Learn about the author of ''Beowulf'' and what is known about this heroic epic. Discover the theories about who wrote this masterpiece of English literature.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Author of Beowulf | History, Language & Theories
Table of Contents
Show
Frequently Asked Questions
Why don't we know who wrote Beowulf?
The author of Beowulf did not provide their name or any personal information in the manuscript, so their identity is unknown. However, there are many theories about what sort of person or people might be behind the poem.
How many authors wrote Beowulf?
Because the identity of the Beowulf author is not known for certain, it is not possible to be sure how many people were involved. It may have been written a single individual or by two or more poets working together. It may also have originated from oral tradition, with the story being developed by many people over a period of time before it was written down.
What is the story of Beowulf about?
Beowulf is an Old English epic poem about a legendary hero named Beowulf. Over the course of the poem, Beowulf fights several monsters, including Grendel, Grendel's mother, and a dragon. He makes a name for himself as a great warrior, becomes a king, and eventually dies fighting the dragon.
When was Beowulf actually written?
The Beowulf manuscript was written around 1,000 C.E., but most scholars believe the poem to be older than that, possibly originating between 650 and 800 C.E. Because the poem combines Christian and Pagan ideas, it is believed to originate not long after the Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity. However, the exact date of composition is not known.
Table of Contents
ShowBeowulf is an Old English epic poem, a long narrative poem that tells the story of a heroic person or group. Although it is a well-known work of Old English literature, very little is known about the author of the poem. However, scholars have several theories about the origins of Beowulf.
Who is Beowulf?
In addition to being the title of the poem, Beowulf is the name of the main character, a famous warrior. The epic follows Beowulf as he battles several dangerous creatures, including a monster called Grendel, Grendel's mother, and a mighty dragon. The poem's titular hero makes a name for himself as a great warrior and defends King Hrothgar's kingdom multiple times before eventually becoming a king himself and dying heroically in battle. Beowulf is one of the oldest surviving works of English literature.
When was Beowulf written?
The poem features a real historical figure, King Hygelac. Other characters in Beowulf, including King Hrothgar, are also featured in early Scandinavian sources such as the Prose Edda and Gesta Danorum. These connections to real history and other literature of the time help scholars to place the events of the poem between 450 and 600 C.E. However, the time of the poem's composition is usually placed slightly later, between 650 and 800 C.E.
While the exact date is not known, Beowulf was written during the early Middle Ages. The earliest surviving copy of Beowulf is from around 1,000 C.E., but some estimates place its composition significantly earlier. One reason it is believed to be very old is the mixture of Christian and pagan elements in the story, which indicates that it came from a time after the Anglo-Saxons became Christian but they were still strongly influenced by their previous beliefs and traditions.
Where is Beowulf from?
Beowulf takes place in what is now Sweden and Denmark, but the poem as it exists today was written in Medieval England. The Anglo-Saxon people who settled in England were originally the descendants of Germanic tribes such as the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, who may have brought the story of Beowulf with them via oral tradition. Before it was written down, the epic is believed to have been told by scops, poets, or bards who traveled the English countryside to share their songs and poetry.
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
You must cCreate an account to continue watching
Register to view this lesson
Are you a student or a teacher?
Create Your Account To Continue Watching
As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over 88,000 lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you succeed.
Get unlimited access to over 88,000 lessons.
Try it now
It only takes a few minutes to setup and you can cancel any time.
Already registered? Log in here for access
BackResources created by teachers for teachers
Over 30,000 video lessons
& teaching resources‐all
in one place.
I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. It’s like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. I feel like it’s a lifeline.
Jennifer B.
Teacher
Back
Your next lesson will play in
10 seconds
Although the Beowulf poem is considered to be English literature, the language used in the poem is very different from the English spoken in Britain or the United States today. So, what language was Beowulf written in? It was recorded in the Anglo-Saxon language of the early Middle Ages, also known as Old English. While Old English is the ancestor of modern English, it has gone through many changes over the years, making it possible to determine the approximate age of the manuscript by examining the language used.
 |
In addition to the manuscript's age, the language used in the Beowulf poem gives insight into its geographic origins. Beowulf's Old English dialect is primarily West Saxon, with some Anglican dialect used as well. The part of England in which Beowulf was written would not only need to have used a similar dialect but also have possessed the cultural sophistication and resources to allow such a work of literature to be produced. Some suggestions as to where the poet lived include the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Mercia, Northumbria, East Anglia, and Wessex, although the exact location is not known.
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
Although it is not known specifically who the author of Beowulf is, there are many theories about what sort of person or people might be behind the poem. For example, it has traditionally been believed that Beowulf was written by a monk. This theory comes from the fact that monks were among the most highly educated people at the time and would have had access to the necessary resources. There is no concrete evidence that the poet was a monk, but many scholars believe it is a logical assumption to make.
However, Beowulf might not have a single author at all. In the Middle Ages, writers frequently borrowed phrases or ideas from other writers. While this would be considered plagiarism today, at that time, it was common and widely accepted. One theory about the origins of Beowulf involves speculation that it may have come from oral tradition and been composed by multiple poets over a long period of time. As a popular and successful epic, it may also have influenced other poems. Beowulf scholar Francis P. Magoun found that about 70% of the first 50 verses in Beowulf also appear elsewhere in Old English literature, providing strong evidence for this theory.
Another theory is that two or more individuals wrote different sections the poem. Specifically, one poet may have focused on Beowulf's confrontations with Grendel and his mother while the other contributed the final segment featuring the dragon. However, recent research on the Beowulf author suggests that - while it may still have originated from oral tradition - the poem as we know it today was the work of one person. In 2019, a team of researchers published an article analyzing the details of various sections of Beowulf and concluding that it was most likely written by a single individual.
Since the name of the anonymous author is not known, scholars typically refer to them as the Beowulf Poet.
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
Beowulf is an epic poem, a narrative poem focusing on the journey of a heroic individual. It is written in Old English, the language spoken by the Anglo-Saxons during the early Middle Ages, which is very different from the English language today. The poem's anonymous author, usually referred to as the Beowulf Poet, has been the subject of much speculation by literary scholars, resulting in many theories about their identity. The epic may have originated from oral tradition and gained its popularity due to being shared by scops, the Old English term for traveling bards. It may have been the work of many people, two individuals, or just one poet, who many scholars believe may have been a monk due to their higher level of education and access to the resources necessary to compose a literary manuscript. Furthermore, based on the research of Francis P. Magoun, many lines from Beowulf also appear in other Old English poetry, suggesting that phrases or ideas may have been borrowed from elsewhere. Although the author's name is not known, the poem's origins are a subject of great interest for many scholars of medieval literature.
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
Video Transcript
What Is Beowulf?
Beowulf is an epic poem, a type of poem that includes a long narrative structure and heroic story elements. It was first written in the Anglo-Saxon era, but was probably part of an oral tradition of epic poetry long before a writer, known as the Beowulf Poet, committed it to paper.
Beowulf is the story of a heroic warrior who ultimately must battle evil twice, once in the form of a famous monster named Grendel, as well as Grendel's mother, then later in the form of a greedy dragon, which ultimately leads to Beowulf's death because, in his quest to prove his righteousness, he diverted from his fate-path.
Beowulf has influenced pop cultural perceptions of Viking culture for centuries. It has been, in part, an inspiration for movies, such as The Thirteenth Warrior, and books, such as J.R.R. Tolkein's The Hobbit; even his The Lord of the Rings trilogy was clearly influenced by the poem. Despite Beowulf's long-lasting impact on the arts and on perceptions of Viking culture, little is known about the person who first wrote it down.
Who Wrote Beowulf?
Modern scholars believe Beowulf was first written by a scop, or Old English poet. The word scop is derived from an Old Norse word referring to a bard, or someone who mocks or jokes through storytelling. The person who wrote Beowulf didn't sign his or her work, so scholars refer to this person as the Beowulf Poet.
Due to the intrusion of medieval Christian ideology amidst the pagan imagery of Beowulf, many scholars believe the Beowulf Poet was a Christian monk in Anglo-Saxon-era England. The Geats, an old tribe of people that lived in Gotaland, a southern province of Sweden, and the people Beowulf defends in the poem, were predominantly pagan at the time the poem is believed to have originated.
Scholars can place the poem's origins historically due to the presence of King Hygelac in the epic. Hygelac is a real historical figure who died in battle with the Franks around 515 C.E., an event depicted in Beowulf. the Beowulf Poet attributed many of Hygelac's and other warriors' motivations to Christian ideology, which leads many scholars to feel the scop was a monk or trained by monks. Monks were also among the few people in Anglo-Saxon-era England who could write and read extensively enough to produce a massive written work such as Beowulf.
Another theory on the authorship of Beowulf originated with a famous Beowulf scholar, Francis P. Magoun. Based on the analysis of all existing Old English poems, Magoun found that many of the passages and lines in the first half of Beowulf could be found wholesale in other Old English poems. With his theory, there's no true author of Beowulf, but rather an editor of sorts who aggregated already existing poems and stories into one longer poem. Despite this, Magoun still believed it was a single aggregator and not a group, as the style of the aggregation is consistent in its presentation.
Lesson Summary
The authorship of Beowulf is ultimately unknown. While Beowulf itself is one of the best-known and most influential epic poems, scholars can only theorize on the type of person who wrote, or possibly aggregated, the poem. Theories include a Christian monk who rewrote a pagan oral history poem, someone who aggregated existing pieces of Anglo-Saxon poems, or maybe some combination of the two. Scholars refer to the mysterious author as the Beowulf Poet.
Register to view this lesson
Are you a student or a teacher?
Unlock Your Education
See for yourself why 30 million people use Study.com
Become a Study.com member and start learning now.
Become a MemberAlready a member? Log In
BackResources created by teachers for teachers
Over 30,000 video lessons
& teaching resources‐all
in one place.
I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. It’s like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. I feel like it’s a lifeline.
Jennifer B.
Teacher
Back
Author of Beowulf | History, Language & Theories Related Study Materials
Explore our library of over 88,000 lessons
Browse by subject
