Publisher's Synopsis
Annotations This book is unique because it contains a literary criticism that was made by Jannette TorresDuring the 8th century the Scandinavians occupied British territory and remained there for the next 200 years. Throughout this century the entire territory had been converted to Christianity. It is believed that the poem was written by an English author when there was still a good relationship between Scandinavians and Englishmen, for the type of events he narrates, as well as for exalting the heroic past of the Germanic race.Beowulf is a heroic epic poem. It is considered the masterpiece representative of the ancient period of English literature.It is a story of inspired fiction and based on an authentic geographical, political, historical and social context. Its author is anonymous, but it is presumed that it was written in England, between the seventh or eighth centuries AD.At the end of the third century the dominion of the Roman civilization in Britania concludes.In the middle of the fifth century the Angles, Saxons and Jutes emigrated from northern Germany and the Jutland peninsula to occupy British territory. Later Britania was formed in 4 nations: The English, British (Welsh), The Picts and the Scots.The period in which Beowulf was written is known as Old English or Old English, having as its starting date the year 449 d. C., precisely the year of the Germanic invasions. The date of the year is 1066 d. C, when the Middle English or middle English period begins (Anglo-Saxon period).Latin predominated as a lingua franca in all written texts and artistic manifestations. The manuscripts or poems in old English are scarce and unique. Beowulf was apparently made known orally through songs. It was transcribed into the Western Saxon dialect at the end of the tenth century. The title of Beowulf was given to it in 1805 and it was first printed in 1815. It is the only surviving manuscript of a fire that occurred in 1731 in the Library of Sir Robin Colton . Currently remains sheltered in the British Library of London.