Beowulf is the oldest epic in the Germanic language. Beowulf
was first passed on in an oral tradition. Most of the characters in the
story are believed to be real, but they are not traceable. The epic
itself is relatively intact, coming from around the mid ninth century,
but our transcript comes from the eleventh century. The epic is divided
into four chapters: Beowulf's fight with Gendel, Beowulf's fight with
Grendel's mom, Beowulf's return and fifty-year rule, and Beowulf and the
Dragon. Beowulf portrays the perfect warrior and king in the eyes of the
original story-tellers. The Anglo-Saxons' view of life is shown constantly
throughout the epic. All modern research has pointed to everyday-life
being very similar to that of life in Beowulf. One of the best ways to
learn about the Anglo-Saxons is to read their stories and history.
Beowulf will remain to be a backbone of Germanic languages in terms of
a starting point.
