DeDanaan

Filed by Aine MacDermot

Beowolf : Beowolf, which means “bee-wolf” or bear, is the hero of an epic poem composed in Old English around the year 700AD. Some scholars believe it was written by an English Christian who may have adapted an earlier epic or collection of folk tales. Based on Scandinavian history and legends, the story takes place about 200 years earlier. Beowolf has the quality of heroism in a cold and unfriendly world. He is a young Swedish prince who visits the famous mead-hall (feasting hall) of a Danish king, where he learns that the hall is attacked every night by a monster named Grendel. When he offers to fight the monster, he succeeds in tearing off one of its arms and drives it away. On the following night Grendel’s mother comes for vengeance. Beowolf kills her and rids the kingdom of its scourge. After 50 years of a peaceful reign, King Beowolf fights again — this time it is a dragon that is destroying the land. In a long and painful battle, the aged Beowolf kills the fire-breathing beast and saves his people. His body is placed on a huge funeral pyre to be burnt, but his deeds survive him in memory and legend for generations.