The events in the poem take place over most of the sixth century, and feature no English characters. Some suggest that Beowulf was first composed in the 7th century at Rendlesham in East Anglia, as the Sutton Hoo

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The protagonist Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, king of the Danes, whose great hall, Heorot, is plagued by the monster Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel with his bare hands, then kills Grendel's mother with a giant's sword that he found in her lair.

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The dating of Beowulf has attracted considerable scholarly attention; opinion differs as to whether it was first written in the 8th century, whether it

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Editions
Many editions of the Old English text of Beowulf have been published; this section lists the most influential.

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Neither identified sources nor analoguesfor Beowulf can be definitively proven, but many conjectures have been made. These are important in helping historians understand the Beowulf

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Beowulf predominantly uses the West Saxon dialectof Old English, like other Old English poems copied at the time. However, it also uses many other linguistic forms; this leads some scholars to believe that it has endured a long and complicated transmission through all

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Beowulf survived to modern times in a single manuscript, written in ink on parchment, later damaged by fire. The manuscript measures 245 × 185 mm.
Provenance

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