tenth century, however, the poem had most likely been told as an oral tradition for

centuries before that. In fact, the poem's events date back to the sixth century. However,

because there is only one manuscript of Beowulf still in tact very little is known about the

poem or its author. The poem does, however, give us great insight into the culture of the

people who composed and told this epic tale.

Because the poem was performed orally mainly between the eighth and tenth

centuries, but dealt with subject matter of centuries earlier, it is difficult to decipher and

separate the cultural context involved in the poem from one century to the next. The

poem was probably unrecognizable from its original state after two hundred years of oral

tradition that would have changed its content drastically. The storyline of the poem, the

battles and significant events, probably maintained most of their identity while the

cultural context took on another form more suited to the current culture of the people. By

the time it was written, in 1000, the poem was probably most representative of the tenth

century Anglo-Saxons including their political, social and moral views. The

Beowulf's second battle with Grendel's mother is quite similar to the first.

This first two battles also, surprisingly, represented what may have been an

safety of his people. Beowulf's first attack on the monster Grendel displayed many

displayed personal heroism while at the same time keeping his priorities towards the

methods they had to preserve their history. In this history they kept significance was

Some common words found in the essay are:
Beowulf Christ, Beowulf Society, Grendel Instead, Beowulf Beowulf, Beyond Beowulf, Moses' Testament, middle ages, culture people, oral tradition, tenth century, beowulf displayed, avenge death, individualistic society, importance rituals, throughout poem, poem probably, middle ages society,
Approximate Word count = 1698
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)