Although it is composed in Old English, Beowulf is nevertheless
about Danes and Geats, inhabitants of South Sweden as well as
modern Denmark. There are eerie parallels between this poem and
a late saga, that of Grettir the Strong, who operated in Iceland
and Norway. Both authors dealt with the same cultural problem:
ghosts and alien species hostile to humans. The two authors
presented them essentially in the same way, and they bear little
resemblance to ghosts as we understand them. While the lecture
will summarize all relevant information, those interested could
read Beowulf in the translation by Seamus Heaney, lines 99-1686.
Those with still more time might look at the following in the
Saga of Grettir: chapters 32-35 and 64-66. There are two
translations available, one from the University of Toronto Press
and the other from Penguin.