Beowulf is regarded as the first European vernacular epic and heroic poem.

As you will recall from your "Lit" classes, it deals in part with a Scandanavian hero who rather unexpectedly arrives to rid the kingdom of King Hygelac of a previously immutable problem, a monster. Beowulf is durable enough to stay around for fifty years and slay a dragon with his sword Nagling.

Any similarities betweem Beowulf and this PC Cluster technology, in terms of its being the first of its line and in terms of its representing a new and rather unexpected solution to old problems, may have weighed upon the namers of the project.

Preserved in a single manuscript (Cotton Vitellius A XV) from c. 1000, the Beowulf saga deals with events of the early 6th century and is believed to have been composed between 700 and 750. It did not appear in print until 1815. Although originally untitled, it was later named after the Scandinavian hero Beowulf, whose exploits and character provide its connecting theme. There is no evidence of a historical Beowulf, but some characters, sites, and events in the poem can be historically verified.