Part One: History of the Spear-Danes

Shield Sheafson --> Beow --> Halfdane --> Hrothgar

Hrothgar builds Heorot, a glorious mead hall.

A demon/giant named Grendel is revolted by the revelry going on inside Heorot and decides to decimate it. For twelve years, he continuously destroys and devours and of the warriors standing guard. Nothing can stop him.

Beowulf decides to travel over the sea (swan's road) to help purge Heorot of Grendel.

Graciously welcomed by Hrothgar, challenged by Unferth, and then roasts Unferth in return. If the graphic novel follows the story, Unferth comes back actually evil.

After all the customary feasting, Beowulf and his men are left alone in Heorot. As expected Grendel comes for another attack. Dun, dun, DUUUN!

Beowulf, being the typical larger-than-life hero that he is, grabs Grendel's arm and up and rips it off. So commonplace... I mean, hooray, Grendel's gonna die from bleeding to death! But really...

Beowulf is treated to a magnificent feast in his honor, complete with Anglo-Saxon story-telling. He is also awarded remarkable gifts: a gold pole with an embroidered banner, mail,a finely wrought helmet and sword, and 8 horses. Beowulf, being proud, isn't embarrassed at all.

Part 3: Beowulf's Fight with Grendel's Mother

"But now his mother had sallied forth on a savage journey, grief-racked and ravenous, desperate for revenge" (lines 1276-1278).
Using the word "sallied" really interested me here! Somehow, it puts me in mind of a motherly hen going out to protect her brood. At first glance, this doesn't seem to fit, but when you think about it, it kind of does!

After her attack, Grendel's mother doesn't stick around to wait for Beowulf. Instead, Beowulf has to go track her down.

Grendel's mom's lair looks so... fun... Bubbling, gory water and sea monsters... Yeah, I'll pass!

UMM, EXCUSE ME, BEOWULF IS SWIMMING TO THE BOTTOM OF THE LAKE!!!! AND THE TEXT SAYS IT TOOK HIM MOST OF THE DAY!!!!!!! So, what happened to all the gore, and the monsters, and the trivial fact that humans, cough, cough, SNEEZE, can't breathe under water?!??

Unferth's blade can't pierce Grendel's mother's skin! This seems a bit too far-fetched, but maybe Unferth was trying to get revenge on Beowulf!

Instead, Beowulf uses a huge blade that he finds in the lair. This blade is able to kill Grendel's mother. Beowulf also uses it to cut off Grendel's head, and the blade then melts. Beowulf brings back Grendel's head to Heorot, where it is described as "a horror for both queen and company to behold" (line 1649). Mentioning the queen so specifically like this is interesting because it helps cement the Anglo-Saxon image of women being, well, dainty little creatures, I guess :D

Quite a moral King Hrothgar is teaching! Be satisfied with what you have!

A firm alliance is built between King Hrothgar and the Geats, and Beowulf prepares to journey home. But then the journey is so. so. so. short. I guess the author is rushing now to get to the next important part.

Okay... King Beowulf is old now! Funny how fast time can pass when you're busy :)

A slave inadvertently angers the dragon, who then ferociously retaliates. Naturally, Beowulf insists upon taking on the dragon. However, it is interesting how the slave is described as feeling: "But he soon began / to shake with terror; . . . . . . in shock / the wretch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . / . . . . . . . . . . . . . panicked and ran / away with the precious . . . . . . . . . . / metalwork" (lines 3226-3231). Why all the dots? Is it to describe fear? Or did Heaney exclude a little part of the original text?

Ok, well, Beowulf knows he's about to die.

Beowulf is deserted by his crew, and his sword can't kill the dragon. He is wreathed in flames, bleeding all over the place, and Wiglaf (!!) is the only one to stand by him. Wiglaf weakens the dragon, but Beowulf is still the one to officially finish it off.

However, Beowulf, as he predicted, is near death. He requests Wiglaf to show him some of the treasure, crowns him the next king, and then dies.

There are many, many predictions of impending trials for the Geat people now that Beowulf is not there to protect them.

Beowulf's funeral is a typical Anglo-Saxon burial (actually, though, Shield Sheafson, in the beginning, was sent out in a boat... I thought that was more of a Viking tradition? Hmmm...). He is placed on a pyre, covered with much armor, and burned. It's cool how Beowulf's body is described as a "bone-house" (line 3147) during this scene.

Whatever is left from the fire is then placed in a burial mound. What's interesting is that God is not mentioned at all during this burial scene! After being such a recurring theme, God is not mentioned when Beowulf literally dies! You'd think they'd be praying for Beowulf to go be with God!

Watching In Search of Beowulf was very relaxing! I just wish we knew who the bard or scribe actually was... It was like a cliffhanger at the end of an unsolved mystery...

And the article about Headley was... interesting... I happen to appreciate rich and sophisticated language over modern slang... I had to look up 'thirsty' in slang because I was really confused about why being dehydrated had any significance. I see now... Anyway, I doubt I will ever read Headley's version because it will not really enrich me. Anyway, not personally being feminist, I don't really need to read a feminist VERSION of Beowulf (notice that it is a version/interpretation, NOT NOT NOT a translation).

And, lastly, I really liked Benjamin Bagby's performance!! His facial expressions, mixture of singing and just talking, musical accompaniment, fluctuating voices, and gestures made it really interesting! I watched it with the captions, so I could really follow along. And I noticed I said really a lot... :)