History of Beowulf

	Revision 16 . . December 9, 2001 9:24 am by Matthew Woodcraft [Put general discription in first paragraph]
	Revision 15 . . (edit) December 3, 2001 8:07 pm by The Anome [name in bold]
	Revision 14 . . (edit) November 8, 2001 12:05 pm by (logged).108.21.xxx

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Beowulf is sometimes claimed to be the oldest surviving piece of text in what is an identifiable form of English, but this is highly disputable. The surviving manuscript dates to about 1000 AD. The poem itself is almost certainly older, but there is only circumstantial evidence for the date of its composition. Some experts suggest circa 800 AD on linguistic grounds. If that date is correct, there are older English texts.

Beowulf is a heroic poem in Old English alliterative verse. At 3182 lines, it is far more substantial than any similar work in the language. The poem is untitled in the manuscript, but has been known as Beowulf since the early nineteenth century. It is sometimes claimed to be the oldest surviving piece of text in what is an identifiable form of English, but this is highly disputable. The surviving manuscript dates to about 1000 AD. The poem itself is almost certainly older, but there is only circumstantial evidence for the date of its composition. Some experts suggest circa 800 AD on linguistic grounds. If that date is correct, there are older English texts.