Beowulf Notes Epic long, narrative poem; characters of high position; adventures of heroic central figure; history of a people

e or nation; vast settings; supernatural powers. Old English Germanic dialect spoken in the British Isles between the AngloSaxon invasion of the 5th C. and the Norman conquest of 1066 A.D. Alliteration repetition of initial sounds in successive syllables. Scop Anglo-Saxon travelling poet of oral heroic traditions. Oral Transmission transmission by word of mouth and memory; orig. by illiterate or semiliterate peoples; many different versions; repetition.