BOOK

REPORT

SUBMITTED BY: ANTHONY BORRETA

SUBMITTED TO: MRS: CHARITO HACUTINA
 BEOWULF

Story Summary:

In 1936, J.R.R. Tolkien found “Beowulf”. This was before he wrote his famous Hobbit stories.
He was an Oxford Scholar when he wrote “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics”. His
manuscript brought the epic poem out of the dust and made it a work of art. Before that, it
survived a fire and over a thousand years of neglect.“Beowulf” is 3182 lines, each line with four
accents, divided into two parts. Set in about 500 A. D. Some of the characters are based on
members of Danish and Swedish royalty. Beowulf enters into the story after the action has
started.

King Hrothgar of Denmark has a very prosperous kingdom. To show his appreciation to his
warriors and the people of his realm, he built a mead-hall for revelry. He called it Heorot. The
revelry and praises to God made Grendel angry. Grendel is a God-cursed creature that lives in
the swamp. He is huge with skin impervious to arrows and swords. One night, in a rage, he
attacks Heorot, catches the men asleep and kills 30 of them. After that he terrorizes Hrothgar’s
kingdom, killing someone every night. Before long, he has taken possession of Heorot, but can’t
touch the throne because he is God-cursed.

Across the inlet from the North Sea, Beowulf hears of Grendel and the problems Hrothgar is
having. Beowulf has the strength of 30 men, young and looking for adventure. He and 13 of his
men sail over to help the Danes. Beowulf battles Grendel, pulls off his arm, Grendel runs away
to the swamp to die.

At first, it looks like Heorot is safe, once more. But, the next night Grendel’s mother comes
looking for revenge. She grabs Aeschere, a top adviser to Hrothgar. Beowulf hunts her down and
swims to the bottom of a fiery lake to kill her. After she is dead, he goes back to Heorot, now
they are finally safe. When Beowulf goes back home to Geatland, he meets with his uncle, King
Hygelac to tell of his adventure.

The poem reopens 50 years later. Beowulf is now the king of Geatland and his kingdom is being
threatened by a dragon. During the 50 years, King Hygelac was killed in the war with the
Shylfings, and his young son became king. Everyone thought Beowulf would become king, but
he didn’t want to hurt the succession, so he became the young king’s adviser until the king was
betrayed by a Swede. Beowulf stepped in as king and took his revenge out on the Swede who
killed the young king.
Although the kingdom doesn’t want Beowulf to risk his life in going after the dragon, he does it
anyway. During the fight, Beowulf is bitten. He manages to kill the dragon, but the poison from
the bite kills Beowulf. Now the Geats know their time is limited as a kingdom because they don’t
have the powerful Beowulf leading them anymore. The future without Beowulf looks bleak.

The Old English epic poem Beowulf tells the story of a young Geatish warrior who comes to the
aid of Hrothgar, the King of the Danes, whose kingdom is being terrorized by a monster named
Grendel. Beowulf uses his epic strength and bravery to slay Grendel in Hrothgar’s mead hall,
Heorot, and then to slay Grendel’s vengeful mother in her underwater lair. Beowulf’s fame
spreads, and he returns home to Geatland laden with treasure for his king, Hygelac. Beowulf
later becomes the king of the Geats and rules for a peaceful fifty years. When a dragon begins to
pose a threat to Geatland, Beowulf and his servant Wiglaf set off to defeat it. Beowulf succeeds
in slaying the dragon, but dies in the process. Beowulf is a young warrior in Geatland, who
comes to the aid of the Scyldings. Hrothgar is the Danish king and he and his people have been
terrorized by a monster. Beowulf brings 14 of his finest men with him. He is returning the favor,
Hrothgar sheltered Beowulf's father during a deadly feud. He also wants enhance his reputation
and gather treasure for his king, Hygelac.

The monster, Grendel comes and attacks them, but Beowulf cuts off his claw and the monster is
mortally wounded. The mother of Grendel, not as strong as her son, but deeply motivated, plans
revenge. She sneaks in and gets her son's claw. Beowulf and the men follow the trail of the
mother and are lead to a dark swamp. Beowulf dives in to find the mother. He tries to fight her
with his sword, but to no avail. He suddenly sees a magical sword and slices through the neck
and spine of the monster, killing her. When the monster dies, he sees a great treasure, but he
leaves it there, only bringing the head of the monster back with him. He returns home and ends
up becoming king and rules for 50 years. He has one last battle. This one is with the fiery dragon.
He kills the dragon, but is mortally wounded in the battle and dies.

Beowulf is the longest surviving Anglo-Saxon poems today. It is a literary masterpiece. To know
that a work of literature has lasted for this many years is remarkable. This poem is considered
one of the most important works of literature today. It is truly one of the most amazing pieces of
literature we have in our use today.

MAIN EVENTS:
 Grendel Attacks Herot

On a cold night in Denmark, there stood an evil monster within the walls of Herot. This horrific beast,
Grendel, attacked an estimate of thirty townsfolk, because he lived in jealousy of the human race. On this
dreadful night the mysterious monster raised raged in the walls of Herot devouring all who dared abide
there, until the hall stood empty to all besides Grendel.

Beowulf vs Grendel

As Grendel had entered the hall, for his annual killing, he came not to kill any
ordinary person he came to attempt the murder of Beowulf. When Grendel entered
four of Beowulf's fellow warriors died trying to kill Grendel, but Grendel took the
opportunity to show off his skills by absolutely slaughtered them. When Grendel was
done the battle began. Beowulf charged at the evil monster with fury. The epic hero
grabbed the beast by his hand and struggled twisting his arm completely around. Then
Beowulf repeatedly in order to tear his arm off. Once his arm came off Grendel ran
away in pain to his lair. After he left Beowulf tied the arm to the top of the door way.

Beowulf vs Grendel's Mom

Once Beowulf, Hrothgar, and the warriors from Beowulf's crew arrived at the body
of, which Grendel's lair was, they found that an enormous serpent guarded the waters.
In order to pass Beowulf grasped his bow and an arrow from his quiver he shot he
beast straight through its head. After the beast was put down Beowulf dove into the
water with hrunting in his hand and swam down to the lair. Once Grendel's mother
could make out Beowulf's image in the water she swam out to strangle him down to
the lair. Then the battle began when the hero breathed air he was ready to fight. He
swung Hrunting at her head only making a dent in the sword. They wrestled until
Beowulf got a chance to grab an abnormally sized sword from the cavern wall. Once
he gasped the sword its size sliced her head like butter on hot toast.

Beowulf vs Mythical Dragon

A thief from a near by village wonders into a dragon's lair taking a golden cup that
was in the center of the elliptical shape the dragon made with his body. This disturbed
the beast from its sleep and charged at the thief who possessed the treasure. Once the
dragon awakened the man his natural instinct was to take off in any direction getting
away from the monster. The mythical then tracked the tracks of the thief's footprints
leading to Geatland, the land that Beowulf lead. The dragon raged until it realized
that there was no signs of the thief. The next day Beowulf equipped a 6 foot
iron shield that was specially forged by in order to block the fire and heat from the
creature. He brought with him twelve of his best soldiersand the thief to backtrack his
footsteps. Once they arrived Beowulf started to walk towards the in-caved lair the
dragon brought on the fight. Beowulf blocked its fire with his shield then he acted
back swinging his sword at the beasts head continuously until the hero wore out of
energy.Then the dragon fiercely charged at Beowulf uncertainly that he would blow
back with a killing swing. Then of course the epic hero pulled off another win,
until Beowulf stumbled and fell against the wall of the cave. Beowulf's last words
were that his fellow warrior, Wiglaf, to rule Geatland. Then Beowulf died.

Story Conclusion:

That seeking glory and attempting to immortalize yourself in history is ultimately pointless as
your efforts will do little to aid those who are left when you are gone.
At the end of the story, Beowulf slays the dragon and dies a hero, however he was not a good
king. His arrogance made him refuse to take a bride and any proper heirs, he left his kingdom
nearly bankrupt and barren. He had his people built a gigantic tomb for him. Thinking his
kingdoms enemies would be to afraid to launch an attack even after his death as well as having
himself married with all the dragon's gold.
While Beowulf is the main character he is not the one people should aspire to be; rather it is
King Hrothgar, the man who swallowed his pride for the good of the realm and his people that is
the true model of story.