Beowulf

Beowulf is the oldest surviving epic poem from the Old English canon originating between 521 AD and 1026 AD. Authorship is unknown thus attributed in this edition to “an unknown Anglo Saxon poet.” Scholars continue to hotly debate single authorship versus communal authorship or transcriptions over time of orally transmitted legend. Likewise, it is also unknown the exact location in England where the poem was composed. The Nowell codex (likely the first “written” copy of Beowulf) containing the first 85 pages of Beowulf is believed to originated in an unknown West Saxon Kingdom and is attributed to the transcription of two scribes.