The poem survives in a single medieval manuscript dated to approximately . It is part of a larger volume called the Nowell Codex , named after its first known owner, 16th-century antiquarian Laurence Nowell.
The epic poem Beowulf and its physical vessel, the (officially known as Cotton MS Vitellius A.XV ), represent the most significant surviving work of Old English literature. Composed between the 8th and early 11th centuries by an anonymous poet, the 3,182-line alliterative epic follows the hero Beowulf as he battles three monstrous foes: the demon Grendel , Grendel's vengeful mother , and a dragon . The Beowulf Manuscript (The Nowell Codex) Beowulf and the Beowulf Manuscript