Beowulf (name)

Henry Sweet, a philologist and early linguist specializing in Germanic languages, proposed that the name Bēowulf literally means in Old English "bee-wolf" or "bee-hunter" and that it is a kenning for "bear". This etymology is mirrored in recorded instances of similar names. Biuuuwulf is recorded as a name in the AD 1031 Liber Vitae. The name is attested to a monk from Durham and literally means bee wolf in Northumbrian. The 11th century English Domesday Book contains a recorded instance of the name Beulf. A scholar named Sarrazin also suggested that the name Beowulf was derived from a mistranslation of Böðvarr where -varr was interpreted as vargr meaning "wolf". However, this etymology was questioned by Sophus Bugge, who instead suggested that the character Böðvarr Bjarki was derived from Beowulf.