MY GRAND ESSAY!- section one

The exact date of Beowulf is unknown, the legends of Beowulf are debated as fact or fiction, the poem itself is subject to debate (should it be studied for literary merit or historical fact?), its classification as poem is challenged, even the author of Beowulf is unknown; yet, for all this Beowulf is considered an important piece and is studied internationally by literary scholars and English students alike. This is because of the unique and profound times in which the story was recorded and the artistic, poignant, nature of the writing.
Beowulf is perhaps a Danish or Swedish legend, and perhaps an accounting of a great warrior: a tale from Northern Europe of great deeds and men. Whether the poem is fact or fiction is irrelevant, as somehow this story came to enter the oral tradition of the warmongering Viking people.