The link provided by Iains above contains ideas that one could pick away at. For example, it discusses medieval performances, yet Beowulf is believed by many to be older than medieval originally. There are many academic controversies, some of them echoing the sorts of discussion that are had about the origins of folk song. I am not aware of any evidence that it was sung. I was ht about it on a history of English Lit course, where it was given as an example of 'alliterative' verse, with other features being marked out as typical of material produced at the time eg the use of litotes and kennings and the caesura.


My view is that not all narratives count as 'ballads'. The ballad song generally has a specific form, verse lengh, rhyme patterns.

I don't think one could mount a convincing argument that Beowulf is an example of a ballad.