Beowulf survives in just one manuscript, housed in the British Library in London. Through the BL’s Beowulf hub you can view photographs of the manuscript and other items from the Library’s collection which shed light on Beowulf’s textual history.
In this forty-minute podcast, presenter Melvyn Bragg discusses Beowulf with several leading experts on Anglo-Saxon literature.
In an interview with the New York Times, Seamus Heaney discusses his process of translating the poem.
Beowulf was probably written to be read aloud. This article discusses the sound of Old English, and includes audio clips of the poem read in its original language.
This article provides an overview of Anglo-Saxon history and culture, essential historical context for Beowulf.
Many scholars believe that Beowulf was written in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia, possibly during the reign of King Raedwald. In 1939, the remains of a ship burial was excavated at Sutton Hoo in East Anglia, and most archaeologists now believe that the person buried in the ship was Raedwald. Aspects of the burial parallel the descriptions of the funerals in Beowulf. This article includes pictures of the excavation and the treasures discovered.