Beowulf, which probably belongs to the 8th century, is the greatest old English poem. It's the first English epic. It's the longest and most sophisticated work from these times, the only complete epic of it's time. It had been written in an ancient, Germanic language. The name of the author, like most Anglo- Saxon poets, I unknown. It could have been composed by a poet working at court, or it could have been composed by a poet- monk. The preferred alternative depends on how the function of Christianity in the poem is viewed.
             He was familiar with the classical epic poems of antiquity and created a work, which draws a vivid picture of the heroic pagan world ot the 7th century aristocracy. The poem displays different epic qualities: extended narrative, majestic tone, the hero who performs superhuman deeds against enmies, and the inclusion of supernatural powers that intervene in the struggle.
             "Beowulf" tells us of the times long before Anglo- Saxons came to Britain. Ironically , the first great work of English literature is set entirely in Scandinavia without any mention of England or the English.
             The scene is set among the Jutes, who lived on the Scandinavian peninsula at the time, and the Danes, their neighbours across the strait. The poem shows the beginning of the feudalism. The safety of the people depended on the warriors. There were several rangs of warriors: the folk- king( liege lord) at the head of the community, then the liegeman, and hten lower rang of worriers called knights.
             Beowulf ia a young liegeman of the Jutes. His adventures with a sea- monster abroad, in the country of the Danes, and later, with his mother, and still ore later with a fire- dragon at home, form to parts of in this heroic epic. Beowulf is brave and loyal, his pagan qualities are currage, strength, courtesy, love of duty and justice, he would be slave to no man. Beowulf fights for the benefit of his people, not for his...