, or
The Battle of Finnsburh, is also known as
The Finnsburh Fragmentbecause the 48 lines of verse begin and end in mid-sentence, and were obviously part of a longer work. Moreover, the incomplete story in the
Fragmentappears to be a version of the heroic tale told by Hrothgar's court poet in celebration of Beowulf's victory over Grendel at lines 1063-1160a of
Beowulf, and there known as
The Finnsburh Episode. The
Fragmentwas printed by George Hickes in 1705, but the manuscript leaf containing the text is now lost.
By combining information from the two very different versions, we can piece together the basic story. The Finnsburh of the title is the stronghold of Finn, king of the Frisians in the early fifth century. Finn is married to Hildeburh, princess of the
827 words
Citation: Cavill, Paul. "The Fight at Finnsburh". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 October 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=10538, accessed 12 December 2024.]