Here’s something that’s awesome: The ancient “Beowulf” manuscript is now online — for the first time ever — in all its 3,186 lines of Old English, monster-slaying parchment-y glory.

The British Library has the original manuscript of Beowulf that was published in the year 1000, most likely during the reign of King Æthelred the Unready. It is widely considered the best poem ...

On a quest to view the one and only manuscript of 'Beowulf' John Mark Eberhart. LONDON — I keep trying not to squint. But the light, an eerie purple, is very low.

The Beowulf Manuscript is not just composed of words that serve as the basis for every translation of the epic poem. It’s foremost an object, the only one of its kind.

So if I can't have the 'Beowulf' manuscript, and it's becoming more and more apparent to me that the British Library won't let me borrow it, then 'Electronic Beowulf' will more than do.

The first English edition came out in 1833. According to a press release, scholars found the manuscript odd from the beginning, suggesting it was at least two poems stitched together.