“Judith Beheading Holofernes” by Caravaggio, 1599. Wikimedia Commons. Introduction   The Old English poem Judith describes the beheading of Assyrian general Holofernes by Israelite Judith of Bethulia. It is found in the same manuscript as the heroic poem Beowulf, the Nowell Codex (London, British Library, Cotton MS Vitellius A. XV), dated ca. 975–1025. The Old English poem is one of many retellings of the … Continue reading Judith