ROMANTICS

BEOWULF
Full Poem Summary
• King Hrothgar of Denmark, a descendant of the great king Shield

Sheafson, enjoys a prosperous and successful reign. He builds a
great mead-hall, called Heorot, where his warriors can gather to
drink, receive gifts from their lord, and listen to stories sung by the
scops, or bards. But the jubilant noise from Heorot angers Grendel, a
horrible demon who lives in the swamplands of Hrothgar’s kingdom.
Grendel terrorizes the Danes every night, killing them and defeating
their efforts to fight back. The Danes suffer many years of fear,
danger, and death at the hands of Grendel. Eventually, however, a
young Geatish warrior named Beowulf hears of Hrothgar’s plight.
Inspired by the challenge, Beowulf sails to Denmark with a small
company of men, determined to defeat Grendel..
Full Poem Summary
• Hrothgar, who had once done a great favor for Beowulf’s father
Ecgtheow, accepts Beowulf’s offer to fight Grendel and holds a
feast in the hero’s honor. During the feast, an envious Dane
named Unferth taunts Beowulf and accuses him of being unworthy
of his reputation. Beowulf responds with a boastful description of
some of his past accomplishments. His confidence cheers the
Danish warriors, and the feast lasts merrily into the night. At last,
however, Grendel arrives. Beowulf fights him unarmed, proving
himself stronger than the demon, who is terrified. As Grendel
struggles to escape, Beowulf tears the monster’s arm off. Mortally
wounded, Grendel slinks back into the swamp to die. The severed
arm is hung high in the mead-hall as a trophy of victory.
Full Poem Summary
• Overjoyed, Hrothgar showers Beowulf with gifts and treasure at a feast in his honor. Songs are sung in
praise of Beowulf, and the celebration lasts late into the night. But another threat is approaching.
Grendel’s mother, a swamp-hag who lives in a desolate lake, comes to Heorot seeking revenge for her
son’s death. She murders Aeschere, one of Hrothgar’s most trusted advisers, before slinking away. To
avenge Aeschere’s death, the company travels to the murky swamp, where Beowulf dives into the
water and fights Grendel’s mother in her underwater lair. He kills her with a sword forged for a giant,
then, finding Grendel’s corpse, decapitates it and brings the head as a prize to Hrothgar. The Danish
countryside is now purged of its treacherous monsters.
Full Poem Summary
• The Danes are again overjoyed, and Beowulf’s fame spreads across the kingdom. Beowulf departs
after a sorrowful goodbye to Hrothgar, who has treated him like a son. He returns to Geatland, where
he and his men are reunited with their king and queen, Hygelac and Hygd, to whom Beowulf recounts
his adventures in Denmark. Beowulf then hands over most of his treasure to Hygelac, who, in turn,
rewards him.
Full Poem Summary
• In time, Hygelac is killed in a war against the Shyflings, and, after Hygelac’s
son dies, Beowulf ascends to the throne of the Geats. He rules wisely for fifty
years, bringing prosperity to Geatland. When Beowulf is an old man, however,
a thief disturbs a barrow, or mound, where a great dragon lies guarding a horde
of treasure. Enraged, the dragon emerges from the barrow and begins
unleashing fiery destruction upon the Geats. Sensing his own death
approaching, Beowulf goes to fight the dragon.
• With the aid of Wiglaf, he succeeds in killing the beast, but at a heavy cost. The
dragon bites Beowulf in the neck, and its fiery venom kills him moments after
their encounter. The Geats fear that their enemies will attack them now that
Beowulf is dead. According to Beowulf’s wishes, they burn their departed king’s
body on a huge funeral pyre and then bury him with a massive treasure in a
barrow overlooking the sea.
Full Poem Analysis
• The central conflict of Beowulf arises as Beowulf, who embodies the ancient Northern European
warrior code, comes up against the limitations of that code. He encounters these limitations during a
series of combats. The first is with Grendel, a creature who “nurse[s] a hard grievance” (l.87) against
the successful warrior-king Hrothgar and his men. The nature of Grendel’s grievance is never fully
explained, but because Grendel is first encountered “haunting the marches” (l.103—a “march” is a
border), many readers have seen Grendel as the embodiment of the people exiled and displaced by
Hrothgar’s military conquests, conquests which are celebrated under the warrior code. Grendel is not
killed outright, but forced to flee to his “desolate lair” (l.820). Although Beowulf defeats Grendel, the
poem switches to the defeated monster’s point of view to show us that Beowulf’s heroism has only
caused further pain and suffering.
Full Poem Analysis
• Beowulf’s second combat is with Grendel’s mother. The story of Hildeburh (ll.1070-1158) shows us
how Grendel’s mother embodies a limitation of the warrior code. Hildeburh is a princess who loses all
her male relatives because her husband’s family is feuding with her brother’s family. However, as a
woman, she cannot participate in the feud herself. All she can do is grieve. Grendel’s mother is a
female “avenger” (l.1258), and many readers have seen her as the embodiment of all the women left
powerless and grieving by the blood-vengeance required under the warrior code. After Grendel’s
mother attacks, Beowulf forcefully restates this aspect of the code: “It is always better / to avenge
dear ones than to indulge in mourning” (ll.1384-5). Beowulf’s thirst for vengeance against Grendel’s
mother, who is herself avenging a killing perpetrated by Beowulf, underlines that the heroic code
entails an unending cycle of bloodshed.
Full Poem Analysis
• Finally, Beowulf must face his ultimate fate, the dragon. The dragon represents
at least two major limitations of the heroic code. First, the question of whether
Beowulf should fight the dragon catches him between two conflicting rules: the
rule that requires a warrior to show unyielding courage and seek fame, and the
rule that requires a king to remain alive so he can protect his people. After
Beowulf’s death, Wiglaf says that he chose wrongly: “when one man follows his
own will / many are hurt” (ll.3077-8). A more significant limitation arises from the
fact that even an exemplary warrior, like Beowulf, must eventually meet a foe he
cannot overcome (even if it’s just old age, as in Hrothgar’s case). Beowulf’s
death is the perfect warrior’s death: before he succumbs, he manages to slay a
mighty opponent and secure a huge hoard of treasure for his people.
Nevertheless his death is a disaster. At his funeral, his people foresee “enemies
on the rampage, bodies in piles, / slavery and abasement” (ll. 3154-5). We are
left with a sense that even if there is much to admire about the warrior code,
ultimately it is tragically misguided.

ROMANTICS

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BEOWULF

Full Poem Summary

• King Hrothgar of Denmark, a descendant of the great king Shield

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