Definitions for Beowulf
ˈbeɪ əˌwʊlfbe·owulf

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Beowulfnoun

   the legendary hero of an anonymous Old English epic poem composed in the early 8th century; he slays a monster and becomes king but dies fighting a dragon

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Beowulfnoun

   An Anglo-Saxon personal name, usually with reference to the hero of an Old English epic poem, or to the poem itself.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Beowulf

   Beowulf (; Old English: Bēowulf [ˈbeːowuɫf]) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars; the only certain dating is for the manuscript, which was produced between 975 and 1025. Scholars call the anonymous author the "Beowulf poet". The story is set in pagan Scandinavia in the 6th century. Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall in Heorot has been under attack by the monster Grendel. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is then defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland and becomes king of the Geats. Fifty years later, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is mortally wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants cremate his body and erect a tower on a headland in his memory. Scholars have debated whether Beowulf was transmitted orally, affecting its interpretation: if it was composed early, in pagan times, then the paganism is central and the Christian elements were added later, whereas if it was composed later, in writing, by a Christian, then the pagan elements could be decorative archaising; some scholars also hold an intermediate position. Beowulf is written mostly in the Late West Saxon dialect of Old English, but many other dialectal forms are present, suggesting that the poem may have had a long and complex transmission throughout the dialect areas of England. There has long been research into similarities with other traditions and accounts, including the Icelandic Grettis saga, the Norse story of Hrolf Kraki and his bear-shapeshifting servant Bodvar Bjarki, the international folktale the Bear's Son Tale, and the Irish folktale of the Hand and the Child. Persistent attempts have been made to link Beowulf to tales from Homer's Odyssey or Virgil's Aeneid. More definite are Biblical parallels, with clear allusions to the books of Genesis, Exodus, and Daniel. The poem survives in a single copy in the manuscript known as the Nowell Codex. It has no title in the original manuscript, but has become known by the name of the story's protagonist. In 1731, the manuscript was damaged by a fire that swept through Ashburnham House in London, which was housing Sir Robert Cotton's collection of medieval manuscripts. It survived, but the margins were charred, and some readings were lost. The Nowell Codex is housed in the British Library. The poem was first transcribed in 1786; some verses were first translated into modern English in 1805, and nine complete translations were made in the 19th century, including those by John Mitchell Kemble and William Morris. After 1900, hundreds of translations, whether into prose, rhyming verse, or alliterative verse were made, some relatively faithful, some archaising, some attempting to domesticate the work. Among the best-known modern translations are those of Edwin Morgan, Burton Raffel, Michael J. Alexander, Roy Liuzza, and Seamus Heaney. The difficulty of translating Beowulf has been explored by scholars including J. R. R. Tolkien (in his essay "On Translating Beowulf"), who worked on a verse and a prose translation of his own.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. beowulf

   Beowulf is an Old English epic poem that is considered one of the most important and earliest known works in English literature. It tells the story of Beowulf, a heroic warrior of the Geats, as he comes to the aid of the Danish king Hrothgar by killing a monster named Grendel. Later in the tale, Beowulf must also kill Grendel's mother, and eventually faces a dragon in his own kingdom. The character Beowulf is often depicted as an example of the heroic ideals of Anglo-Saxon culture.

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Beowulf

   Beowulf is the conventional title of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature. It survives in a single manuscript known as the Nowell Codex. Its composition by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet is dated between the 8th and the early 11th century. In 1731, the manuscript was badly damaged by a fire that swept through a building housing a collection of Medieval manuscripts assembled by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton. The poem fell into obscurity for decades, and its existence did not become widely known again until it was printed in 1815 in an edition prepared by the Icelandic-Danish scholar Grímur Jónsson Thorkelin. In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats in Scandinavia, comes to the help of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall has been under attack by a monster known as Grendel. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is then also defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland in Sweden and later becomes king of the Geats. After a period of fifty years has passed, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is fatally wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants bury him in a tumulus, a burial mound, in Geatland.

The Nuttall EncyclopediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Beowulf

   a very old Anglo-Saxon romance consisting of 6356 short alliterative lines, and the oldest extant in the language, recording the exploits of a mythical hero of the name, who wrestled Hercules-wise, at the cost of his life, with first a formidable monster, and then a dragon that had to be exterminated or tamed into submission before the race he belonged to could live with safety on the soil.

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1. beowulf

   Song lyrics by beowulf -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by beowulf on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Fictional Character

How to pronounce Beowulf?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say Beowulf in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of Beowulf in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of Beowulf in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=Beowulf
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Beowulf
3. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=Beowulf
6. ^ The Nuttall Encyclopedia
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12342/pg12342-images.html#Beowulf