Beowulf: Epic Battles with Grendel, His Mother, and Dragon
First Battle: Grendel
Beowulf begins with the story of King Hrothgar, who constructed the great hall Heorot for his people. In it, he, his wife Wealhtheow, and his warriors spend their time singing and celebrating until Grendel, a troll-like monster pained by the noise, attacks the hall, killing and devouring many of Hrothgar’s warriors while they sleep. Grendel does not touch the throne, for it is described as being protected by the power of God. Hrothgar and his people, helpless against Grendel’s attacks, abandon Heorot.
Beowulf, a young warrior from Geatland, hears of Hrothgar’s troubles and, with his king’s permission, leaves his homeland to help Hrothgar.
Beowulf and his men spend the night in Heorot. Beowulf bears no weapon because this would be an “unfair advantage” to the beast. After they fall asleep, Grendel enters the hall and attacks, devouring one of Beowulf’s men. Beowulf, feigning sleep, leaps up to clench Grendel’s hand. The two battle until it seems as though the hall might collapse. Beowulf’s retainers draw their swords and rush to his aid, but their blades cannot pierce Grendel’s skin. Finally, Beowulf tears Grendel’s arm from his body at the shoulder, and Grendel runs to his home in the marshes to die.
Second Battle: Grendel’s Mother
The next night, after celebrating Grendel’s defeat, Hrothgar and his men sleep in Heorot. Grendel’s mother, angered by the defeat of her son, appears and attacks the hall. She kills Hrothgar’s most trusted warrior, Aeschere, in revenge.
Hrothgar, Beowulf, and their men track Grendel’s mother to her lair under a lake. Beowulf prepares for battle; he is presented with a sword, Hrunting, by Unferth, a warrior who had doubted him and wishes to make amends. After stipulating a number of conditions to Hrothgar in case of his death (including the taking in of his kinsmen and the inheritance by Unferth of Beowulf’s estate), Beowulf dives into the lake. He is swiftly detected and attacked by Grendel’s mother. However, she is unable to harm Beowulf through his armor and drags him to the bottom of the lake. In a cavern containing Grendel’s body and the remains of men that the two have killed, Grendel’s mother and Beowulf engage in fierce combat.
At first, Grendel’s mother appears to prevail. Beowulf, finding that Hrunting cannot harm his foe, discards it in fury. Beowulf is again saved from his opponent’s attack by his armor. Beowulf grabs a magical sword from Grendel’s mother’s treasure and beheads her. Traveling further into the lair, Beowulf discovers Grendel’s body and severs its head. The blade of the magic sword melts like ice when it touches Grendel’s toxic blood until only the hilt remains. This hilt is the only treasure that Beowulf carries out of the cavern, which he presents to Hrothgar upon his return to Heorot. Beowulf then returns to the surface and to his men at the “ninth hour” (l. 1600, “nōn”, about 3 PM). He returns to Heorot, where Hrothgar gives Beowulf many gifts, possibly including the sword Naegling, his family’s heirloom. The hilt prompts a long reflection by the king, sometimes referred to as “Hrothgar’s Sermon,” in which he urges Beowulf to be wary of pride and to reward his thanes.
Third Battle: The Dragon
Beowulf returns home and eventually becomes king of his own people. One day, fifty years after Beowulf’s battle with Grendel’s mother, a slave steals a golden cup from the lair of an unnamed dragon at Earnaness. When the dragon sees that the cup has been stolen, it leaves its cave in a rage, burning everything in sight. Beowulf and his warriors come to fight the dragon, but Beowulf tells his men that he will fight the dragon alone and that they should wait on the barrow. Beowulf descends to do battle with the dragon but finds himself outmatched. His men, upon seeing this and fearing for their lives, creep back into the woods. One of his men, however, Wiglaf, who finds great distress in seeing Beowulf’s plight, comes to Beowulf’s aid. The two slay the dragon, but Beowulf is mortally wounded. After Beowulf’s death, he is ritually burned on a great pyre in Geatland while his people wail and mourn him. Afterward, a barrow is built on his remains, which can be seen from the sea. (Beowulf lines 2712–3182).