Beowulf, translated by an anonymous translator, portrays a noble warrior who shows characteristics of bravery, courage, and loyalty as he risks his life for a group of Geats who have lost all hope. Hrothgar builds herot for his brave soldiers, and soon after Grendel attacks them and kills many of them. Not long after, Beowulf sails off with fourteen men to defeat the monster. Grendel kills one of Beowulf’s men, Hondshew. In response, Beowulf fights Grendel barehanded, and kills Grendel. One night, Grendel’s mother attacks back in response to the killing of her son. Beowulf and his mother battle each other, and Beowulf defeats her, leaving her dead and headless. Higlac, Beowulf’s lord, gives him the golden sword which was Beowulf’s fathers and grandfathers. Finally, there was one last major battle. The next battle was with a dragon that was accidentally awoken by a slave, who took all of his treasure and made him angry. The dragon furiously burns down the houses of the Geats, and they want Beowulf to go defeat this dragon. Beowulf did not bring any weapons to this battle, and he wanted to fight it alone. Once they arrive, all of Beowulf’s soldiers flee, except for Wiglaf. Fatally wounded in his neck, and severely burned, Beowulf died. Although everyone abandoned him, a tall tower was built in memorance of him, containing his ashes.
Each battle shows Beowulf’s strength in a different way. Beowulf is obviously challenged to these creatures because no one else is strong enough to defeat them. In the battle with Grendel, the Geats try to assist Beowulf, but there weapons are nothing compared to Grendel. Beowulf defeated Grendel by himself, without any sort of weapon. Beowulf managed to rip Grendel’s arm off of his shoulder socket, which shows how powerful Beowulf was. In his next battle, with Grendel’s mother, Beowulf used a sword “so massive that no ordinary man could lift its carved and decorated length.” Although no one could even lift the sword, Beowulf’s...