Beowulf takes place in Scandinavia around the 6th century AD. The Geats and the Scyldings (or Danes) were real tribal groups. They lived on the territory of modern southern Sweden and Denmark, respectively. We may suppose that Beowulf crossed the Baltic Sea. Still, it is impossible to define the exact place because most of the landscapes were written from the author’s imagination.
The poem was created in England, but the setting it describes is in Scandinavia. The medieval events are partly historical. For instance, Hrothgar, Hygelac, Onela, Ongentheow, Heardred, and Haethcyn were real people. Historians also proved that the Ravenswood battle indeed took place in 510 AD. Â
A powerful fictional hero, Beowulf, was the most prominent warrior among the Geats. Their territory was situated where modern southern Sweden is now.
Beowulf crosses the rough sea to reach the land of the Danes. Their tribe was also called the Scyldings because Scyld Scefing founded their king’s dynasty. Scyld was Hrothgar’s great-grandfather. The land of the Danes was where modern Denmark is now.
The setting of the poem is arranged from the center of both tribes outwards. Mead-halls play the role of the social nucleus. People celebrate, eat, sing, and communicate there. But outside the hall, the world grows to be dangerous and full of lurking monsters. The attacks of Grendel, his mother, and the dragon on the people’s houses represent the worst fear of the people who lived in those days. The woods, swamplands, and seas were unexplored, which made them uncanny in the human imagination.Â
Nowadays, the Oresund bridge links Denmark and Sweden over the Baltic sea. But in 500 AD, the trip was hazardous, and many sailors did not survive the voyage. Still, the author never visited the places described in the poem because the landscapes are mostly fictional and do not meet reality.
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