Which language was used to write the epic poem Beowulf?

The epic poem Beowulf was written in Old English. The surviving poem is preserved in a manuscript dated to around the year 1000, although its composition is generally placed earlier, probably between the 8th and early 11th centuries.

Old English, also called Anglo-Saxon, was spoken in parts of England and southern Scotland before the Norman Conquest of 1066. Its vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation differ substantially from modern English, so Beowulf usually appears in modern editions with a translation or extensive notes.

The poem tells of Beowulf, a hero who fights the monster Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and later a dragon. It is the longest surviving poem in Old English and contains more than 3,000 alliterative lines.

A common mix-up is calling Beowulf a Middle English work. Middle English developed after the Norman Conquest, while Beowulf belongs to the earlier Old English period.