There was at this time a sense of kinship among the Germanic peoples; the Angles and Saxons (who became the English), the Danes, and the Swedes spoke closely related languages, had a shared awareness of racial history, and, before their conversions to Christianity, worshiped essentially the same gods. In the ninth and tenth centuries, however, England was repeatedly subject to violent incursions by Scandinavian raiders (the Vikings), which has led some scholars to argue against dating the poem from that era. Despite the uncertainty about when the poem was composed, and the anonymity of the author, one can speculate with some confidence about his religious and cultural background. Most scholars agree that the poet was Christian, possibly even a churchman, but nevertheless inclined to sympathize with the pagan, heroic past of his Germanic forefathers.
Settlement, feud, and transition: the Germanic peoples. Beowulf narrates datable historical events (such as the Geatish king Hygelac’s raid into Frisia) that place its action firmly in the early sixth century. This was an age of settlement, feud, and transition for the Germanic peoples. The Roman Empire had fallen to Germanic invaders in the relatively recent past (the traditional date is 476), but had been moribund for many years before its final dissolution.
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