Composed by an unknown bard sometime in the 8th century, Beowulf took on legendary status among the Anglo Saxon people as a folk tale describing a king, a culture, and the origins of a group that for centuries languished in the shadows, only to rise to world significance in the years to come.

Myth of the 20th Century – Episode 202 – Beowulf – After Dark

— References —

– Book of the Dead, Unknown (1550 BC)

– Illiad, Homer (750 BC)

– Beowulf, Unknown (750)

– The Dream of the Rood, Unknown (751)

– Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Bede (731)

– Heliand, Louis (806)

– Historia Regum Britanniae, Monmouth (1136)

– The Secrete History of the Mongols, Unknown (1227)

– The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Shakespeare (1599)

– Beowulf: A New Translation with an Introduction, Raffel (1963)

– The Silmarillion, Tolkein (1977)

– Beowulf, Baker (1999)

– Beowulf, Zemekis (2007)

– The Original Folk & Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, Princeton (2014)

– Beowulf: The Epic in Performance, Bagby (2020) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WcIK_8f7oQ