The Scop to Beowulf and Widsith. The scop in the Anglo-Saxon era had a very defined role. A comparison between the scop of Beowulf and the scop of Widsith will define for us more clearly what this role was. Widsith's 142 verses are the oldest in the English language and constitute the first verse production of any Germanic people. Widsith contains a huge catalog of 70 tribes and 69 important people, many of whom lived in the third, fourth and fifth centuries. The vast knowledge of history that was required of a good scop simply amazes the reader. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature (v1, ch3, s6, n30) states that so many princes and peoples are mentioned during the poem that its importance to the history of the migratory period can hardly be overestimated . This Old English poem was transcribed by a monk around the year 1000. Widsith tells the story of the scop Widsith, who accompanies Ealhhild, a Lombard princess, on her journey east from Angel to the court of Eormanric the Goth. Ealhhild, the sister of Aelfwine, king of the Lombards, is to marry Eormanric. In this poem, the geography and chronology are neither precise nor accurate. “Early on, the Germanic kings began to have professional poets, with duties not entirely different from those of the poet laureate or poet laureate of later times” (Malone 75). This expresses Widsith's life quite well, except that he was not in a court, but was traveling from Egypt, India and Israel to Britain and Northern Europe, ranging from court to court. Its original court, if you can call it that, was that of King Eadgils. But Widsith traveled to all the "pagan" and non-pagan countries...... middle of paper......it was the theme of sacrifice. . . .” (Malone 77). It is clear from our brief comparison between the scop of Beowulf and the scop of Widsith that the scop in Anglo-Saxon times had a very defined role: he was singer, storyteller, public relations man, recipient of gifts, traveler. , linguist, historian and public servant.BIBLIOGRAPHYChickering, Howell D.. Beowulf A bilingual edition. New York: Anchor Books, 1977. Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: Sons of GP Putnam, 1907-1921; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000 Malone, Kemp. “The Old English Scop and Widsith.” In Beowulf: The Donaldson Translation, edited by Joseph F. Tuso. New York, WWNorton and Co.: 1975. Early English Poems, translated by Michael Alexander. New York: books about penguins, 1991.