
What is Hwæt? The Debate Behind Beowulf’s Opening Line
By Hana Videen Hwæt we Gardena in geardagum, þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon. These are the first three lines of Beowulf, the longest surviving and today’s best-known poem of Old English literature. Translated into …