Beowulf | Biography
There is no indication of who wrote Beowulf; scholars have suggested at least two possible candidates, but neither of these identifications has been generally accepted.
Many dates and places have been suggested for the composition of Beowulf. Most of the theories suffer from wishful thinking: scholars connect it to a favorite time and place. It is no use, however, to show where and when it might have been written. It must be shown that it could not have been written anywhere else at any other time in order for a theory to be conclusive. Early critics often stressed the antiquity of the poet's material and attempted to break the poem down into a number of older "lays'' (see Style section below). Northumbria during the lifetime of the scholar Bede has often been suggested because it was culturally advanced and Bede was the greatest Anglo-Saxon scholar. The kingdom of Mercia during the reign of Offa the Great (756-798) has been suggested, partially because the poet included 31 lines praising Offa's ancestor, also named Offa. Recently a late date has become popular. Kevin Kiernan believes that the existing manuscript may be the author's own copy. This would mean the poem was written very close to 1000 A.D. An early date for Beowulf (675-700) is now usually connected with East Anglia. It has been suggested that the East Anglian royal family considered themselves descended from Wiglaf, who comes to Beowulf's aid during the dragon fight.
The main argument for this early date, however, is based on archaeology. The poem's descriptions of magnificent burials reflect practices of the late sixth and seventh centuries, but this does not mean that the poem was written then. A person witnessing such a burial might describe it accurately fifty years later to a child, who might then repeat the description another fifty years later to the person who would then write it down a century after it happened. Some scholars assume that the poem, celebrating the ancestors of the Vikings, could not have been written after their raids on England began. Others suggest that a mixed Viking Anglo Saxon area or even the reign of the Danish Canute (King of England when the manuscript was written) would have been the most obvious time and place. It has also been suggested that the poem might have been written to gain the allegiance of Vikings settled in England to the family of Alfred, since they claimed Scyld as an ancestor. On the other hand, Alfred's family may have added Scyld to their family tree because he and his family were so famous through an already existing Beowulf.
