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 ...

For years — decades — I have wanted to see the "Beowulf" manuscript. Like "Gawain," only a single copy exists. Unlike "Gawain," "Beowulf" was written in Old English; it is centuries older.

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 Beowulf Manuscript is a half-burned thing whose survival is a miracle. Its provenance is unknown: It was probably written down in the tenth or eleventh centuries, but it’s impossible to tell ...

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.

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.