“BEOWOLF”

At a time when the Spear Danes were without a king,a ship

came sailing into the harbor.it was filled with teasures and
weapons of war;and in the midst of this warlike things was a
baby sleeping .The ship came of itself bringingthe child whose
name was Sclyd.
Sclyd grew and became a mighty warrior and led the Spear Danes
for many years and was their king. He had a son named
Beowolf’who became a great wariior and king. Our story begins
with Hrograth,who in his old age,built a splendid hall where his
thanes(noble followers)gathered nightly of feast and listen to the
songs of the gleemen(minstrel).This hall was called Heorot.
One night,as all were sleeping ,a frightfull monster,Grendel ,broke into
the hall,killing and carrying away with him thirty of the sleeping
warriors to devour them in his lair under the sea.Nightly the visit was
repeated and fear and death came over Heorot. The warriors tried to
fight the monster but no weapon could harm it. This situation continued
for twelve years.
At last,the rumor about Grendel reached a young hero named
Beowolf ,whose uncle, King Hygela, ruled over the
Geats.Beowolf was a man of immense strength and
courage.When he heard the story of Heorot, he decided to fight the
monster and free the Danes,who were his father’s friends. With
fourteen companions, he crossed the sea toliberate the Danes.
Beowolf was welcomed in heorot with feasting and story-telling.But
when night fell,the fear of Grendel fell upon the Danes and all left the
hall after King Hrograth had warned Beowolf about the frightful
danger of sleeping ion the hall. Beowolf expressed his intention of
remaining in the hall with his mens,proudly saying that since weapons
had no effect upon Grendel,he would fight the monster with his bare
hands .His men stayed with him to spend the night in the Heorot.
At midnight,Grendel came busting the door inwards,laughing at the
thought of the feast of men0-flesh before him.He seized one of Beowolf’s
warriors,crushed his head,tore him from limb to limb, and swallowed
him.Beowolf watched the monster approach the benche’s where he lay
and as Grendel drew near,he reachedout to grab the hero. Beowolf
grabbed the monster’s arm in a grip of steel. Terror stuck the monster
and he tried to flee from Beowolf’sv clutch.Tbles were over turned,
benches were tripped from the walls ;thev whole building rocked as the
two struggled.
Outside,the Danes stood shivering and quaking at the uproar.In the
monster’s attempt to get awayfrom Beowolf,the sinews if his arm
snapped;a wide wound opened in his side,and the whole arm was
wrenched off at the shoulder;Grendel escaped to the sea home to
die,shrieking and howling in pain.Beowolf hung the monster’s on a
beam on the roof. The Danes came and everyone rejoiced in Beowolf’s
victory.
 That night,a great feast was held to honor
Beowolf and the Danes once more slept in
Heorot.But the mother of Grendel,an
equally horrible monster,came and
again,like her son,carried off Hrograth’s
men.the old scenes of sorrow were renewed
in the morning,so Beowolf determined to
kill Grendel’s mother.
 He followed the tracks of the monster across
the fen to an island sea and doveinto the
dull,murky water’s.Grendel’s mother rushed
at him.crushing him down.She bit and clawed
at him, but his thick,strong armor saved
him.On a wall of the cane Beowolf caught
sight of a magic sword.Snatching it,Beowolf
swung it at the monster and killed her.He saw
her dead before him and as he cut off the
monster’s head, the magic sword melted in his
hands.
The poem ends in a last adventure.Beowolf,now an old
man,had reigned for fifty year’s,greatly beloved by his
people.One of his subjects had stumbled upon a great
treasure guarded by a dragon.The man had seen the
treasure and had taken a beautiful vase away with
him.That same night the dragon,belching with fire and
smoke,descended upon a village and killed all the
inhabitants.Again,Beowolf went forth ti champion his
people.Beowolf fought the fire-breathing dragon,and
although he slew the dragon, he swallowed some of the
fire.He met his death amidst the enormous treasureof
the dragon.He was buried in sorrow and received
signal honors from his men ….
THE END