Replica of the Sutton Hoo burial helmet. Photo by Germot Keller. CC-ASA-2.5G. Source: Wikimedia Commons
This map shows the different peoples and territories of ancient Scandanavia. The Geats, Beowulf's people, lived on what is now the tip of modern-day Sweden (designated by the dragon on this map). In the epic, our hero Beowulf journeys to the Danish King Hrothgar's palace (Heorot, shown within the circle on the map) to defeat the monster Grendel who has plagued the hall.
Blackmer, Kate. “Beowulf's World”. 2011. Web. 30 Nov 2012. https://www.blackmermaps.com/portfolio.htm
Composed by an anonymous poet between the 8th and 11th centuries, Beowulf is the first great work of English literature. It looks back to the adventures of its exemplary hero in the Scandinavian/Germanic world from which its hearers' ancestors came. Traditionally included on high school and college reading lists, in recent times it has received new popularity due to the New York Times bestselling translation by the late Anglo-Irish poet Seamus Heaney and the 2006 film by Robert Zemeckis, with a script by Neil Gaiman.
This guide is designed to point MDC Library users to the wealth of information sources available at and through the MDC Library on this foundational work of English literature.
Use the tabs that run across the top of the page to see the different sorts of resources available.
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If at any time in your research your need help, click on the Ask a Librarian link on the blue bar at the top of the screen. Or you can contact me, Isabel Duque, the creator of this page. Click to Send Email, or phone me at (305)237-6088.
More Reference Works
The Anglo-Saxon Literature Handbook by Reference Works
Cambridge Companion to Old English Literature by 
Companion to Old and Middle English Studies by 
Traditional Epics: A Literary Companion by What You Need to Know About the Epic Poem 'Beowulf'
https://www.thoughtco.com/beowulf-what-you-need-to-know-1788397
