Cross the misty borders of recorded history and enter the mead hall of heroes with the oldest surviving epic in the English language, and read the complete poem online for free.
Composed by an unknown poet somewhere between the 8th and 11th centuries, Beowulf is the foundation stone of English literature. It survives in a single manuscript, scorched at the edges, saved from fire and neglect and the dissolution of the monasteries. It is our bridge to the pre-Christian North—a world of whale roads and ring-givers, of monsters and wyrd, of courage that does not expect to be rewarded.
The poem is simple in outline. Beowulf, a young warrior of the Geats, sails to Denmark to rid the great hall Heorot of a ravaging monster named Grendel. He succeeds, tearing the creature’s arm from its socket. But Grendel’s mother, driven by a grief older than language, emerges from her mere to exact revenge. Beowulf descends into the water and kills her. He returns home, becomes king, rules wisely for fifty years. Then, in his old age, a dragon wakes. And Beowulf goes to meet it.
On this page, you can experience the poem that has haunted English letters for a thousand years. We offer the complete Anglo-Saxon epic in modern translation for online reading.
Book Info
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Title | Beowulf |
| Author | Unknown (Anglo-Saxon Poet) |
| Year of Composition | c. 700–1000 AD |
| Genre | Epic Poetry, Heroic Legend |
| Language | English Translation (Original: Old English) |
| Legal Status | Public Domain Worldwide |
| Format | Online Reading |
Read Beowulf Online
Hear the roar of the mead hall and the shriek of the fen-dweller. Begin this ancient epic by entering the firelit world of Heorot interactively below.
This preview introduces the Scylding kings and the terror that stalks them in the darkness. However, the full, heroic narrative—the swimming match with Breca, the descent into the mere, the dragon’s hoard, and the funeral pyre on the headland—is available in the complete text for our subscribers.
A subscription unlocks this cornerstone of Western literature and the complete catalog of medieval epics. Discover the monster-slayer who defined heroism for a millennium.
About the Poem Beowulf
Beowulf is a poem about monsters. But the monsters are not the point. The point is the man who faces them, knowing he will eventually fail. This is the deepest current in the Northern imagination: the hero who stands, fights, and dies, asking only that his name endure.
The Manuscript
The sole surviving manuscript, known as Cotton Vitellius A.XV, was nearly destroyed in the Ashburnham House fire of 1731. It remains charred at the edges, fragile as ash. That it survived at all is a kind of miracle. That it has become, in the twenty-first century, a global bestseller and the subject of Hollywood films, would have astonished its anonymous creator. He was not writing for us. He was writing for his lord, his hall-companions, his God. He wrote, perhaps, for the dead.
Grendel: The Outsider
Grendel is descended from Cain, the first murderer. He is kinless, joyless, exiled from the light. The poem emphasizes his isolation: “He dwelt for a time / in the country of monsters, after the Creator / had condemned him.” He attacks Heorot not merely from hunger but from envy. The sound of the harp, the songs of creation, the laughter of men gathered in community—these are unbearable to the creature who has no share in them. He is the shadow cast by civilization, the price of belonging.
The Mere: Descent into the Unknown
Beowulf’s battle with Grendel’s mother takes place not in the mead hall but underwater, in a cave beneath a haunted mere. He swims for an hour before reaching the bottom. The water is infested with sea-beasts. The blade of his sword, Hrunting, fails him. He is saved only by a giant-forged weapon he discovers among the treasures of the mere. This is not a fair fight. It is not meant to be. The hero descends into a realm where human rules do not apply and emerges changed.
Wiglaf: The Loyal Retainer
When the dragon comes, Beowulf is old. His sword, Naegling, breaks. His retainers, all but one, flee to the safety of the wood. Only Wiglaf, the young kinsman, remembers the duty of a thane: “I remember that time when we drank mead in the hall, / when we promised our lord we would repay him / for the war-gear he gave us.” He enters the smoke. He helps his king kill the dragon. He holds Beowulf in his arms as he dies. The poem ends not with triumph but with a funeral, and with Wiglaf’s bitter prophecy of the wars to come.
The Dragon: The Final Enemy
Unlike Grendel and his mother, the dragon is not malevolent. It does not attack out of envy or revenge. It attacks because a cup has been stolen from its hoard. The dragon is guardian, not predator. It is older than memory, coiled around the accumulated wealth of a vanished people. Beowulf fights it not for glory but for duty. He is the king; the dragon threatens his land. He goes to meet it knowing, in his bones, that he will not return.
Pagan Heart, Christian Mouth
Beowulf is a Christian poem about a pagan world. The poet, almost certainly a monk or cleric, tells the story of pre-Christian Scandinavia through the lens of medieval Christianity. His characters speak of “wyrd” and “fate,” but they also thank “the Ruler of all” for their victories. They burn their dead on funeral pyres, but they also hope for salvation. This tension is not a flaw; it is the poem’s central mystery. The poet loved his ancestors but could not save them. He could only sing their deeds and commend them to a God they never knew.
Why Read the Poem Beowulf Today?
Because it is the beginning. Every story of a hero facing the dark—from Aragorn at the Black Gate to Harry Potter in the Forbidden Forest—owes a debt to this old, strange, beautiful poem. But Beowulf offers something modern hero narratives rarely attempt: a vision of heroism that does not promise success. Beowulf wins his battles, but he loses everything. His people face annihilation. His hall will burn. His name will endure, but names do not keep the wolf from the door. The poem knows this and faces it without flinching. That is why it has survived a thousand years.
FAQ
Who wrote Beowulf?
No one knows. The manuscript is anonymous, and the poem shows evidence of both oral composition and literate revision. The most plausible theory is that a single Christian poet, working in the 8th or 9th century, shaped older traditional materials into the unified epic we possess today.
Is it difficult to read?
The original Old English is impenetrable without study. However, modern translations—particularly those by Seamus Heaney, Tolkien, and Francis Gummere—are vivid, musical, and accessible. We offer the Gummere translation, which preserves the alliterative rhythm of the original.
Is this the oldest English poem?
No. There are older fragments, notably Cædmon’s Hymn. But Beowulf is the oldest surviving English epic, the earliest long-form narrative in the language.
Why are there two monsters, then a dragon?
The three fights structure the hero’s life. Grendel represents the strength of youth, the clean battle against a defined enemy. Grendel’s mother represents the descent into the unknown, the fight without rules. The dragon represents age, duty, and the acceptance of mortality. The poem is not really about monsters; it is about the stages of a human life.
Can I read it on my phone?
Yes. The poem is divided into 43 sections of varying length. It was composed for oral performance, not silent reading, but it adapts well to the screen. Read it aloud, if you dare. The old words still have power.