Beowulf

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Old English Bēowulf, probably equivalent to bee +‎ wolf, though the first element is uncertain.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbeɪ.əˌwʊlf/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

Proper noun

Beowulf (plural Beowulfs)

1. A renowned Old English alliterative poem, preserved in a single manuscript within the Nowell Codex, composed sometime between 975 and 1025 AD.

   John Gardner’s retelling of Beowulf is titled Grendel.

2. (poetic) An Anglo-Saxon personal name, usually with reference to the hero of the poem, or to the poem itself.

   Beowulf is as great a hero as Sigmund.

   • 1965, Myra Waldo, “Japan”, in Travel Guide to the Orient and the Pacific, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Collier-Macmillan Limited, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 157:

     The highest rank attainable is yokozuna, or grand champion. They are the heroes of the Japanese, the Rolands, the Beowulfs, the Siegfrieds of the Cherry Blossom Empire.

Derived terms

• Beowulfian
• Beowulfiana

Translations

epic poem

• Arabic: بِيوُولْف m (bīwūlf)
• Armenian: Բեովուլֆ (Beovulf)
• Bulgarian: Беоулф (Beoulf)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 貝奧武夫 / 贝奥武夫 (zh) (Bèi'àowǔfū)

• Esperanto: Beoŭulf
• Finnish: Beowulf
• French: Beowulf (fr) m
• Georgian: ბეოვულფი (beovulpi)
• Greek: Μπέογουλφ m (Béogoulf)
• Icelandic: Bjólfskviða
• Italian: Beowulf, Beovulfo (very rare)
• Japanese: ベーオウルフ (Bēourufu)
• Korean: 베오울프 (Be'oulpeu)
• Macedonian: Бе́овулф m (Béovulf)
• Portuguese: Beowulf m
• Russian: Беовульф (Beovulʹf)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Latin: Beowulf m, Beovulf m

• Spanish: Beowulf
• Turkish: Beowulf sg

Old English

Alternative forms

• Bīowulf

Etymology

Uncertain; traditionally derived from bēo (“bee”) +‎ wulf (“wolf”), used as a kenning for “bear” or “woodpecker”. Most recently analysed theophorically from Bēow (“Beow”) +‎ wulf (“wolf”). Probably cognate with Old Norse Bjólfr (from earlier *Bíolfr, *Béolfr).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbe͜oːˌwulf/, [ˈbe͜oːˌwuɫf]

Proper noun

Bēowulf m

1. (poetic) Beowulf

Declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	Bēowulf	—
accusative	Bēowulf	—
genitive	Bēowulfes	—
dative	Bēowulfe	—