who was beowulf

By this time, a young thane and nephew of Hygelac, named Beowulf, had heard of the event in Heorot. Beowulf was the strongest and the bravest warrior in the world. Beowulf was determined to aid Hrothgar against Grendel: to win the glory of slaying the dreadful demon. Beowulf took fourteen of Hygelac's bravest thanes with him.
Beowulf was the son of Ecgtheow and Hygelac's unnamed sister. On his father's side, Beowulf belonged to the family known as the Wægmundings, including Wiglaf (whom you will meet in the next part of the tale).
Hygelac was the son of Hrethel, king of the Geats. Hygelac had also two older brothers, Herebeald and Hæthcyn. Hæthcyn had accidentally killed Herebeald in a hunting trip. Hæthcyn succeeded his father, but Ongentheow, king of the Swedes, had killed him in the Battle of Ravenswood. So Hygelac was the current king of Geatland, in southern Sweden.
Beowulf arrived at Heorot with his 14 companions. They met Wulfgar, Hrothgar's messenger and adviser. Beowulf entered the hall of Heorot, wearing his splendid corslet, made by the master smith, Weland (Wayland). Beowulf then introduced himself to the Danish king.
When Hrothgar heard that the young Geatish hero wished to aid him in slaying the monster Grendel, the king and his wife Wealhtheow warmly welcome Beowulf and his warriors as guests.
Here, Beowulf had told them that he had previously killed in five giants and a sea monster. Not every Danes received him warmly. Unferth thought the young hero was reckless braggart. Unferth had heard that Beowulf had lost a swimming race against Breca in the sea, while they wore full mail shirt armours and their swords.
Beowulf told Unferth, what really happened. Beowulf became separated from his swimming opponent, when he became involved in a life and death struggle against the sea monster. Beowulf despatched the monster with his sword.
Hrothgar became very fond of his young guest that he promised to reward Beowulf, if he managed to kill Grendel. Beowulf knew that the monster has carried no weapons, so Beowulf declared that he would confront the monster without the use of his sword.
After a supper and a long talk between Hrothgar and Beowulf, the king and his retainers left the hall and went to bed, leaving Beowulf and his followers to guard the hall.
Late at night, Grendel left his underwater lair, and stealthy entered the hall. All of his companions fell to sleep in the hall, while Beowulf waited in the dark. Grendel killed one of the sleeping Geatish warriors.
When Grendel went and attacked the next victim, Grendel was not only surprised to find him awake, but his prey had actually prevented him from crushing his victim. For once in his life, Grendel knew fear and pain. Pain, because Beowulf's grips on his monstrous hands were so strong, that he could not disengage from the hero. Grendel felt agony, as he felt Beowulf crushed his hands and fingers. Beowulf was relentless.
A deadly struggle ensued, as the monster tried to escape. Beowulf's companions watched in awe, before they joined in the fray, to protect their leader. They tried to hack at the monsters with their swords, to no avail. Grendel was invulnerable to all weapons of war.
Finally, Grendel felt excruciating pain, as Beowulf tore off one of his arms from his shoulder. His lifeblood sprouted from the large wound. Grendel immediately fled from Beowulf and Heorot, and returned to his watery home, to die in great agony, because his wound was mortal.
In Heorot, Hrothgar and his subjects were wakened from titanic struggle between the Geatish hero and the monster, found Beowulf holding Grendel's missing arm as prove of his victory. They all knew that Beowulf had dealt a death blow to the creature that had killed many of Hrothgar's warriors.
In the morning, the people of Heorot celebrated the death of Grendel. The Danes arranged a great funeral pyre to the Geatish warrior, who was murdered by Grendel, last night.
Hrothgar's bard recorded Beowulf's late night feat. The bard made comparison of Beowulf with the hero, Sigemund (Siegmund in German literature and Sigmund in the Norse).
The bard also told of the war between the Danes and the Frisians. Hildeburh, the sister of King Hnæf of the Danes, had married Finn, the king of Frisians. War had broken out between the two tribes at Finnsburh. Hildeburh's brother and son were killed in the fighting. Hengest became the new leader of the Danes. An uneasy truce was settled between the Danes and the Frisians. Hengest broke the peace, when the thane, Hunlafing incited the new king, to take vengeance upon the Finn and the Frisians. Finn, Hildeburh's husband, was killed and his hall was looted.
As Hrothgar had promised, he rewarded the young hero with splendid armour, helmet and a banner depicting a wild boar. Hrothgar also gave the hero the sword of belonging to his father, Healfdene.
Beowulf had also received precious cup, which was a family heirloom. By giving the ancestral sword to the hero, it indicated that Hrothgar would like to adopt Beowulf as a son and make him heir, instead of his own son, Hrethric.
Wealhtheow was aware of her husband's intention, anxiously asked Hrothgar to give whatever gifts he wish to Beowulf, but not to deprive one of her sons, the right to rule after him. Wealhtheow also bestowed some more gifts to Beowulf – a necklace and a corslet. The Danish queen also appealed to Beowulf to be kind to her sons.
The poem hint at that Hrothulf, Hrothgar's nephew, would one day betray Hrothgar.

Mother's Revenge

The Danish king and his thanes thought they could sleep peacefully in the mead-hall at night, but their peril was far from over. Grendel may have died in his lair, from his wound and loss of blood, but Grendel's mother mourned for the loss of her monstrous offspring.
Grendel's mother was even more hideous and evil than her son (Grendel) was. The night when the Danes celebrated victory, Grendel's mother decided to avenge her son's death upon the unsuspecting Danes.
When the Danes and his honour guests were asleep, Grendel's mother snatched one of Hrothgar's thanes, murdering him while he slept. The creature immediately returned to her home, taking the thane's carcass with her.
Beowulf was not sleeping in the hall that night. When they found that one of the thanes was missing, Hrothgar knew that Grendel's mother had killed Aeschere, a loyal adviser. Everyone was distressed that they faced a new crisis, but Beowulf promised to kill Grendel's mother.
They tracked the monster to the lake, where they found Aeschere's severed head, which distressed everyone. They found the lake filled with unnamed serpents in the water.
Beowulf armed himself with a mail corslet and borrowed the sword from Unferth; the sword was called Hrunting (Unferth was the one who taunted Beowulf the previous day).
Beowulf then dived into the water, seeking the lair of Grendel's mother. Grendel's mother sensing human intruder in the water, snatch Beowulf. Other creatures in the water, also attacked the hero, but his corslet protected him. At the bottom of lake, Grendel's mother brought the hero to a vaulted chamber – the lair of Grendel and his mother. He immediately swung his sword (Hrunting) right on the beast's head. Though the Hrunting was a powerful sword in the battlefield, it was useless against Grendel's mother.
Discarding the sword, Beowulf tried to fight the creature of the fens with his bare hands. Grappling with the monster by its shoulders, he flung Grendel's mother to the ground. The monster leaped back to her feet, and tried to dash the hero to the ground. The creature then drew her dagger, but his corslet saved his life.
Beowulf saw another sword in the hall. The mighty weapon was possibly forged by a giant. It was larger than any sword even seen, and it was too heavy for one person to life the massive sword, except Beowulf. The Geatish warrior seized the sword by the hilt, and delivered a powerful stroke that severed the monster's head. With the death of Grendel's mother, Beowulf had avenged Æschere, the Danish thane.
As the hero explored the subterranean cave, Beowulf found that the vaulted hall was filled with weapons and treasures. Beowulf was not interested in the treasures; he had sought Grendel, who had escaped from Heorot. Beowulf found that Grendel had bled to death, but he severed Grendel's head to take back with him, as proof of his victory. The giant's sword melted from the poisoned blood. Beowulf discarded the now useless sword, and retrieved Unferth's sword, Hrunting.
Hrothgar and his followers thought their brave champion must have died fighting Grendel's mother, so they sadly returned to Heorot, after waiting for hours for the hero's return. But the Geatish warriors stayed and waited for their leader's return.
Beowulf returned to the surface with Grendel's head. Beowulf's followers were relieved that their leader was still alive, and rejoiced that their hero had overcome Grendel's mother. His followers carried Grendel's head, as they returned to Heorot.
There was great rejoicing when Hrothgar and Danish thanes saw that their saviour had returned triumphantly with Grendel's head.
Once again, there was victory celebration, and Beowulf gave his account of what had happened. When the Danes went to bed, they knew that they no longer needed to fear any more creatures that would attack Heorot.
The next morning, Beowulf announced his need to return home. Hrothgar was sad that the young hero would leave so soon, since he loved his guest like a son of his own. Hrothgar gave some more gifts for the Geatish hero. Beowulf returned the Hrunting (sword) that he borrowed from Unferth. Beowulf returned to his ship and sailed back to Geatland, ladled full of Danish treasures and gifts.
In Geatland, Hygalec and his wife Hygd had joyfully welcomed the king's nephew's safe return from Denmark. Once again, Beowulf recounted his adventure in Heorot, his fight with Grendel, and later with Grendel's mother.
Beowulf also foretold doom in the Danish royal house. Freawaru, the daughter of Hrothgar, was due to marry Ingeld of the Heathobards, so to end the feud between the Scyldings and the Heathobards. But Ingeld would not forgive the Danes for taunting him over his father's death on his wedding day.
Beowulf would then display the gifts he had won, through friendship with Hrothgar, before the hero gave away most of his gifts.