[gothic-l] Beowulf and the Geats

[Le Bateman]

Most of myths though were based on historical past events.
Le
----- Original Message -----
From: "Philip Rusche" <ruschep at nevada.edu>
To: <gothic-l at egroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2001 12:50 PM
Subject: Re: [gothic-l] Beowulf and the Geats


> I know this is not a Beowulf or Anglo-Saxon list, but both of these
> statements should be corrected.  First, Beowulf is not the son of the King
> of the Geats, but the nephew until he becomes king himself. Also, there is
> no evidence that Beowulf was a real person, so that can hardly make the
case
> that the poem was originally written for Geats, not to mention Goths,
since
> most scholars do not treat the two as identical.  Although story lines in
> the poem appear in other Germanic cultures, the poem itself gives no
> evidence that it was translated from an earlier Gothic poem or from any
> other language. (Compare this with the portion of the poetic Genesis that
> was identified as a translation from Old Saxon from metrical evidence
before
> the Old Saxon original was even found).
>
> As for when Beowulf was written down, few people today would make the
> statement that it belongs to 8th-century Anglia.  Ever since around 1980,
> the dating has been completely up in the air, with perhaps more people
> favoring a later date, perhaps 10th century.  The manuscript itself was
> copied around 1000 in Old English, not Old Saxon.
>
> Philip Rusche
>
> > Beowulf is presumed to have been written down in Anglia in the 8th
> century.
> > There were apparently close contacts between that area and Gotland in
> those
> > times.
> > The only existing copy of Beowulf is dated to the 10th century and
written
> > in old Saxan language.
> > Tore Gannholm
> >
> >
> > > It is said that Beowulf is a Anglo-Saxon poem, but since in the poem
> > >Beowulf is the son of the King of the Geats is it possible that this
was
> a
> > >copy of a much earlier Gothic poem.
> > >Le
> > >
> > >
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