Lineages
Every great book stands on older ones. Homer gave Virgil his wanderings and his war; Virgil walked Dante through Hell. Start from a classic and follow its line, one work at a time, across the map.
Its heirs
J. R. R. Tolkien, AD 1937
Smaug owes much to Beowulf's dragon: a hoard guarded for centuries, a cup stolen from it by an intruder, and a fury that sets the country on fire. Tolkien had taught the poem for years when he wrote The Hobbit.
Source: Wikipedia, The Hobbit
“Tolkien borrowed several elements from Beowulf, including a monstrous, intelligent dragon.” Read it there
J. R. R. Tolkien, AD 1954
Tolkien was a scholar of Beowulf long before he was a novelist, and his 1936 lecture on it changed how the poem is read. Its mead-halls, barrows and dragon-guarded hoards run through Middle-earth; Meduseld, the golden hall of Rohan, is built on Heorot.
Source: Wikidata
Wikidata records The Lord of the Rings as inspired by Beowulf. Read it there