must have been composed in the Northumbrian dialect, like most extant Anglo-Saxon poetry, which represents Southern transcription of Northern work. The name of the poet is not known; he was not, in any case, the inventor of the inci dents, but rather one who adapted existing material, probably in the form of separate lays, to the ampler frame of the epic.
The plot of the poem is briefly as follows: Hrothgar, King of the Danes, builds a great mead-hall for himself and his warriors. But an evil creature named Grendel, descended from Cain, comes at night and attacks the hall, slaying and devouring Hrothgar's men. Twelve years this continues. Then Beowulf, nephew of Hygelac, King of the Geatas, in the territory which is now southern Sweden, sails to Denmark with 14 warriors to kill the mon ster. He is entertained magnificently at the Danish court and silences Unferth, the King's chief counsellor, who belittles his . courage. When night falls Beowulf watches in the hall, with his thanes. The monster appears and kills one of the men before coming to grips with Beowulf. A fearful struggle ensues, in which the hero tears off the demon's arm, but cannot prevent his escape to his lair. On the following day there is great rejoicing, and magnificent presents are bestowed upon Beowulf. But after night conies on the mother of Grendel, bent upon revenge, bursts into the hall and carries off 2Eschere, a Danish warrior. Beo wulf then seeks out the she-demon in her lair beneath the waters of an inland mere. His sword, loaned him by Unferth, fails him, and he kills the hag with one of her own weapons. He cuts off the head of the dead Grendel and takes it back with him to the court of Hrothgar. After more feasting and present-giving he re turns to the land of the Geatas and recounts his adventures at some length to King Hygelac. After the reign of Heardred, the successor of Hygelac, Beowulf himself ascends the throne and reigns gloriously for 50 years. But a dragon, angered by the plundering of his hoard, devastates the country with fire, *hereupon Beowulf attacks and kills him, with the assist ance of Wiglaf, a young thane. In this en counter Beowulf is himself mortally wounded and dies. His body is burned on a great funeral pyre, with solemn ceremonies.
This bare outline gives no hint of the we,alth of episodes which enrich the poem. The most important of these are the account of Beowulf's swimming feat with Breca of the Brondings; the story of Finn, King of the Frisians, and Hildeburg, his Danish wife; the tale of the be trothal of HrOthgar's daughter Freawaru to Ingeld; and the descriptions of the wars between the Geatas and Swedes. A part of the Finn
story is also preserved in the so-called (Finns burg Fragment,' 50 lines of verse found in the binding of a book of homilies, and now lost. (Beowulf,' as is evident, represents the fusion of history and tradition with themes of popular story. Much of what is told of kings and chieftains must be founded upon fact. One event, the death of Hygclac, established by docu mentary evidence as between 512 and 520 (Gregory of Tours and the (Gesta Fran corm)), serves roughly as a basis for dating the action of the poem. But it is impossible to establish exact chronology for events so highly colored by imagination. The story of Grendel and his dam nray be traced in the very wide spread popular tale of the (Bear's Son); the fight with the dragon, originally quite uncon nected with this, attached itself independently to the figure of Beowulf. The material prob ably took shape in the form of lays in Scandi navian territory, was carried to England, retold there in the vernacular, and finally molded by the “Beowulf-poet)) into the present epic about the first quarter of the 8th century. It is im possible, however, to distinguish in the present poem the lays on the basis of which it was composed. The Christian elements, though foreign to the material in its earlier form, are not mere interpolations, but an integral part of the work of the final poet. The tale of Beo wulf's troll-fights, living on in Scandinavia after its transference to England, reappears at tached to an historical personage in the (Saga of Grettir the Strong,' with very striking re semblances to the English poem. The other Scandinavian analogues are of less importance. Many attempts have been made to explain the chief events of the epic as a nature-myth, but these are to be regarded with distrust. If a mythological significance was ever attached to these events, which may be doubted, there is no sufficient evidence upon which to base an in terpretation.
The poem is written in alliterative long lines, with four strongly emphasized syllables and a varying number of weaker syllables. The style is simple but vigorous. Metaphor, es pecially in decorative epithets, is frequently used, but simile is rare. The narrative is con stantly retarded by repetition and variation, and an understanding of much in the story, especi ally in the episodes, is rendered difficult by un explained allusions. The whole is in no sense pnmitive, but represents highly developed art istry. As a sustained narrative of heroic events, and as an expression of early ideals of courage and devotion to chief and to kin, 'Beowulf) is unrivalled in the vernacular lit erature of western Europe. Consult the trans lation by Gummere, F. B., 'The Oldest English Epic,' with its comments and illustrative ma terial, particularly to be recommended.