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| Part of manuscript of Beowulf |
The Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, known from a 10th Century manuscript and perhaps composed a couple of centuries earlier, is a well-known piece of early English literature. It tells how the hero Beowulf slew a monster called Grendel, then killed the monster's mother and finally fought a dragon. Beowulf himself was the nephew of the King of the Geats in present-day Sweden. He is said to have eventually become king himself. He was supposed to have killed Grendel on Sjaelland, the large island of Denmark. He may be historical and have lived in the 6th Century AD.
Some time ago there appeared a piece by a graduate student in America entitled Occurence of a Beowulf-like Myth Among North American Indians.
How had the story of the early Geatish king managed to make its way across the Atlantic? Had some early sailor who knew it been swept across the sea and finally landed in America and unburdened himself of the tale which was then melded with the folklore of some Indian tribe?
The answer is much simpler. The student's informant was an old Indian storyteller. He himself had been told the story by Alice Lee Marriott, an American folklorist doing research. He had remembered the story and retold it in the hearing of the student. She had taken it to be a genuine Native American myth.
Folklore can be transmitted in so many ways that the folklorist should be careful in collecting.
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