Hálfdanar saga Brönufóstra to his father's kingdom and defeats and kills Soti and his Vikings. Although numerous sagas contain analogs to the iconic cave battle with Grendel and his mother in "Beowulf," none is closer to the Old English epic than is Hálfdan’s cave battle with Járnnefr and his wife. The saga is found in three, 15th-century vellum manuscripts, but its post-medieval popularity is evidenced by its preservation in over four dozen paper manuscripts. In the 18th century it served as the source for the first known saga forgery. "Hálfdanar saga Brönufóstra" has a sequel in "Sörla saga sterka", where it becomes clear
Old English and saints' lives, biblical translations, and translated Latin works of the early Church Fathers, legal documents, such as laws and wills, and practical works on grammar, medicine, and geography. Still, poetry is considered the heart of Old English literature. Nearly all Anglo-Saxon authors are anonymous, with a few exceptions, such as Bede and Cædmon. Cædmon, the earliest English poet we know by name, served as a lay brother in the monastery at Whitby. The first example is taken from the opening lines of the folk-epic "Beowulf", a poem of some 3,000 lines and the single greatest work of Old English.