One point to remember is that the poem is not history. In a way, Beowulf’s world runs parallel to history. Although it rarely refers to historical facts, the setting is similar to reality in Denmark and Sweden in the fifth and sixth centuries, the time of the action in the poem. The social structure of the comitatus did exist; and the most dominating rituals in the poem, the funerals near the beginning and at the end of the epic, have been confirmed by archaeological discovery.
The most famous of these was the Sutton Hoo dig in East Anglia in 1939. Sutton Hoo was a burial ground for one or more East Anglian kings in the early seventh century. Its contents include a ship burial reminiscent of the funeral for Scyld Scefing near the beginning of Beowulf and somewhat like the final resting place of Beowulf himself. Buried with the ship were various gold coins and pieces of armor, including an impressive helmet, a representation of which is used for the cover of Howell D. Chickering, Jr.’s paperback translation. Other artifacts include both pagan and Christian symbols, indicating the fusion of cultures in England approaching the time of the composition of the poem. We might remember that Pope Gregory, who served from 590 to 604, encouraged Christian missionaries to absorb pagan tradition into Christian ritual in order to promote a smooth transition for the pagans.
