THE STORY OF BEOWULF

A Summary

At a time when the Spear-Danes were without a king, a ship

came sailing into the harbor. It was filled with treasures and weapons of
war; and in the midst of these warlike things was a baby sleeping. The
ship came of itself bringing the child whose name Scyld.

Scyld grew and become mighty warrior and led the Spear-Danes
for many years as their king. He had a son named Beowulf, who become
a great warrior and king.

Our story begins with Hrothgar, King of the Danes, a descendant

of Scyld, in his old age, built a splendid hall where his thanes (noble
followers) gathered nightly to feast and listen to the songs of the gleemen
(minstrels) . This hall was called Heorot.

One night, as all were sleeping, a frightful monster, Grendel, broke

into the hall, killing and carrying away with him thirty of the sleeping
warriors to devour them in his liar in the sea. Nightly, the visit was
repeated and fear and death came over Heorot. The warriors tried to
fight the monster but no weapon could harm it. This situation continued
for twelve years.

At last the rumor about Grendel reached a young hero named

Beowulf, whose uncle, King Hyegelac, ruled over the Geats. Beowulf was
a man of immense strength and courage. When he heard the story o
Heorot, he decided to fight the monster and free the Danes, who were his
fathers friends. With fourteen companions he crossed the sea to liberate
the Danes.

Beowulf was welcomed in Heorot with feasting and storytelling.

But when night fell, the fear of Grendel fell upon Danes and all left the
hall after King Hrothgar had warned Beowulf about the frightful
danger of sleeping in the hall. Beowulf expressed his intention of
remaining in the hall with his men, proudly saying that since weapons
had no effect upon Grendel, he would fight the monster with his bare
hands. His mens stayed with him to spend the night in Heorot.

At midnight, Grendel came bursting the door inwards, laughing at

the thought of the feast of men-flesh before him. He seized one of
Beowulfs warriors, crushed his head, tore him from limb to limb, and
swallowed him. Beowulf watched the monster approach the bench where
he lay and as Grendel drew near, he reached out to grab the hero.
Beowulf grabbed and clutched the monster's arm in a grip o steel. Terror
struck the monster and he tried to flee from Beowulfs clutch. Tables
were overturned, benches were ripped from the walls; the whole building
rocked as the two struggled.

Outside, the Danes stood shivering and quacking at the uproar. In

the monsters attempt to get away from Beowulf, the sinews of his armed
snapped; a wide wound opened on his side, and the whole arm was
wrenched off at the shoulder. Grendel escaped to his sea home to die,
shrieking and howling in pain. Beowulfs hung the monsters arm on a
beam on the roof. The Danes came and everyone rejoiced in Beowulfs
victory.

That night a great feast was held to honor Beowulf and the Danes
once more slept in Heorot. But the mother of Grendel, an equally
horrible monster, came and again, like her son, carried off Hrothgar's
men. The old scenes of sorrow were renewed in the morning, so Beowulf
determined to kill Grendels mother.

He followed the tracks of the monster across the fen to an inland sea
and dove into the dull, murky waters. Grendel's mother rushed at him,
crushing him down. She bit and clawed at him, but his thick, strong
armor saved him. On a wall of the cave Beowulf caught sight of a magic
sword. Snatching it, Beowulf swung it at the monster and killed her. He
saw her dead before him and as he cut off the mothers head, the magic
sword melted in his ha.

The poems end with Beowulfs last adventure. Beowulf, now an old
man, had reigned for fifty years, greatly beloved by his people. One of his
subject had stumbled upon a great treasure guarded by a dragon. The
man had seen the treasures and had taken a beautiful vase away with
him. That same night the dragon, belching fire and smoke, descended
upon a village and killed all the inhabitants. Again, Beowulf went forth
to champion his people. In this fight with the dragon, Beowulf fought the
fire-breathing dragon, and although he slew the dragon, he swallowed
some of the fire. He met his death amidst the enormous treasures of the
dragon. He was buried in sorrow and received signal honors from his
men.

- A bridged
translation
From Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle