There is no evidence to show the authorship of the poem and the manuscript reveals that it was hand-written by two different scribes. Laden with gifts, he returns home to rule his kingdom wisely and well, till suddenly one day, he receives news of a dreadful and powerful dragon attacking the borders of his prosperous kingdom. The valiant prince slays her too and becomes a celebrated hero. The monster's even more terrifying mother swoops down on the kingdom, prepared to destroy everything in a vengeful frenzy. He mortally wounds the horrendous creature and it retreats to die in its lair in the remote mountains. It is considered to be the oldest surviving work of poetry in English and one of the rare pieces of vernacular European literature that has survived since Medieval times.Ī prince arrives to rid a neighboring country of a terrible monster. The only surviving manuscript that contains the poem is preserved in the British Library and it too was badly damaged by fire in 1731. Beowulf is a long narrative poem composed in Old English some time in between the 8th and 11th century AD.
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