Beowulf fights the dragon

Beowulf (IPA: /ˈbeːo̯wʊɫf/) is the legendary hero and king of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem of the same name. Beowulf is also the oldest surviving piece of literature in the English language. Image File history File links Beowulf_and_the_dragon. ... Image File history File links Beowulf_and_the_dragon. ... Articles with similar titles include the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... Old English redirects here. ... The epic is a broadly defined genre of narrative poetry, characterized by great length, multiple settings, large numbers of characters, or long span of time involved. ... This article is about the epic poem. ... This article is about the epic poem. ...

Story

Origins in Geatland

As told in the surviving epic poem, Beowulf was the son of Ecgþeow, a warrior of the apparently Swedish Wægmundings. Ecgþeow had slain Heaðolaf, a man from another clan named the Wulfings (according to Scandinavian sources, they were the ruling dynasty of the Geatish petty kingdom of Östergötland). Apparently, because the victim was from a prominent family the weregild was set too high, and so Ecgþeow was banished and had to seek refuge among the Danes. The Danish king Hroðgar generously paid the weregild, and had Ecgþeow swear an oath. Ecgþeow (Proto-Norse *Agiþewaz) is a character in the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf. ... The Wægmundings were a prominent probably Swedish clan (an ätt, see Norse clans) in Beowulf. ... Heaðolaf (Proto-Norse *Haþulaibaz [1]) was a member of a Scandinavian clan named the Wulfings, which according to the Norse sagas ruled the Geatish petty kingdom of Ostrogothia. ... The Wulfings or Wylfings (the name means the wolf clan) was a prominent family/clan in Beowulf and Widsith. ... For other uses, see Scandinavia (disambiguation). ... Sweden in the 12th century before the incorporation of Finland during the 13th century. ... Petty kingdoms were prominent before the formation of many of todays nation states. ... (help· info) is a historical Province (landskap) in the south of Sweden. ... Look up wergeld in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Hroðgar (Proto-Norse *Hrōþigaizaz [1], Hrothgar, Hróar, Ro, Roar), legendary Danish king. ... Look up wergeld in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Ecgþeow was in the service of the Geatish king Hreðel, whose daughter he married. They had Beowulf, who grew up with the Geats. Beowulf's childhood friend was Breca of the Brondings "supposed to be the inhabitants of the island Brännö, lying off the coast of West Gothland in the Cattegat". This would be a realistic location for a childhood friend of Beowulf, and the poem describes a swimming contest between them. Geatish kings existed since the provinces of Götaland/Gautland/Geatland are considered to have been more or less independent with their own petty kings. ... Hreðel, Proto-Norse *Hrōþilaz or *Hrōþila [1], was the king of the Geats, in Beowulf. ... Geats (Gautar Old Norse or Götar in Swedish) is the Old English spelling of the name of a Scandinavian people living in Götaland, land of the Geats, currently within the borders of modern Sweden. ... In the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, Breca the Bronding is Beowulf’s childhood friend who defeated him in a swimming match. ... The Brondings were a Germanic tribe or clan. ... Brännö (57°39′ N 11°47′ E) is an island in the Southern Göteborg Archipelago of Sweden with about 800 inhabitants. ...   is one of the historical provinces of Sweden (landskap), situated in the southwest of Sweden. ... The Baltic Sea Kattegat, or Kattegatt, is a bay of the North Sea and a continuation of Skagerrak, bounded by Denmark and Sweden. ...

Skalunda hög.

Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ...

Zealand and Grendel

When king Hroðgar, his wife Wealhþeow, and his court were terrorized by the monstrous Grendel, Beowulf left Geatland (West Götaland) and sailed to Zealand with fourteen warriors in order to pay his father's debt. During the night, Grendel arrived to attack the sleeping men. Beowulf attacked him without his sword and tore the arm off the beast. Grendel returned to the bog to die and his arm was attached to the wall of Heorot. The next day, Beowulf was lauded and a skald (scop) sang and compared Beowulf with the hero Sigmund. Hroðgar (Proto-Norse *Hrōþigaizaz [1], Hrothgar, Hróar, Ro, Roar), legendary Danish king. ... Queen Wealhtheow as the hostess of the banquet Wealhþeow is the queen of the Daner, in Beowulf. ... Grendel is one of three antagonists, along with Grendels mother and the dragon, in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf (c. ... Götaland Unofficial Nordic cross flag of western Götaland. ... ... Map showing location of Zealand within Denmark. ... Heorot is the stronghold of king Hrothgar in the epic poem Beowulf. ... The skald was a member of a group of courtly poets, whose poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry. ... SCOP can refer to Structural Classification of Proteins A scop was an Old English poet, the Anglo-Saxon counterpart of the Old Norse skald. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

However, during the following night Grendel's Mother arrived to avenge the death of Grendel and collect weregild. As Beowulf slept in a different building he could not stop her. He resolved to descend into the bog in order to kill her. They fought beside Grendel's corpse, and Beowulf finally won with the aid of an enchanted giant sword stolen from the lair's plunder. Beowulf was recompensed with gold and horses by queen Wealhþeow, and they returned to Geatland. Grendles Modor (or Grendels Mother -- she is never given a proper name in the poem) is one of three antagonists (along with Grendel and the dragon) in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf (c. ... Look up wergeld in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Jack the Giant-Killer by Arthur Rackham. ... Queen Wealhtheow as the hostess of the banquet Wealhþeow is the queen of the Daner, in Beowulf. ...

Return to Geatland, Kingdom and death

Having returned, Beowulf took part in a historic raid against the Franks with his king Hygelac. Hygelac died during the raid, and Beowulf swam home in full armour. Back in Geatland, queen Hygd offered Beowulf the throne but Beowulf declined in favour of the young prince Heardred. However, Heardred received two Swedish princes, Eadgils and Eanmund who reported that they had fled their uncle Onela who had usurped the Swedish throne. This led to a Swedish invasion in which Heardred was killed. Beowulf was proclaimed king and decided to avenge Heardred and to help Eadgils become king of Sweden. This article is about the Frankish people and society. ... Hygelac, Proto-Norse *Hugilaikaz [1], Latin Chlochilaicus, Old Norse Hugleikr (d. ... Hygd is the young queen of Geatland and the wife of its king Hygelac, in Beowulf. ... Heardred (d. ... Eadgils was a 6th century king of Sweden who appears in the Old English epic Beowulf. ... Eanmund was a Swedish prince of the Scylfing dynasty. ... Onela was according to Beowulf a Swedish king during the first half the 6th century. ...

The event when Onela was slain was probably an historic event. Even though it is only briefly mentioned in Beowulf, it occurs extensively in several Scandinavian sources where it is called the Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern. For example, Snorri Sturluson wrote: Onela rode Raven, as they rode to the ice, but a second one, a grey one, hastened, wounded by spears, eastwards under Eadgils. [...] In this fight Onela died and a great many of his people. Then king Eadgils took from him his helmet Battle-boar and his horse Raven (although, in Snorri's text the names are in their corresponding Old Norse forms). Onela was according to Beowulf a Swedish king during the first half the 6th century. ... This article is about the epic poem. ... The battle with Onela is remembered in Norse mythology as a battle on horseback. ... A statue of Snorri Sturluson by Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland was erected at Reykholt in 1947. ... Old Norse or Danish tongue is the Germanic language once spoken by the inhabitants of the Nordic countries (for instance during the Viking Age). ...

Beowulf ruled the Geats for 50 years, until his realm was terrorized by a dragon whose treasure had been stolen from his hoard in a burial mound. He attacked the dragon with his thegns, but they did not succeed. Beowulf decided to follow the dragon into its lair, at Earnanæs, but only his young Swedish relative Wiglaf dared join him. Beowulf finally slew the dragon by cutting him in half with a dagger, but was mortally wounded by being stabbed with the poisonous horn of the dragon and was carried out by Wiglaf. He died after prophesying that the Swedes would attack the Geats once again. He was buried in a barrow by the sea. The Swedish scholar Birger Nerman has proposed Skalunda Hög (58°33′N, 12°59′E) in Västergötland (West Geatland) to be Beowulf's mound. For other uses, see Dragon (disambiguation). ... Map of runestones raised over a thegn. ... Earnanæs is the location, in Beowulf, where the hero of the epic fights the dragon and dies. ... Wiglaf is a young well-regarded Swedish warrior of the Waegmunding clan, in Beowulf. ... A tumulus (plural tumuli, from the Latin word for mound or small hill, from the root to bulge, swell also found in ) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. ... Birger Nerman (1888 – 1971) was a Swedish archeologist and writer. ... The barrow of Skalunda Skalunda is a village in Västergötland, Sweden. ...   is one of the historical provinces of Sweden (landskap), situated in the southwest of Sweden. ...

Textual criticism

In Scandinavian sources, Beowulf corresponds in several ways to Bödvar Bjarki. However, since centuries of oral traditions have modified a number of events and it is no longer possible to find 100% matches between Beowulf and Scandinavian sources, the Beowulf-Norse saga alignment is somewhat controversial. Bödvar Bjarki is the hero appearing in tales of Hrólf Kraki in the Saga of Hrölf Kraki, in the Latin epitome to the lost Skjöldunga saga, and as Biarco in Saxo Grammaticus Gesta Danorum. ... Oral tradition or oral culture is a way of transmitting history, literature or law from one generation to the next in a civilization without a writing system. ... Beowulf and Hrólf Kraki are two well-known characters in the myths and sagas of ancient Scandinavia. ...

See Also:

• Beowulf, the story

This article is about the epic poem. ...

References

• McConnell, Frank. Storytelling and Mythmaking. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979 ISBN 0-19-503210-1 (discusses Mythology Of Beowulf: Chapter 2, "The Epic World: Kings", pages 55-62, 66-67.)