Unknown | Biography

What is known about the author of Beowulf has been derived from studying the time period in which it was written and the storytelling methods and poetic form of the piece. It is believed to have been composed between 700–750 CE as a story to be told orally and was written down centuries later. The poet was gifted in the art of storytelling and alliteration. Alliteration is the repetition of sounds within a text that creates a rhythmic quality to the work. In Beowulf, the poet repeats the beginning sound of words throughout the text, setting up a rhythm that begs for the poem to be performed and chanted and suggests that it stemmed from the tradition of oral storytelling.