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It's composed in Old English, the language spoken in Britain before the Norman Conquest in 1066--which is, before the extensive influence of French on the English we speak today. Still, Beowulf has come to be known as the foundational epic of English and British culture, in much the same way in which the Iliad is a foundational epic for historical Greece.

Beowulf is a tough mixture of Big crucial Ideas that, like Old English language, might be unknown to you initially.

The idea is that your fate is predetermined and you can not really alter it. It is such a powerful force that sometimes in this poetry, it seems to be a stand-in for God.
The passing price. Violence was a part of lifestyle, but it wasn't a free-for-all. If you killed somebody, their relatives may need reparation (i.e.(revival) in the form of wealth--or your lifetime.
Christian and Pagan values, all mixed up. The Anglo-Saxon poetry we have today was initially written orally (spoken) during a time when the Anglo-Saxons were still pagan. But it was written down as soon as they became Christian. That means you'll see things like magic runic inscriptions sitting side-by-side with prayers to the Christian God--or that not-quite-but-sorta-godlike wyrd we mentioned earlier.
But it is not all of philosophizing about God along with the amount of passing. Beowulf is a epic poem. Meaning it has the stuff that makes epic such a rollicking good time--heroes and monsters! swords! dragons! --while proudly displaying and strengthening each one of the values that were important in Anglo-Saxon culture--like keeping your promises, picking your words wisely, and being loyal to your lord.

But it would not be a classic work of literature if it followed all of the principles. And that's why, while being an epic, it also questions a whole lot of the epic values: Why is the passing cost a good system of justice? What are its drawbacks? What makes a fantastic king? A hero? A monster?

Although it was composed and recited in Britain, Beowulf is about figures in Scandinavia: Danish and Swedish warriors that struggle incredible monsters as well as each other. Why? Because the early Anglo-Saxons were the descendants of Germanic and Scandinavian tribes that invaded Britain beginning in the 5th Century. As a result, there was lots of shared cultural heritage between the Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians, and the Anglo-Saxons looked back to their relatives throughout the sea when they wanted to tell stories about their own past.

And that trend continues even today. Much like the Anglo-Saxons utilized Beowulf to look back in their forefather's history, people today use Beowulf to look back in Anglo-Saxon history.

Beowulf has caught the attention of scholars and audiences alike, becoming a keystone of English literary studies as well as the basis of several popular movie and TV adaptations. J.R.R. Tolkien utilized many components from Beowulf as inspiration for his famous

And, whether it's interpreted by critics or appreciated as an adventure story, Beowulf has become one of the most important pieces of literature in English.

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