5 Beowulf
Dr. Debamitra kar
Beowulf
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In this chapter you are going to learn:
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Preface
Of all the Anglo-Saxon texts that we have discussed so far, Beowulf is the most well-known one. The epic is 3182 lines long and continues to receive great critical attention. The reason behind this interest in the work stems from its many mysteries: we still have very little idea about the poet, or the time of its composition or the identity of its intended audience. Similarly, scholars have found it difficult to pin down the exact nature of this huge work. Was it meant to glorify the pagan heroism, or was it ultimately a condemnation of the pre-Christian German society? As much is left to conjecture, the text remains alive in the critical writings of the day.
The poem can be found in the composite codex, Cotton Vitellius A XV, that is now preserved in the British Library in London. Chronologically this is third if the four major poetic codices from the Old English period and is dated to the beginning or the first quarter of the eleventh century. The present codex has two manuscripts: the first one contains four works of Old English prose: a copy of Alfred’s translation of Augustine’s Soliloquies, a translation of the„ Gospel of Nicodemus‟, the prose „Solomon and Saturn‟, and a fragment of a life of Saint Quentin; the second manuscript, apart from Beowulf, has three other Old English prose works: an incomplete Life of St Christopher, Marvels of the East, and The Letter from Aristotle to Alexander and poetic work called Judith. This latter part is also known as the Beowulf manuscript or Nowell codex after the name of the famous antiquarian Laurence Nowell. He was apparently its owner in the mid-16th century. It was then acquired by Sir Robert Cotton. In Cotton‟s library, it was placed as the 15th manuscript on the first shelf of the bookcase that had a bust of Vitellius, the Roman Emperor. The manuscript has survived the devastating fire of 1731 at Ashburnham House, though its margins have been scorched.
The Structure and theme of Beowulf
Date of Composition
There is no doubt about the fact that the poem was composed at least two centuries earlier than the manuscript which contains it. Depending upon the various historical events that Beowulf mentions, several dates of composition of the poem have been proposed by the scholars. Gregory of Tours, a contemporary chronicler in his ten volume work Historia Francorum says that the battle in which Hygelac died took place in 520 CE. Reference to Hygelac shows that the Beowulf-poet was well-aware of this historical datum, which means that the poem cannot be composed before 520 CE. Again, the poem refers to various Scandinavian tribes who came and settled down in England around the 5th century—Danes, Swedes, Geats1, Frisians, Jutes and others. The primary interaction between the Scandinavian or Norse2 tribes and the Celtic residents was not a happy one and there is no reason to believe that a poem which is so Norse in subject matter would be so well received in a territory that was considering the Norsemen as invaders. Therefore, according to G. K. Anderson, „it is unlikely that any poem so Scandinavian in sympathy would be written before the Danish invasion had at least begun.‟ (P 82) The Danish invasion began around the eighth century and reached its peak in the ninth and tenth centuries. They first took Northumbria and Mercia, i.e., the northern part of the island and then slowly travelled to the south. As Beowulf is composed in West Saxon dialect, with a considerable mixture of Anglian dialects (Mercian and Northumbrian), it means it was written at a time when the Danish influence is strong even in the southern part of England. However, the time of writing the text is definitely not the time when it was originally composed. The formulaic pattern employed in the poem suggests that it was an oral composition, which must be done around 725 CE, the heyday of bardic poetry in England. The poet must be of Danish ancestry, living in Anglia and writing in an Anglian dialect. It was later copied by a cleric of West Saxon origin, who perhaps has interpolated some passages to make it more suitable to the taste of the recently-Christianised readers. The two dates suggested, i.e., 520 and 725, show a gap of almost two centuries. You may find that improbable, but remember for the growth of an epic, two centuries are far from being enough. In fact the sagas of Beowulf can be traced back to the continental days when the tribes have not yet begun their exodus.
The Structure of the Poem
The epic poem can be divided into two sections: Lines 1-2199 relate to Beowulf‟s arrival in Denmark from Geatland. He has come to Denmark in the hope of defeating the monster Grendel, who has been terrorising the court of Hrothgar, the Danish king. Beowulf fights with Grendel and his mother and kills both of them. The first part ends with the celebration of his feat and his departure from Denamrk and subsequent arrival at Geatland. The second part begins fifty years later. Beowulf is now an old king and has ruled Geatland successfully for fifty years. The safety of his kingdom is now threatened by a dragon and Beowulf has to fight with him. Beowulf kills the dragon and is fatally wounded. The poem ends with the description of Beowulf‟s funeral.
Such a sketchy summary does not do justice to the scope and magnificence of the poem. It presents a great network of many digressive passages which taken together would give one an essence of the heroic society and tradition of the Old English society. Beowulf is not just an adventure story of the hero in two loosely connected episodes; it is a glimpse of a certain way of life where every decision and action of one‟s life is determined by his lifelong pursuit of lof and dom. The text uses materials from various sources: Biblical, there are direct reference to the Old Testament; legendary sagas, particularly Icelandic and Norse; and historical materials. Unlike the contemporary non-Christian epics, Beowulf does not speak about the pantheon of gods and goddesses; rather it teaches the benefits of renunciation of earthly possessions, which apart from having a definite Christian bearing adds to the predominant elegiac overtone of the poem. Scholars have found it difficult to determine the genre to which the poem belongs. We shall now discuss the important digressions spoken in the poem, to have an understanding of the age which it represents.
The Digressions
The first group of digressions that we are going to read now represents the heroic legends and sagas of Germanic origin. Some of the characters mentioned are fictitious or legendary, for instance Scyld Scefing, Sigemund the dragon slayer, Hama who stole the necklace of the Brosings, the avaricious Heremond, Queen Modthryth, and others. These characters act as a foil to the figure of Beowulf who is seen as the rising hero of the Geatish kingdom. The second part of the poem deal with history of the Danes under the Scylding dynasty and the causes of their downfall, and of the history of Geatish wars until the final destruction of the Geats following the joint invasion of Franks and Swedes. In this part, Beowulf is seen a renowned king who has ruled successfully for fifty years, and now his inevitable decline is studied against these historical narratives of fall and destruction.
Unlike the classical epics that open with an invocation to the muse, Beowulf begins with a short section on the life and works of the legendary Scyld Scefing (or Shield Sheafson in some editions) who was instrumental in establishing the rule of law among the Danes and was followed by his able son Beow. The poet immediately moves on to describe the funeral of Scefing, and thereby creating a kind of a rondo pattern in the poem, for it would end with Beowulf‟s funeral, though he would not be lucky enough to be followed by a son. The description of the Scylding dynasty continues, with the rise of Halfdane, Heorogar, Halga and a marriage alliance is struck between them and the Swedes when Halfdane‟s daughter was married to Onela, Ongentheow‟s son. However, this alliance would not be able to stop the later war between the two tribes in which, following Hrothgar‟s death, would finally destroy the Danish dynasty. Against this backdrop, Hrothgar is introduced as a proud successor of a powerful dynasty. The poet portrays him as an old king, who had once built the Heorot, the famous mead-hall, which is the symbol of power and integrity in the Heroic society. He has already ruled his kingdom for fifty years, and his situation parallels the situation in which we would find Beowulf in the opening of the second section, where the peace of his kingdom would be threatened by a gold-hoarding dragon, just as Hrothgar‟s Heorot was endangered by Grendel and his dam. The text then moves on to the arrival and exploits of Beowulf and his success as a warrior.
The next instance of digression occurs in the poem where, after killing Grendel Beowulf is being congratulated and a great feast is arranged in his honour. The scop sings two songs: one about Sigemund, the dragon slayer, and another about the Finnish war against the Danes. Sigemund Waesling features in Icelandic and Norse sagas. You have already read about him in the Neibelunglied saga. Sigemund, father of Sigfried, was the most well-known monster-killer in the Germanic world. He slew a dragon and seized his treasure; but the treasure had a curse laid upon him which ultimately brought about the death of the hero. The scop briefly refers to his exploits in his song, but the contemporary audience/reader would be familiar with the entire story, and therefore, this brief reference to Sigemund would enhance the heroic stature of Beowulf as a monster killer and at the same time the informed audience would be able to appreciate the tragic premonition.
Reference to the Finnish war against the Danes, reminds one of the blood-feud and struggle of the within the Anglo-Saxon society. The allusion is made to the 48-line long heroic poem known as The Fight at Finnsburh. The poem has a separate existence and may well be related to a lost cycle dealing with the life of Hengest, who is reported by Bede as one of the Anglo-Saxon warlords who came to the island to rescue the Britons from the attack of the northern tribes. The minstrel in Beowulf, outlines the tale as follows: Finn, the king of Frisians, has married the Danish princess Hideburh. Her brother Hnaef together with his peers, which probably includes Hengest, have come to visit Finnsburh and are accommodated in a separate guest hall. As a result of an old feud, which was temporarily papered over by the marriage alliance, a fight breaks out between the two groups when the Finns attack the Danes. They both suffer heavy losses, Hnaef is killed and so is the son of Finn. Hildeburh, the worst sufferer has to prepare for two funeral pyres—one for her brother and the other for her son. The Danes reunite under the leadership of Hengest and finally they kill Finn and destroy Finnsburh and Hildeburh is carried back to
Denmark. In Beowulf the digression has a tragic foreboding. Towards the end of the first part we come to know about a possible marriage alliance between Hrothgar‟s daughter Freawaru and Ingeld, a Heathobard leader to settle an old score. Beowulf, after his return to the Geatland, reports to Hygelac, his lord about the proposed match and tells that marriage alliance can never be a solution to the long-standing hatred between two tribes and such marriages end in disaster. The informed audience or reader, who knows about the Finnsburh disaster, would agree with him. Thus, one is certain of the grim future that awaits Hrothgar‟s kingdom.
In the second half of the poem the two main instances of digression introduces us to the feud between the Swedes or Scylfings (also spelt as Shylfings) and the Geats. This digression at the beginning of the second tells us about Beowulf‟s ascension to the throne and his loyalty to Hygelac and his son. Even when Quees Hygd, offered him the throne of Geatland after Hygelac‟s death, Beowulf refused; he served the young Heardred. This digressive passage, narrated just after the description of the dragon serves two purposes: it shows the strength of character of the hero—he represents a sharp contrast to the lust for power and wealth that the dragon represents; and also his loyalty to his lord, which is the most important virtue of the heroic society. This passage along with another one narrated by Beowulf recounts the long-standing conflict and hatred between the Swedes and the Geats, which was momentarily suspended because of Beowulf‟s wisdom and prowess and is sure to resume at the hero‟s death. Thus the tragic atmosphere is set and the following action that involves Beowulf‟s death at the war with the dragon unfolds. His death will have tragic consequences as Wiglaf predicts in his final speech, it would end an entire dynasty or nation, just as Hector‟s death led to the doom of the Trojans. This tragic atmosphere and grim foreboding is essential to the underscore the epic scope of the Old English heroic poem.
The second group of digressive passages refer to the Biblical allusions that are used in the poem. We shall discuss them when we examine the Christian influence on the poem. For the time being, let us look at the thematic implication of the digressive passages we have already discussed.
Some Thematic Considerations
Our primary endeavour in this section would be read Beowulf as a representative poem of the post Migratory heroic society of the ancient world. He belongs to the age of heroes which intervened between the ages of bronze and iron. The Greek poet Hesiod of eighth century describes it as:
A godlike race of heroes, who are called
The demi-gods—the race before our own.
Foul wars and dreadful battles ruined some;
Some sought the flocks of Oedipus, and died
In Cadmus‟ land, at seven-gated Thebes;
And some, who crossed the open sea in ships,
For fair-haired Helen‟s sake, were killed at Troy.
These men were covered up in death,
But Zeus the son of Kronos gave the others life
And homes apart from mortals, at Earth‟s edge.
And there they live a carefree life, beside
The whirling Ocean, on the Blessed Isles.
You must, by this time, have understood how the hero of the poem has been placed vis-a-vis other legendary or historical figures of the contemporary world. He is compared with both Sigemund and Heremod, the former is renowned in the Germanic universe for his exploits and the latter is infamous for his power-hungry nature. Beowulf has Sigemund‟s prowess but unlike Heremond he has the humility and wisdom of a great ruler. His character is best summarised by his own people:
They say that of all the kings upon the earth he was the man most gracious and fair-minded, kindest to his people and keenest to win fame. (P 99)3 You should not think that someone „keenest to win fame‟ or „lof geormost‟ is someone proud. The pursuit for fame is an essential quality of the heroic society and Beowulf epitomises the values of heroic ethics. He is a fictitious character surrounded by historical personages; he is portrayed in a realistic manner but he represents an idealism that is not always feasible in the real universe. Some essential aspects of heroic ethics are as follows:
The poet‟s theme is the character of leadership in the heroic society. The didactic content of the poem is high. The poet uses the digressive references and heroic speeches to discuss these points. A significant passage in this context is Hrothgar‟s speech to Beowulf after his victory in the fight with Grendel‟s mother. Scholars read the speech as a homily or sermon for its edifying nature. He predicts that a great future awaits a warrior like Beowulf, but warns him about the ephemeral nature of power. He himself was once a fine example of the heroic king in his youth. His kinsmen were eager were eager to serve him, and his comitatus increased in size to a formidable army. Princes from distant land flocked to his court. He had every reason to believe that his enemies had faded from the face of the earth till Grendel struck with its devastating force and destroyed Heorot, the emblem of power. Thus, his advice to Beowulf is:
Do not give way to pride.
For a brief while your strength is in bloom
but it fades quickly; and soon there will follow
illness or the sword to lay you low,
or a sudden fire or surge of water
or jabbing blade or javelin from the air
or repellent age. Your piercing eye
will dim and darken; and death will arrive,
dear warrior, to sweep you away.
And thus „Choose, dear Beowulf, the better part,/ eternal rewards‟. The phrase „eternal reward‟ can be deciphered both as heavenly things or lof and dom.
The mead hall or Heorot functions as a major poetic symbol in the first half of the poem. It is the practical and emotional centre of the heroic society, representing both regality and purity, the destruction of which would mean a negation of a certain way of life. Yet from the very beginning its destruction seems to be inevitable, just as the hall of Finnsburh was burned down, Heorot would also be ruined, for all human glories are transient.
Beowulf‟s death has epic implications. It would lead to the ultimate destruction of the Geats. Hence, Beowulf is a tragic hero, „his virtues are characteristically seen in defence and often in defeat‟ (Swanton 61). His tragedy is not personal, it has greater consequences.
The portrait of the hero and the society is realistic. The heroic poem does not deal with the fantastic. Even the monsters have symbolic purpose.
Finally, there is the overwhelming elegiac tone that permeates the entire poem. You have already read that fatalism and elegies are an essential aspect of the heroic aesthetics. Beowulf also represents men caught up in the process of disintegration and dissolution. The hero rightly observes when he says, „Gæt a wyrd swa hio scel‟ (Fate always goes as it must). Wyrd is a sophisticated concept, corresponding neither to fate nor fortune, but rather meaning „the course of events, that which will come about‟. It, however, does not inspire any defeatist mentality in the heroes. „The fundamental assumption is that man‟s will because free, may prove superior to the fate which sooner or later must destroy him—a dynamic ethic of active courage, asserting human capacity for achievement unaided by supernatural means, whether divine or merely magical.‟ (Swanton 65)
Beowulf as an Epic
In the previous module you have already read about the features of the epic genre. Beowulf has been criticised for its episodic nature and lack of artistic unity, which is the hallmark of any work of art, according to Aristotle. It also lacks the formal patterns of an epic, like invocation or deux machine. Some scholars (W. P. Ker‟s comment is quoted in Tolkien‟s essay) condemns the importance of the monsters. On the other hand, J. R. R Tolkien reunited the poem and placed the monsters at the centre of his critical exegesis. Subsequent criticism is greatly indebted to Tolkien. Let us examine the epic qualities present in Beowulf:
- Beowulf is rather a condensed epic poem. It is not merely a poem about a hero; it has epic qualities of inclusive scope, objective treatment, unity of ethos and significant action.
(Alexander 27) The so-called digressive passages create a network of historical details that create the backdrop against which the action of Beowulf against the monsters unfolds.
- Heorot is the microcosmic representation of this universe. Just as it has amity and friendship, it also has subdued but distinct hostility represented by Unferth.
- Beowulf exhibits a splendid sense of history. It tells the stories of the rise and fall of Geats, Danes, Swedes, Heathobards, Frisians and Franks. This is the world of the Baltic and North seas, in the centuries ending the Age of Migration. History is supplemented by legend with figures of Eomenric, Sigemeund, Wayland, and so on. Beowulf presents not only the history of the achievement of kings and heroes but also the sufferings of the women, as brides, queens, or mothers.
- The objectivity is an important aspect of the epic. The poet of Beowulf is restrained and economic in his treatment of death. He avoids sentimentality.
- The use of traditional representation technique: voyage, welcome, feast, beot (boast), arming, fight, reward. The poem may have episodes, but all these episodes are arranged in this pattern. The fights are described as realistically as possible.
- The epic presents a simple and definite universe. Men are identified as someone‟s son or kin, which shows the importance of family and kinship in this universe. Thus, the hero‟s duty is to preserve the honour of his family. It is a world of mutual obligation rather than individual glory. The lof and dom, the praise is only showered on the hero for he fights for his community or tribe.
- Unity of consciousness—a sense of solidarity with the universe and the audience. Instead of the so called unity of action, the unity of consciousness is more important for the poet. He can feel the vibes of his audience and relate it to the universe that he is trying to capture through his poetry. He is a man representing his community as a truth that has a universal value.
The Symbolism of the Monsters
The fairy tale atmosphere of the poem is created by the monsters. Yet the monsters have symbolic significance. They are a part of the heroic universe representing the paraphernalia of common pagan fear: hobgoblins, trolls, elves, and so on. They are a kind of an externalisation of the personal and institutional neuroses. They symbolize an evil that should be encountered and defeated. Grendel for instance, is the destroyer of the hall or all that stands for good in the pagan universe. He is thus associated with Cain, the first man who killed his own brother out of envy. As a descendent of Cain4 he should destroy human solidarity and friendship (which is symbolised by Heorot), he is jealous of the community life from which he is exiled forever, and that is why he must be killed by the hero.
Beowulf‟s fight with Cain is easier compared to his encounter with his dam, for Grendel‟s perpetrates acts of violence against Hrothgar‟s men without being provoked but his dam had come to avenge her son‟s death. As vengeance is honourably accepted in the heroic ethics, the poet gives her more strength and prowess: Grendel was killed without any weapon, Beowulf just ripped off his arms with his bare hands, but for his dam he needs a magical sword. Its hilt is engraved with biblical stories of the Flood, and runic inscriptions that speak of its previous great possessors.
Beowulf‟s third and final encounter is with the dragon, which manages to kill him. Norse sagas have spoken about Fafnir, the dragon, who was actually a giant employed by King Wotan to build the beautiful castle called Valhalla. Instead of being paid for their work they were asked to retrieve the cursed treasure of Alberich, the prince of Nibelung, the dwarfs. The two giants Fafnir and Fesolt are able to find the gold but the former kills his friend and changed himself to a dragon so that he could guard the treasure forever. It is not only that the dragon represents a perverted lust for wealth, his treasure is instrumental is evoking the same lust in people. They try to steal the treasure and are killed by the monster. The story is repeated in the poem, as someone entered its lair and stole a gem-studded goblet. The sleeping dragon wakes up, destroying people‟s home. In his final fight, Beowulf retrieves the treasure but he distributes it to his people, thus he could rise above petty covetousness and ensure his moral quality, which is the greatest possession of the epic hero.
Beowulf: A Christian epic?
There are quite a few direct references to the Old Testament in the poem, for instance: reference to Cain while introducing Grendel, the reference to Flood in the runic inscriptions engraved in the hilt of the sword used to kill Grendel‟s dam, the story of creation recounted by the minstrel in Hrothgar‟s court, and so on. There are also man homiletic passages or sentences which speak of eternal joy and heavenly kingdom. Many scholars like E. Talbot Donaldson, or Fred C. Robinson (both are quoted in Harold Bloom‟s introduction to his edited volume, Beowulf: Interpretations) argue that it is a pronounced Christian epic, the killing of the monsters is emblematic of the victory of god‟s grace over the forces of darkness and evil. Fate or Wyrd is also seen as a will of god. Harold Bloom and many other critics resist such reading; they opine: i) there is no reference to the New Testament, ii) pagan elegiac tone itself includes renunciation, iii) eternal rewards may very well mean praise of one‟s peers or being remembered by history, iv) such passages can be seen as interpolations made by the cleric who copied the surviving oral text into the manuscript, v) even if they are not interpolations, they can be interpreted as marks of religiosity; the poet must have belonged to the early generation of converts, who were steeped in heroic sentiment but was gradually learning the Biblical stories and referring to a few, which appealed to their pagan minds, in their compositions.
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Activity: Read the passage where Hrothgar warns Beowulf about the transitory nature of power. This passage is also known as Hrothgar’s sermon. How would you like to interpret it: is it a piece of pagan wisdom or passage teaching the Christian values of renunciation?
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Style of Beowulf
We have already discussed the features of Old-English poetic compositions at the beginning of the second module. The poet of Beowulf has exhibited excellent craftsmanship. Here are some essential stylistic features:
- Let us look at the opening lines:
Hwæt, we gar-dena in geardagum,
Þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon!
oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum,
monegum mægþum, meodosetla ofteah,
egsode eorlas. Syððan ærest wearð
feasceaft funden, he þæs frofre gebad,
weox under wolcnum weorðmyndum þah,
oðþæt him æghwylc þær ymbsittendra
ofer hronrade hyran scolde,
gomban gyldan. þæt wæs god cyning.
[So. The Spear-Danes in days done by
And the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness.
We have heard of those prince‟s heroic campaigns.
There was Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes,
A wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging among foes.
This terror of the hall-troops had come far.
A foundling to start with, he would flourish later on as his powers waxed and his worth was
proved. In the end each clan on the outlying coats
beyond the whale-road had to yield to him
and begin to pay tribute. That was one good king.]
Seamus Heaney translated the first word as „so‟ whereas other translators have used „lo‟, „hark‟, „behold‟, „attend‟, or „listen‟. He writes: “„so‟ operates as an expression that obliterates all previous discourse and narrative, and at the same time functions as an exclamation calling for immediate attention”.
This opening section, describing the mysterious arrival and departure of Scyld Scefing, from whom the royal Dutch house is descended, sets the tone of the entire poem. The opening word itself is a typical trope used by oral poets to refer to great events of the past. The ending half-line is again repeated throughout the poem. Scyld is the ideal king so is Hrothgar, Hygelac and Beowulf. The poem thus explains the nature of ideal kingship in the heroic society.
- Kennings or composite-words are another key component of this poem. In the opening line we have whale-road meaning „ocean‟. There are a number of words related to „war‟ and „battle‟ and these words are used as components to give rise to new words. Other examples include: beadogrima (battle-mask), beadoleoma (battle-light), beadomece (battle-sword), wigbill (war-blade), wigboard (war shield), wigfreca (war-combatant), and so on.
- There are instances of variation:
Wiglaf wæs haten Weoxstanes sunu,
Leoflic lindwiga, leod Sclfinga,
Mæg Ælfheres; geseah his mondryhten
Under heregriman hat þrowian… (2601-2605)
[His name was Wiglaf, a son of Weohstan‟s
A well-regarded Shyfling warrior
Related to Alfhere. When he saw his Lord Tormented by the heat of his scalding helmet….]
Wiglaf is introduced as son of Wiglaf, related to Alfhere. Thus three important warriors are named together: Wiglaf, Weohstan and Alfhere.
- There are also features like repetitive phrases and scenes, incremental repetition, formulaic phrases, used abundantly in the poem. The poem is a culmination of oral poetic style of Old English literature. Michael Alexander quotes from George Jack:
In his command of metrical form and the resources of style the Beowulf-poet shows exceptional gifts. His metrical usage conforms extremely precise constraints, and his style is distinguished particularly by is richness in the use of compound words and by its control of syntactic form. In these respects, as in the power and range of its narrative, Beowulf is a work of outstanding accomplishment.
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To sum up:
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Reference
- Alexander, Michael. Beowulf: A verse Translation. London and New York: Penguin, 2003 (1973).
- Bloom, Harold (ed). Beowulf: Interpretations. New York: Chelsea House, 1987.(This book contains the seminal essay by J. R. R. Tolkien, ‘The Monsters and the Critics’)
- Heaney, Seamus. Beowulf: A New Translation. London: Faber and Faber, 1999.
- Orchard, Andy. A Critical Companion to Beowulf. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2004.
- Swanton, Michael. English Literature Before Chaucer. London and New York: Longman, 1987.
- Traherne, Elaine (ed). Old and Middle English: An Anthology. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000.
- There are several editions of Beowulf available online. Here are a few suggestions:
- http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/basis/beowulf-oe.asp
- http://www.heorot.dk/beowulf-rede-text.html
- http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16328/16328-h/16328-h.htm