I just finished reading the poem Beowulf and I can't help but to compare it to what I know about oral histories and story telling. Now, I know that Beowulf is "written" down, but it really is an oral story that has been captured in print.

It's quite easy to see some of the oral conventions playing out in the poem. However, the one that had got me thinking is the transition from "Beowulf at Heorot" to "Beowulf as King."

I've heard a few arguments that the poem is strangely structured, that there’s a piece missing from the middle, etc. However, I'm starting to think that the section with "Beowulf as King" may actually be a separate story from his battle with Grendel and Grendel's mother.

My reasoning that Beowulf may actually be two separate oral stories told in poetic form is that the "Beowulf as King" section begins with a great deal of summary about his time with Hrothgar and his life prior to the appearance of the dragon. I can easily imagine that there were multiple Beowulf stories that were told around the fire by storytellers. I think the monk who wrote Beowulf simply captured two such stories, not the complete repertoire of Beowulf's legend.

I am no Beowulf scholar, but still this idea is intriguing to me. Has anyone else heard any theories along these lines? Do you think Beowulf is truly a complete "whole" as it is written? Or do you think there's a chance that there were other stories of Beowulf's exploits that disappeared with time?