Translated by Seamus Heaney Difficulty: 4
             The poem begins and ends in Geatland, Beowulf's home country. Beowulf and his troops travel across the sea from Geatland to Denmark to assist King Hrothgar in fighting Grendel. The three major battle scenes in Beowulf take place in Heorot Hall, where Grendal is defeated, a haunted mere in Denmark where Grendel's mother meets her end, and a dragon's lair back in Geatland. Beowulf never specifically mentions a time but it must have happened sometime in the medieval ages.
             Beowulf is like a Scandinavian superman but even this superman is not without problems. The son of Ecgtheow, Beowulf is stronger than any other man, but at the same time he is very much a mortal. When he fights the enemy he doesn't fear death because he believes it's dealt by God not the enemy and so instead prays to the lord for the upper hand in battle which I think leads him to doubt his own abilities or at least to give excess credit to God for his victories. Beowulf is also a very moral man and uses his powers for the good of the people, always treating them justly. When Unferth slanders Beowulf over a swimming contest he lost, Beowulf puts him in his place but doesn't go as far as to humiliate him beyond what was needed. In reading the poem it was hard for me to tell though whether Beowulf fought Grendel and his mother simply to help other people in need or if he did it for the fame and fortune he received upon defeating them. Whatever his motivation, Beowulf was a hero to the people of Geatland and Denmark.
             Grendel is a descendant of Cain and lives in the bottom of a mere. He is enormous and possesses as much strength as Beowulf. Grendel is never once made to seem like anything human or of even possessing some small human trait or hint of goodness for that matter. Technically, I shouldn't even address him as a he. His only motivation is to destroy good. ...