When was beowulf written and who wrote it

His funeral and a lament end the poem. Much has been written about this epic poem, and it will surely continue to inspire scholarly investigation and debate, both literary and historical. For decades students have undertaken the difficult task of learning Old English in order to read it in its original language.

The poem has also inspired fresh creative works, from Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" to Michael Crichton's "Eaters of the Dead," and it will probably continue to do so for centuries to come. Originally written in Old English, the first translation of the poem was into Latin by Thorkelin, in connection with his transcription of Two years later Nicolai Grundtvig made the first translation into a modern language, Danish.

The first translation into modern English was made by J. Kemble in In total, it is estimated that the epic poem has been translated into 65 languages. Since then there have been many modern English translations. The version done by Francis B. Gummere in is out of copyright and freely available at several websites. Many more recent translations, in both prose and verse form, are available today.

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Develop and improve products. Some see this story as a reflection of the constant cycle of warfare during turbulent times, when alliances were as quickly broken as forged, and peace was never more than fragile. Beowulf also slays Grendel's mother, but is himself condemned to a bloody end.

Fifty years later, he is mortally wounded in a last conflict with a dragon. We'll never know who, and we can't be sure about when. Though some scholars still believe 'Beowulf' was composed during the eighth century, some have suggested it may be later, perhaps even contemporary with this manuscript.

It's most likely that the poem had no single author, but was handed down by word of mouth, constantly evolving in its retelling. Like the poem's author, where the manuscript was made and the name of its original owner are both lost to history.

By the 16th century, we do know the manuscript belonged to Laurence Nowell, a prime mover in the rediscovery of Britain's Anglo-Saxon heritage. It was acquired in the 17th century by Sir Robert Cotton, a keen collector of old manuscripts whose library was presented to the nation by his grandson in However, the dilapidated state of Cotton's house gave cause for concern over the collection's safety.

In , the Cotton collection found a home in the newly founded British Museum. Well they are 1, years old! And the fire didn't help either. On 23 October , Ashburnham House was ravaged by a fire that destroyed or damaged a quarter of Cotton's library. The heat made the manuscript's pages very brittle.

In , they were mounted in paper frames to save them from further damage. Although they protected the pages, the frames also covered some letters around the edges. These were later revealed by special infrared and ultraviolet lighting techniques when electronic images of the manuscript were made in Computer imaging was then used to enhance damaged and obscured letters and restore them to their place in the manuscript.

Apart from its historical value, Beowulf is a moving epic of great literary quality. Since Beowulf was most likely written shortly after England converted to Christianity, the Anglo-Saxon poet would have been familiar with both paganism and Christianity. This theory helps explain why the poem's characters at times appear to waver between pagan and Christian beliefs and practices. Some historians and literary critics go even further, alleging the story of Beowulf may have existed before England's Christian conversion, perhaps as an oral narrative or poem.

They suggest a Christian monk may have heard the poem and "Christianized" it by reducing the pagan elements and adding references to the Christian God. This theory does not explain, however, why the author left some pagan references in the poem when he wrote it down. Although the language is called "Old English," it is very different from modern English, which has strong Latin roots.

Some editions of Beowulf --including the Seamus Heaney translation--are bilingual, meaning they include the Old English text of the poem as well as the modern English translation. Despite the differences between the two languages, careful observers can spot some Old English words that have made their way into the modern English vocabulary.

Sadly, the name of the individual who first wrote Beowulf remains a mystery. However, we know the following:. I was accuaally flattered by this enourmous extravagantic perfomance.

It was such a detailed and romantic wholesoma that I was blown away by this masterpiece. I sertenly thank you personally and keep up the good work bro! I am not good english language and my english is very poor but i really understand the event of the story.

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