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In fifth-century Denmark, a murderous monster stalks the night, and only the great prince of the Geats has the strength and courage to defeat him. Beowulf's terrifying quest to destroy Grendel, the foul fiend, a hideous sea-hag and a monstrous fire-dragon is the oldest surviving epic in British literature. Artfully retold and magnificently illustrated, this companion volume to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is made instantly accessible to children by a formidable children's book partnership.
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Gunnar is the son of a Viking chieftain, living peacefully on his family steading with his mother, father and their people – until they are raided by Skuli and his Wolf Men, who raze his home to the ground and take his father's life. Gunnar swears an oath to avenge his father's death and save his mother from Skuli – but first he must run to save himself. Murderous raiders, hand to hand battles to the death, mythical flying wolves and a relentless sea journey to the Land of Fire and Ice... Unknown to Gunnar, his life has been foretold, and he finds he has a destiny greater than his own story.
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The story of the brave Beowulf, his battle with the monster Grendel, and of his death after a clash with a terrible dragon.
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Beowulf is the longest epic poem in Old English, the language spoken in Anglo-Saxon England before the Norman Conquest. More than 3,000 lines long, Beowulf relates the exploits of its eponymous hero, and his successive battles with a monster named Grendel, with Grendel’s revengeful mother, and with a dragon which was guarding a hoard of treasure.

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is the longest epic poem in Old English, the language spoken in Anglo-Saxon England before the Norman Conquest. More than 3,000 lines long, Beowulf relates the exploits of its eponymous hero, and his successive battles with a monster named Grendel, with Grendel's revengeful mother, and with a dragon which was guarding a hoard of treasure.

Listen to an audio description of Beowulf on the VocalEyes website.

How old is the manuscript?

Beowulf survives in a single medieval manuscript. The manuscript bears no date, and so its age has to be calculated by analysing the scribes' handwriting. Some scholars have suggested that the manuscript was made at the end of the 10th century, others in the early decades of the 11th, perhaps as late as the reign of King Cnut, who ruled England from 1016 until 1035.

The most likely time for Beowulf to have been copied is the early 11th century, which makes the manuscript approximately 1,000 years old.

Nobody knows for certain when the poem was first composed.

The contents of the manuscript

Apart from Beowulf, the manuscript contains several other medieval texts. These comprise a homily on St Christopher; The Marvels of the East (also known as The Wonders of the East), illustrated with wondrous beasts and deformed monsters; the Letter of Alexander to Aristotle; and an imperfect copy of another Old English poem, Judith.

Beowulf is the penultimate item in this collection, the whole of which was copied by two Anglo-Saxon scribes, working in collaboration.

Who owned the Beowulf manuscript?

The first-recorded owner of Beowulf is Laurence Nowell (died c. 1570), a pioneer of the study of Old English, who inscribed his name (dated 1563) at the top of the manuscript's first page. Beowulf then entered the famous collection of Sir Robert Cotton (died 1631) - who also owned the Lindisfarne Gospels and the British Library's two copies of Magna Carta - before passing into the hands of his son Sir Thomas Cotton (died 1662), and grandson Sir John Cotton (died 1702), who bequeathed the manuscript to the nation. The Cotton library formed one of the foundation collections of the British Museum in 1753, before being incorporated as part of the British Library in 1973.

Why is the manuscript damaged?

During the 18th century, the Cotton manuscripts were moved for safekeeping to Ashburnham House at Westminster. On the night of 23 October 1731 a fire broke out and many manuscripts were damaged, and a few completely destroyed.

Beowulf escaped the fire relatively intact but it suffered greater loss by handling in the following years, with letters crumbling away from the outer portions of its pages. Placed in paper frames in 1845, the manuscript remains incredibly fragile, and can be handled only with the utmost care.

See a full set of images of the Beowulf Digitised Manuscript or view the Electronic Beowulf, a collaboration between British Library and the University of Kentucky.

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Discover 'Beowulf' on the British Library website

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National Library of Wales: Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales

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National Library of Wales: Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales

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Showcasing one of The National Library's greatest treasures: the Hengwrt manuscript of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the earliest surviving copy of this literary masterpiece.

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Llyfrgell Genedlaethol - National Library of Wales

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To Tell a Story: Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales

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Replicas of writing tools from medieval timies

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Portrait of Geoffrey Chaucer (held in the Bodleian Library, Oxford)

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Portrait of Geoffrey Chaucer (held in the Bodleian Library, Oxford)

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Information on Chaucer, Beowulf, Old English

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Welcome to Britannica School , a safe, up-to-date, and age-appropriate information resource for Primary, Middle and Secondary School.

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A Headington Timeline

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Many items discovered in Headington help to authenticate its proud boast that it was a long-established settlement when central Oxford was little more than a bog. Here are just a few:

Excavations in the field in Barton Lane opposite the Black Boy in 2001 indicate that Stone Age man lived there in c.1,000 BC

Pottery found on the Manor Ground in 2002 indicates that there was an Iron Age settlement there in c.600 BC

The clay of a mortarium (bowl, as in pestle and mortar) from the second century AD found in Headington is strengthened with local local gravel

A kiln found on the site of the Churchill Hospital indicates that the Romans had a pottery there in c.AD 300

Bones found by builders in a Stephen Road garden in 2002 indicated that there was an Anglo-Saxon burial ground there, in c.AD 500.

The Romans certainly preferred the dry, sandy, Mediterranean-type soil of Headington to the sticky clay and damp air of the river valley below. Old Road is believed to be the only Roman road in the Oxford area (although Thomas Hearne believed that Cuckoo Lane was too), and Roman villas, brickfields, and quarries have been found nearby. The Headington area was a major manufacturing centre that exported its clay pots as far as northern Europe. The complete Roman kiln found at the Churchill Hospital is on display in the Museum of Oxford.

The name "Hedena's dun" (a dun being a hill) was first used in Saxon times, when it was the site of a palace or hunting lodge of the kings of Mercia: Ethelred the Unready (c.968-1016) is believed to have had his palace at Old Headington. In 1004 King Ethelred, by a charter "written at the royal ville called Headan dune", gave land in Headington to St Frideswide's Priory in Oxford, including the Headington Quarry area and a quarry.

The Domesday Book of 1086 records "Rex tenet Hedintone" ("The King holds Headington"). During the Norman period, Headington was overtaken in size by Oxford, founded as a royal new town in c.900, which by 1200 had a growing community of scholars. The old road from Oxford to London ran over Shotover Hill, so travellers veered off to the right up Cheney Lane to pick it up. This meant that the original village of Headington (now known as Old Headington) was off the beaten track: the only way it could be reached from Oxford was via Cuckoo Lane, which could be reached either from the Marston Road or from the top of Headington Hill.

The above map shows (1) the extent of the Manor of Headington marked in yellow and (2) the extent of the Forest of Shotover (marked with a border of trees) in the thirteenth century. Note that the Manor extended to the west of the River Cherwell, taking in much of the present North Oxford and reaching as far as Binsey.

Headington was important during the Civil War because of its commanding position on the top of the hill. Meanwhile down in Royalist Oxford, King Charles kept close watch on Headington from the top of Magdalen Tower in case there was an invasion.

In the seventeenth century a second village, Headington Quarry, grew up around the stone pits. From the start it literally turned its back on Old Headington, as it needed to be orientated southwards towards the present Old Road. Cardinal Wolsey repaired this road and the bridge over the Cherwell at Milham so that Headington stone could be brought down easily and then conveyed along the Broad Walk in the meadow to build his college (later known as Christ Church).

In about 1700 the terraced footpath that is still in use on the north side of Headington Hill was paid for by the University: but this just led to open countryside at the top, as the present Headington / London Road did not exist in any form at that time. It was only in the 1790s that a new turnpike road to London was cut through this countryside in order that stagecoaches could avoid the steep gradient of Shotover Hill. The new road to London had a dramatic effect on Headington (and still does more than 200 years later). The village of Quarry became a backwater; Old Headington (which for a thousand years had been orientated towards Marston) was forced to start looking southwards; and eventually, between the 1850s and 1880s, a new planned village was built in an inviting gap on the south side of the road. It was given the obvious name of New Headington, causing the original village of Headington to become known for the first time as "Old" Headington.

Until 1804, the Headington area was divided up into four great Fields, namely:

North Field (comprising the Barton district)

Pound Field (Old Headington, extending westwards to Pullen's Lane)

South Field (to the south-west of Old Road)

Quarry Field (the Headington Quarry area, as far as Windmill Road)

These fields were divided up into Furlongs, e.g. Toot Hill Butts Furlong, which in turn were divided up into strips of land which were individually owned.

In 1804 the Headington area was enclosed, so that instead of having strips dotted about all over Headington's Furlongs each landowner was awarded sizeable chunks. Major Headington landowners included the Lord of the Manor of Headington, Mary Jones, and Magdalen College.

Enclosure incidentally caused a rift between the people of Old Headington and Quarry, when Sir Joseph Lock built a wall around his newly acquired estate at Bury Knowle and blocked off the path by which the Quarry dead were transported to St Andrew's Church. Thenceforth the Quarry people shunned Old Headington, building their own chapels or not attending church at all. The ungodliness of the hamlet led to the building of Holy Trinity Church in 1849, when Headington Quarry became a separate parish from Old Headington.

In the nineteenth century, the men of the three villages of Headington provided Oxford with its market-garden produce, its bricks and its stone. The women (who were renowned for the "Headington hump", acquired by years of bending over the wash-tub) did Oxford's washing, despite the fact that there was no piped water until 1902. It was always a backward rural area compared to the city of Oxford, and it had to wait until 1926 for gas and 1929 for electricity.

Headington was a popular destination for undergraduates' country walks, possibly because it was the nearest sizeable place to the east out of the ambit of the proctors. Until 1929 the eastern part of the city came to an end at the boundary brook, where Oxford's Headington Road ends and Headington's London Road begins. (This brook, which is also the old boundary between Oxford and Cowley eventually reaches the River Thames. It now runs underground by the White Horse and under point where the Headington Road becomes the London Road, but passes through gardens in Brookside and Highfield Avenue before going under Old Road and running beside the Churchill Hospital.)

The dry and healthy air that had appealed to the Romans led to many Oxford hospitals being sited in Headington, starting with the Warneford in 1826 and the Wingfield Convalescent Home in 1871.

In 1893 two Headington worthies, Dr Robert Hitchings and the Revd John Holford-Scott (later Scott-Tucker), got together a village football team that was to become known as Headington United. This team was renamed Oxford United in 1960, and they played in central Headington for 108 years until 2001.

In 1899 a chance meeting in Headington between Cecil Sharp and William Kimber of Quarry, the "Father of English Morris" led to the revival of English folk music. The Quarry Morris dancers are still a familiar sight in Headington today.

New Headington village grew so rapidly at the beginning of the twentieth century that in 1910 All Saints Church was built and the separate parish of Highfield created.

Until 1913, the 1½-mile residence limit for members of Congregation meant that the only part of Headington populated by Professors and Fellows of colleges was Pullen's Lane. In that year the limit was abolished, causing an influx of dons' families to Old Road and Old Headington.

The growth of the Cowley car works caused an explosion in the size of Headington between 1921 and 1931, when its population increased by 79 per cent. In 1929, the three old villages came under the city of Oxford, and were henceforth considered a suburb. Oxford's first council houses were immediately built in Headington.

Then the suburb of Headington started to get new suburbs of its own, such as Barton (completed 1948) and the Northway Estate (1950s) and Wood Farm (1960s).

The shark landed on a house in New High Street in 1986, and is now Headington's most familiar landmark.

The metamorphosis of Headington Polytechnic into Oxford Brookes University in 1992 and the huge expansion of the hospitals is helping to make Headington the most vibrant suburb of Oxford. But to discover the original Headington, you have to leave the London Road and hunt out its three villages (the very names of Old High Street, New High Street, and Quarry High Street offer helpful clues).
Back to main History page

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Many items discovered in Headington help to authenticate its proud boast that it was a long-established settlement when central Oxford was little more than a bog.

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Sir Gwain and the Green Knight by Michael Morpurgo

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Sir Gwain and the Green Knight by Michael Morpurgo

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The classic Arthurian legend is brilliantly recreated by an award-winning author/illustrator team. Of all the tales of the Knights of the Round Table, the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is surely the most magical.

Here are thrills and enchantment, chivalry and courage, a challenge and a quest.

Its hero is the greatest of all King Arthur's knights, Sir Gawain.

His adversary is the fearsome Green Knight, who rides into Camelot one New Year's Eve with a challenge that strikes dread into Arthur's court.

For Gawain, it is the start of an extraordinary adventure.

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How to write a recount or an eyewitness account

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How to write a recount or an eyewitness account

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I zipped up my spacesuit before leaving the rocket.

Clear structure . Use paragraphs to separate the beginning, middle and end. Your middle section should include at least three events or experiences.

Using description to add detail will enable your reader to build an image in their head.

The slender body of the rocket stood high above the crowd.
It is important to share your feelings about what happened throughout your recount.
My hands trembled with uncontrollable nerves as the engines ignited! I felt like I had run a marathon when I climbed back in the rocket.

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Recounts are a way of retelling an important event or describing an experience you've had to others. Find out more in this Bitesize Primary KS2 English guide.

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Learn about the conventions of a sonnet, Shakespearean sonnets and Petrarchan sonnets, iambic pentameter and rhyme in this KS3 English BBC Bitesize article.

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Children can find out what it was like to be a Viking, and learn about Viking homes, feasts, boats, gods and much more in this fascinating book. Colourful illustrations on every page show Viking life in a village and on a raid, alongside full-colour photographs of historical artefacts such as helmets, coins and tools. Perfect for readers who prefer fact to fiction, and those studying the Vikings at school. Internet links take readers to specially selected websites to find out more.
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Ask at the library where to find these books

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Sharing stories p 46
The Vikings p102

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Vikings and raiders - p46
The Normans - p66 - 73
Chaucer - p110
Shakespeare - pp154-55

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Includes pages on words and music and writing in runes

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In 15th century England, a teenage boy becomes embroiled in political plots when he is mistaken for the royal prince

Can you imagine how your life might change if you discovered you look exactly like a royal prince?
1485. Richard III is King of England. Henry Tudor's invasion looms. Jack Broom thinks that war and politics have nothing to do with him. He is a simple apothecary's boy dreaming of becoming a surgeon - until soldiers mistake him for a boy of noble birth. Narrowly avoiding being dragged to the Tower of London, Jack sets out on a perilous mission to find out who he truly is. With the help of his new friend Alice, he uncovers conspiracies, treason, and the deadly lengths people will go to for power.

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Gatty sets out with a group of other travellers on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem

In the year 1203, nine companions set out on a great pilgrimage. The journey - on foot, on horseback and by sea - is fraught with danger. Not all of them will come home.

Among them is Gatty, whose whole life has been spent working in the fields. Bright, eager and resolute, she is at the heart of this enthralling novel that sweeps across Europe towards Jerusalem. We come to know the pilgrims intimately - their bickering, praying and joking, their fear and exhaustion, their loyalty and sacrifice as they face thieves and storms and precipices, a vicious attack and a heartbreaking bereavement. Gatty's curiosity and reckless impulsiveness land her in danger, yet she is transformed by her experiences and by her exposure to new people and new ideas. How can she go back to her old life in the Welsh Marches after this? And will she see again the one person she can tell her heart to?