Beowulf

   This Old English epic of 3,182 lines, probably composed in the 8th century, is set in Scandinavia 200 years earlier and alludes to much semi-legendary history. The hero, an unhistorical figure of superhuman strength, overcomes three monsters. The first two are man-eating ogres (Grendel and his mother), who emerge from a *bottomless pool to ravage the Danish king's halls; the third, a dragon, attacks Beowulf's own Swedish kingdom, and the hero, by then an old man, kills it at the cost of his own life. These themes have obvious affinities with folktales. The burial customs described have been confirmed by archaeology.

   The poem was clearly intended for recitation before an aristocratic Christian audience with a special interest in Scandinavian traditions; the style is that of oral formulaic poetry, though the author presumably composed in writing. The story has left no trace in English folklore, except that 'Grendel's Pit' and 'Grendel's Mere' occur as minor place-names in a few pre-Conquest charters (one each in Devon, Middlesex, Staffordshire, Wiltshire, and Worcestershire).

   Michael Swanton's Beowulf (1978; rev. edn. 1997) conveniently prints text and translation on facing pages.