The story begins in Hrothgar's kingdom, where Herot hall is continuously attacked by a monster, night after night, for twelve years straight. The religious songs of the kingdom sang anger this monster, known by the name of Grendel. During the day Grendel hides in the darkness where he cant be found, and comes out at night when people are most weak. He snatches groups of men, tearing them limb from limb.
The Coming of Beowulf
Beowulf hears about the horrific monster that has been terrorizing the Danes for years. He along with fourteen of the best warriors sail across the sea to Herot hall, where Hrothgar is in dire need of help. When their boat got to shore they were questioned as to why they were there by Hrothgar's lieutenant. As soon as the lieutenant heard their reasonings, he led them to the hall where they were called to see the King. King Hrothgar tells Beowulf more about Grendel and his horrors and grants Beowulf permission to end Grendel.
The Battle With Grendel
Not knowing Beowulf was waiting for him there, Grendel makes his way to Herot. The monster snapped open the doors of Herot and finds his first sleeping Geat, whom he tears apart in seconds. Grendel then stepped over to Beowulf, who pretended to be asleep. As Grendel was about to eat him, Beowulf quickly grabbed his arm with all his strength, it was the tightest grip Grendel had ever felt. The monsters first instinct was to run home, but that was not an option. Grendel cried in terror and Beowulfs men had prepared to kill the beast with their swords, but did not know that swords were not enough to kill Grendel. Grendel's strength had slowly decreased, leaving him powerless. Beowulf tore off the monsters arm and shoulder right out of the socket, leaving him mortally wounded. Grendel flees home to die and Beowulf hangs the arm from the rafters of Herot hall as a sign of his victory.
The Monsters Lair
Hrothgar informs Beowulf of the horror Grendel's mother brought to them the night before. She had killed one of his closest friends and takes back her sons arm. Hrothgar requested that Beowulf go to her cave and kill Grendel's mother as well, so that is what he does. Beowulf travels to the lake in which she lives, underwater in a cave.
The Battle With Grendel's Mother
Beowulf speaks as though Grendel's mother would defeat him, and those would be his last words. He then dives into the lake before anyone could answer to his words, ready for another fight. Hours passed before he finally hit the bottom of the lake, where he found Grendel's mother. She grasped him tightly but did not harm him because of his protective armor. Beowulf then realized that she had brought him into someones battle-hall. Beowulf attempts to stab the beast with a sword from Unferth that was said to have never failed, but instead the sword snapped in half, doing no damage. After some time of fighting with no weapons, he grabs a massive sword off the wall and slices her head off. Beowulf finds Grendel lying dead in the corner and decides to chop off his head for final revenge. The men waiting on land for Beowulf had thought he was dead and they lost all hope. The Danes had left, but the Geats waited for their lord to rise. Beowulf swims to the waters surface with Grendel's head and the hilt of the sword. He and the Geats made their way back to Herot, where Beowulf was then honored by Hrothgar. Beowulf returns home and becomes King of the Danes for fifty years.
The Last Battle
Beowulf finds out that a dragon is terrorizing his land, so he brings a few men with him to the dragons castle, but plans to kill the fire-breathing beast on his own. Beowulf tells how the dragons guarded treasure will soon be his, and everything in the tower will be his. He walked confidently towards the tower with his sword and his shield and roared out a battle cry. The dragon woke and moved in closer. The beast shot flames from its mouth at Beowulf, who was protected by his shield for a short amount of time before it began to melt. The narrator says that Beowulf fought with fate was against him for the first time ever. Beowulf struck at the dragon with his sword but it all it did was scratch the skin, leaving the dragon even more furious. The beast spread murderous flames everywhere, and all of the men ran in fear except one by the name of Wiglaf. Wiglaf scolds his fellow warriors of how they abandoned their leader the one time he needed them. Wiglaf then dives into the scorching flames to help his king. Together Beowulf and Wiglaf kill the dragon, but Beowulf is mortally wounded. Beowulf, on his deathbed, asks that Wiglaf bring him the dragons treasure.
The Spoils
Wiglaf went into the tower and gathered whatever gold treasure he could hold. He anxiously returned to his king hoping he would still be alive by the time he got there. Wiglaf sprinkled water over Beowulf's face until his lord could speak. Beowulf then told him to take care of his people and to lead them and tells Wiglaf what he wants them to do with his body. The king gave his golden necklace, his gold-covered helmet, his rings, and his mail shirt to Wiglaf, requesting he use them well. The Geats respectfully burn their king's body on a funeral pyre and mourn his death.
The Farewell
The Geats worked for ten days to make Beowulf the tower he wanted and deserved. They perfected the tower so that everyone could find it and it could be seen anywhere, so he would never be forgotten. The treasures collected from the dragons tower were to be taken to Beowulf's barrow, for he had earned them. Twelve of the bravest Geatish warriors rode their horses around the tower to boast of their dead king. His followers, devastated by their kings death, cry about how he was the best there was, and there was no other man that ever lived that could compare to King Beowulf.