The Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf tells the story of the hero's slaying of three fabulous monsters, set against the historical background of sixth-century Scandinavian wars and dynasties.
Richard Hamer was a tutor in medieval English literature at Christ Church, Oxford for forty years, retiring in 2002. His translation of all the most famous shorter Anglo-Saxon poems was published in 1970 as A Choice of Anglo-Saxon Verse, and in a revised and expanded version in 2015.