seamod

so here's how i feel about Beowulf as a historical source


Evidence for the life of the early Anglo Saxons in Britain is relatively scant. There have been important archaeological digs like that at Sutton Hoo but putting together a picture of Anglo Saxon life remains a difficult task. It is at this point that we turn to the literature about the period. The historian Bede remains the most important literary source for the period but what of their neighbours to the east and their opinions of them. For this we must turn to an even more difficult source of an unknown author. That source is the poem Beowulf, and here we will see how valuable it is and how its weighs up against the archaeological evidence from the period.
Although the poem was written in Britain, its story is of events in Scandinavia1 and archaeological evidence suggest the story itself may even have travelled from Germany2. It tells of the fantastical deeds of Beowulf, king of the Geats and the events revolve around many characters most of whom we cant say whether they are fictional or historical. Shield is an example of one of these. According to the poem, Shield was the king of the Danes whom where also known as Shieldings3. Characters historical existences are not the only problem we encounter with this poem. Historians, while making general consensus have conflicting opinions on when Beowulf was penned and it is suggested that this is not the original story, referencing the christian influence on the pagan story. The mention of similarly named kings in both Beowulf and Gregory of Tours History has led to suggestions that the characters are in fact historical figures but there is an overwhelming lack of supporting evidence for this4.
Its christian influence suggests it had to have been written after a time when christianity had established a foothold in Britain, therefore making it an eight century piece at the earliest. After the initial viking raids, Anglo Saxons and Vikings lived side by side but most historians agree that it is unlikely such a poem was written after the renewed Viking raids in 980 AD as stated in Edward James book Britain in the First Millennium. James, however, then goes on to state that most historians agree that Beowulf was written sometimes between 975 AD and 1025 AD 5, which appears to be somewhat of a contradiction. Although he does not claim this as his own opinion it seems to suggest that Beowulf could have been written almost anytime after the establishment of christianity in Britain; and so, the debate goes on.
As to the historical evidence we can extract from the poem itself, excavation has made it possible to draw some archaeologically supported suggestions. This evidence suggests that rather that Beowulf coming from the wild imagination of a more recent holy-man, it must have arisen from the mind of a religious man (most likely a monk) with some knowledge of pagan life and ritual, placing the life of the poet closer to the time of the supposed events6.
Where Beowulf is most accurate is in its depiction of burial rituals7. Pagan graves as described in the poem, were adorned with goods and there are small accuracies regarding weapons elsewhere. In Cramps summation however, when it comes to the housing, in particular the great hall (Heorot), one feels she is sometimes clutching at straws to defend the accuracy of the poem and fails to look at it objectively8. While Beowulf is certainly an important document for historians one must bare in mind that it is fundamentally, a fantastical piece of lore.