Beowulf

Anonymous c. 1000 CE

This prose translation follows a warrior who fights monsters and later becomes a king. His first enemy, Grendel, attacks a Danish hall while its warriors sleep.

117 pages 2h 16m reading time

The oldest long poem in English, and the most famous work of Old English writing.
Imagines a world where fame earned through brave deeds is the only thing that outlives a person, since every life and every kingdom must end.
Shows a hero who stays loyal and brave to the last, even when he knows the fight in front of him may kill him.
J. R. R. Tolkien, who studied the poem for years, drew on it for "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings," most clearly in the dragon guarding stolen treasure.
A 1936 lecture by Tolkien persuaded scholars to read it as serious art rather than only as a record of history, and it has been a standard book in English classes ever since.

Saved from a burning library

In 1731 a fire at Ashburnham House in London scorched the only copy, leaving its edges charred and crumbling.
Survives in one book

Every word we have comes from a single handwritten book, copied by two different scribes working together.
Mixes real and invented history

Some kings in the poem really lived, and one raid it mentions is also recorded by a Frankish historian.
Nameless for centuries

The manuscript has no title, so modern scholars named the poem after its hero.