Sutton Hoo
Understandings of the Sutton Hoo ship-burial and "Beowulf" have been intertwined ever since the 1939 discovery of the former. "By the late 1950s, "Beowulf" and Sutton Hoo were so inseparable that, in study after study, the appearance of one inevitably and automatically evoked the other. If "Beowulf" came on stage first, Sutton Hoo was swiftly brought in to illustrate how closely seventh-century reality resembled what the poet depicted; if Sutton Hoo performed first, "Beowulf" followed close behind to give voice to the former's dumb evidence." Although "each monument sheds light on the other," the connection between the two "has almost certainly been made too specific." Yet "[h]elmets are described in greater detail than any other item of war-equipment in the poem," and some specific connections can be drawn. The boar imagery, crest and visor all find parallels in "Beowulf", as does the helmet's gleaming white and jewelled appearance. Though the Sutton Hoo helmet cannot be said to fully mirror any one helmet in "Beowulf", the many isolated similarities help ensure that "despite the limited archaeological evidence no feature of the poetic descriptions is inexplicable and without archaeological parallel."