Beowulf

The story of Beowulf (Part of episode 4, there are 12 episodes)

Background - Beowulf is a dragon slayer. He lived around 500 AD, and his name is found in genealogies of that time, so he is likely a real person. He has killed either 7 or 9 sea monsters according to who does the translation. The Danes build a big beautiful castle but they cannot use it because it is frequently visited by a monster called Grendel. Grendel kills as many as 30 people at a time. He sometimes even stays there during the day.

http://www.lone-star.net/literature/beowulf/beowulf3.htm

Came then from the moor

under the misty hills

Grendel stalking under

the weight of God's anger.

That wicked ravager

planned to ensnare

many of the race of men

in the high hall.

He strode under the clouds,

seeking eagerly, till he came to

the wine-hall, the treasure-hall

of men decorated in gold.

Nor was it the first time he

had sought Hrothgar's home.

But never in his life before

--or since--

did he find worse luck!

Came then to the building

that creature bereft of joys.

When he touched it with his hands

the door gave way at once

though its bands were forged

in fire. Intending evil,

enraged, he swung the door wide,

stood at the building's mouth.

Quickly the foe moved

across the well-made floor,

in an angry mood--a horrible light,

like fire, in his eyes.

He saw the many warriors in the building,

that band of kinsmen asleep

together, and his spirit laughed:

that monster expected

to rip life from the body of each

one before morning came.

He expected a plentiful meal.

(It was his fate

that he eat no more

of the race of men

after that night. . .)

The mighty one, Beowulf, watched,

waiting to see how that wicked one

would go about starting.

Nor did the wretch delay,

but set about seizing

a sleeping warrior unawares

and bit into his bone locks,

drinking the streams of blood,

then swallowing huge morsels

of flesh. Quickly he ate that man,

even to his hands and feet.

Forward Grendel came,

stepping nearer. Then

he reached for Beowulf.

Beowulf grasped his arm

and sat up. The criminal

knew he had not met

in this middle-earth

another with such a grip.

Grendel's spirit was afraid

and his heart eager

to get away, to flee

to his hiding place, flee

to the devils he kept

for company. Never had he met

a man such as this.

Beowulf then kept in mind

the speeches he had made

in the evening and stood

upright, firmly grasping

Grendel's hand until

the fingers broke.

The monster strove to escape.

Beowulf stepped closer. That

famous monster suddenly wanted

to disappear into the fens.

He realized the power of those hands,

the wrathful grip he was in.

Grendel felt sorry

he had made a trip to Herot.

That hall of warriors dinned.

All the Danes of the city,

all the brave ones, feared disaster.

The building resounded.

It is a wonder the wine-hall

withstood the battle,

that the beautiful building

did not fall to the ground.

But it was made fast,

within and without,

with iron bands

forged with great skill.

I have heard say

many a mead bench

adorned in gold

went flying when

those hostiles fought.

No wise man had ever thought

that splendid building could

be damaged (unless a fire

should swallow it).

The din rose louder, the Danes stood

in dreadful terror--everyone

heard lamentation, a terrifying

song, through the wall:

Grendel, Hell's friend,

God's enemy, sang in defeat,

bewailing his wound.

That man, mightiest

of warriors alive, held fast.

He would not

for any reason

allow his murderous visitor

to escape alive,

to keep the days of his life.

Beowulf's warriors brandished

many a sword, inheritances

from the ancient days,

trying to protect their chief,

but that did no good: they

could not have known, those

brave warriors as they fought,

striking from all sides, seeking

to take Grendel's soul, that

no battle sword could harm him--

he had enchantment against

the edges of weapons.

The end of Grendel's life was

miserable, and he would travel

far into the hands of fiends.

Grendel, the foe of God, who had

long troubled the spirits of men

with his crimes, found that

his body could not stand against

the hand grip of that warrior.

Each was hateful to the other

alive. The horrible monster endured

a wound: the bone-locks

of his shoulder gave way,

and his sinews sprang out.

The glory of battle went to

Beowulf, and Grendel,

mortally wounded,

sought his sad home

under the fen slope.

He knew surely that

his life had reached its end,

the number of his days gone.

The hope of the Danes

had come to pass--He

who came from far had

cleansed Hrothgar's hall

and saved it from affliction.

They rejoiced it that

night's work. Beowulf had

fulfilled his promise

to the Danes and all

the distress they had endured,

all the trouble and sorrow,

had reached an end.

The fact was plain when

Beowulf laid that arm

and shoulder down, there

altogether, Grendel's claw,

under the vaulted roof.

When I first read this I thought it was nonsense. You cannot kill a monster just by breaking its arm. However further research has revealed that was in fact a known method of killing these monsters. The first trick was to get under the monster. Once you are under its head it cannot bite you. Then the joints on the arms are very weak and flimsy. If you break the arm you can also break a major blood vessel and the creature will bleed to death.

In the end Beowulf is killed by a fire breathing dragon. It was so scary that all of his men ran away in fear of it. However when Beowulf fails to cut through the monsters neck it kills him. One of his men then gets up the courage to fight the dragon and kills it but it is too late for Beowulf.