Sources:

The Sutton Hoo Ship Burial, The British Museum

“Waving His Wand at ‘Beowulf ’” by Ethan Gilsdorf, New York Times

J.R.R. Tolkien Biography, The Tolkien Society

A Companion to Beowulf by Ruth Johnston Stayer

• Fall of Roman Empire

(ca. A.D. 410) left a

vacuum of power

• Settlers from German

regions invaded England• Southern Denmark

• Northern Germany

• Anglo-Saxon period

lasted for 600 years

(410 to 1066)

J.R.R. Tolkien was a professor of

Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University.

• Beowulf is

NOT set in

Anglo-Saxon

England.

• Beowulf is set

in Denmark

& Geatland.

Purse lidLength: 19.0 cm (frame)

Width: 8.3 cm (frame, excluding hinges)

Shoulder claspsLength: 12.7 cm (linked together)

Width: 5.4 cm

Buckle from sword beltLength: 7.3 cm

Width: 2.5 cm

Gold belt buckleLength: 13.2 cm

Width: 5.6 cm

Many LOTR names are from Old English:

Samwise – stupid

Theoden – prince

Eomer – horse-famous

Eowyn – horse-joy

Tolkien specialized

in Old English and

Middle English.

A reconstruction of a Danish great hall.

Meduseld

Meduseld is derived from Maeduselde,

an Old English word for mead-hall.

Dragonsreach

Bilbo and Gollum’s riddle game in The Hobbit.