Beowulf

Beowulf is the only surviving example of an Old English epic poem. Like other epic poems from other literary traditions, such as Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey, Beowulf is a long narrative poem that tells the tale of an exceptional and heroic character whose incredible deeds shape the course of his society's history. In the poem, Beowulf is a brave warrior from the land of the Geats in the 6th century, whose prowess in battle and superhuman accomplishments are memorialized by the poet.

Reflecting the usual conventions of the epic genre, Beowulf sets out on a journey that takes him to the land of the Danes in present-day Denmark, where he battles two ferocious monsters before returning home and fighting a dragon:

To that mighty-one come we on mickle errand,
to the lord of the Danes [...]
We hear thou knowest
if sooth it is the saying of men
that amid the Scyldings a scathing monster,
dark ill-doer, in dusky nights
shows terrific his rage unmatched,
hatred and murder. To Hrothgar I
in greatness of soul would succor bring,
so the Wise-and-Brave may worst his foes; 
if ever the end of ills is fated,
of cruel contest, if cure shall follow,
and the boiling care-waves cooler grow;
else ever afterward anguish-days
he shall suffer in sorrow while stands in place
high on its hill that house unpeered!

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