BEOWULF_SUMMARY

Beowulf is an epic poem written in Old English, and is one of the earliest tales of
Old English literature. The author is unknown, but was writing sometime between
the 8th and 10th century.
The poem starts out by acquainting us with the dire predicament in which
Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, finds himself. His great hall, Heorot, has been
terrorized by a monster named Grendel for a number of years. This creature makes
frequent night attacks on the Hall, killing many of Hrothgar's men and- eww-
eating them. Hrothgar was once a mighty warrior, but is elderly now, and seems
helpless to do anything to put a stop to Grendel's snacking habits.
Fortunately for him, help is on the way. A boatload of warriors arrives from
Geatland. They are led by Beowulf, a mighty warrior who has heard of the trouble
which Hrothgar is in and come to help. He does this because apparently Hrothgar
had aided his father years before, and also because- it seems- he enjoys pitting
himself against strong adversaries. Hrothgar greets Beowulf and his men happily,
and with some relief, though at least one of his own men- Unferth- seems skeptical
of Beowulf's abilities. But this is mostly chalked up to jealousy, because he himself
has been able to do nothing to stop the monster. Hrothgar holds a feast to honour
the arrival of the Geatmen, after which they all retire for the night to sleep- or,
perhaps more accurately, sleep it off.
Then, while everyone is sleeping, Grendel turns up and kills another warrior.
However, Beowulf leaps up from his bed and attacks the monster. They engage in
an epic battle of hand-to-hand combat until Beowulf eventually prevails, ripping
one of Grendel's arms off at the shoulder. Realizing that the battle is lost, Grendel
flees out into the wilderness where he dies from his injuries. Triumphant, Beowulf
hangs Grendel's gory arm from the rafters in the hall, which suggests to me that
he's a better warrior than interior decorator, but that's really beside the point.
Everyone is naturally ecstatic that the monster has been vanquished, and there is a
big feast, at which Hrothgar gratefully showers Beowulf with gifts.
All the celebrating turns out to be a bit premature, however, as Grendel's mother
shows up that night seeking revenge for her son's death. She attacks the Hall, but is
forced to flee when Beowulf and his warriors awaken and offer resistance. She
returns to her lair in a cave at the bottom of a lake. Beowulf, accompanied by his
warriors and some of Hrothgar's men, tracks the hag to the lake. Beowulf dives in
and swims down to the cave where he fights Grendel's mum. He grabs a sword
from her stash and kills her with it, even though her poisonous blood dissolves the
blade of the sword. Carrying the beast's severed head, Beowulf swims back up to
the surface. Hrothgar's men are surprised to see him, having supposed him dead,
but his own warriors who know him better, assumed he would return victorious.
Beowulf takes back the head to Heorot Hall to hang next to Grendel's arm...
Now that both Grendel and his mum have been killed, the celebrations are
reinstated, with more feasting and gift giving, especially from Hrothgar, who is
very much in Beowulf's debt for the service he has done for the Danes. He gives
Beowulf all sorts of riches, as well as a number of horses... I'm not sure how they
loaded all of that onto the boat, but apparently they managed. When the party
winds down, Beowulf and his men make their farewells and sail back to Geatland,
where Beowulf goes to the court of his king, Hygelac. He entertains the king with
tales of his adventures, and generously spreads around the wealth given to him by
Hrothgar.
Over time, King Hygelac and his relations are all killed in battle, and Beowulf
becomes King of the Geats. He reigns for fifty years, keeping his people safe from
invasions by the Swedes, etc. He is a brave and well-loved king- and generous,
sharing the accumulated spoils of war among his loyal warriors.
One day, a thief sneaks into the lair of a dragon and steals a goblet. The enraged
dragon storms forth, attacking the villagers, burning their homes, and generally
killing everyone he comes across. Of course, Beowulf isn't about to let this go on,
so he heads out to face the dragon, accompanied by eleven of his warriors and the
thief, who is to show them the way to the dragon's lair. At the sight of the
monstrous dragon, the warriors all run away in terror, leaving Beowulf to face him
alone. Only one of them, Wiglaf, conquers his fear and returns to help. He finds his
king engaged in a fierce battle with the creature, and leaps to his aid. Together,
they manage to vanquish the dragon; Beowulf finishes it off, but he himself is
fatally wounded. As Beowulf dies, he has Wiglaf pile up some of the dragon's
wealth so he can see it while he expires. Each to their own.
After he dies, the Geats mourn their king, building a great funeral pyre for him.
After this burns out, they build a huge barrow which can be seen from the sea to
honor him, filling it with treasure. And that is the end of Beowulf.