The events in the poem take place over most of the sixth century, and feature no English characters.

Some
suggest that Beowulf was first composed in the 7th century at Rendlesham in East Anglia, as the Sutton
Hoo ship-burial shows close connections with Scandinavia, and the East Anglian royal dynasty, the Wuffingas,
may have been descendants of the Geatish Wulfings.[7][8] Others have associated this poem with the court of
King Alfred the Great or with the court of King Cnut the Great.[9]