Beowulf and the Origins of the Written Old English Vernacular

Abstract

Abstract: This paper seeks to present an overview of the evidence for vernacular literacy in England prior to the Alfr edian revival and, in the light of this, to discuss whether, in principle, the Beowulf poem—like the Dream of the Rood—could have undergone several iterations before assuming its full literary form.

Keywords: Old English, vernacular literacy, Beowulf, Dream of the Rood, History, Art History, Mercia, Kent, Northumbria, Wessex, King Alfr ed, Book of Cerne, Book History.