: A pervasive sense of fate looms over the poem, suggesting that while heroes can achieve glory, death and the eventual fall of kingdoms are inevitable [11, 23].
: Highly regarded modern versions include those by Seamus Heaney and J.R.R. Tolkien , the latter of whom was a leading scholar of the poem [20, 28, 40]. Beowulf
Beowulf is the oldest surviving epic poem in the English language and a cornerstone of Old English literature [23, 24]. Written in alliterative verse by an anonymous poet (often called the "Beowulf poet"), it likely originated from oral traditions before being recorded in a single manuscript around 1000 CE [9, 13]. : A pervasive sense of fate looms over
: It is composed in Old English (Anglo-Saxon), characterized by alliteration and "kennings"—metaphorical compound words like "whale-road" for the sea [13, 24]. Core Themes Beowulf is the oldest surviving epic poem in