Background and origins
Beowulf meets archaeology. As the barrow in Vendel (in Sweden) was indicated as the barrow of Ohthere by local tradition, an excavation was undertaken in 1917. The dating was consistent with that of Beowulf and the sagas: the early 6th century. Norse sources also relate that a place called Vendel was the place of Ohthere's death. (Nerman, B. Det svenska rikets uppkomst. Stockholm, 1925. See also a presentation by the Swedish National Heritage Board: )This poem, about Danish and Swedish kings and heroes, was preserved in England because the English people are descendants of Germanic tribes called the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. Jutes and northern Saxon tribes came from what is now southern Denmark and northern Germany. Thus, Beowulf tells a story about the old days in their homeland.
The poem is a work of fiction, but it mentions a confirmed historic event, the raid by king Hygelac into Frisia, ca 516.
Many of the personalities of Beowulf (e.g., Healfdene, HroÃÂ°gar, Halga, HroÃÂ°ulf, Eadgils and Ohthere), clans (e.g. Scyldings, Scylfings and Wulfings) and some of the events (e.g. the Battle on the Ice) also appear in early Scandinavian sources, such as the Prose Edda, Gesta Danorum, the legendary sagas, etc. In these sources, especially the HrÃÂ³lf Kraki tales deal with the same set of people in Denmark and Sweden (see Origins for Beowulf and HrÃÂ³lf Kraki).
Consequently, many people and events depicted in the epic were probably real, dating from between 450 and 600 in Denmark and southern Sweden (Geats and Swedes). As far as Sweden is concerned, this dating has been confirmed by archaeological excavations of the barrows indicated by Snorri Sturluson and by Swedish tradition as the graves of Eadgils and Ohthere in Uppland. Like the Finnsburg Fragment and several shorter surviving poems, Beowulf has...