the only one full-length folk epic which has survived in english literature
Beowulf Beowulf (/ˈbeɪəwʊlf/;[2] Old English: [ˈbeːo̯wulf]) is an Old English epic story consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It may be the oldest surviving long story in Old English and is commonly cited as one of the most important works of Old English literature. The date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars; the only certain dating pertains to the manuscript, which was produced between 975 and 1025.[3] The author was an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet, referred to by scholars as the "Beowulf author".[4]
Library of Ashurbanipal The royal library consists of approximately 30,000 tablets and writing boards with the majority of them being severely fragmented.[8] It can be gleaned from the conservation of the fragments that the number of tablets that existed in the library at the time of destruction was close to two thousand and the number of writing boards within the library can be placed at a total of three hundred.[8] The majority of the tablet corpus (about 6,000) included colloquial compositions in the form of legislation, foreign correspondences and engagements, aristocratic declarations, and financial matters.[8] The remaining texts contained divinations, omens, incantations and hymns to various gods, while others were concerned with medicine, astronomy, and literature. For all these texts in the library only ten contain expressive rhythmic literary works such as epics and myths.[8] The Epic of Gilgamesh, a masterpiece of ancient Babylonian poetry, was found in the library, as was the Enûma Eliš creation story, and the myth of Adapa the first man, and stories such as the Poor Man of Nippur.[9][10][11]