What does "beowulf" mean?

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

How do you pronounce "beowulf"?

Pronounced //ˈbeɪ.əˌwʊlf//.

Common synonyms include: epic hero, epic poem, heroic archetype, legendary figure, legendary hero, mythic archetype.

/ˈbeɪ.əˌwʊlf/ name

name ·Rare ·Advanced level

Proper Noun

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
An Anglo-Saxon personal name, usually with reference to the hero of the poem, or to the poem itself. poetic
"Beowulf is as great a hero as Sigmund."

"Beowulf became king of the Geats."

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