"So times were pleasant for the people there until finally, a fiend out of hell, began to work his evil in the world. Grendel was the name of this grim demon haunting the marches, marauding round the heath and the desolate fens; he had dwelt for a time in misery among the banished monsters, Cain's clan, whom the Creator had outlawed and condemned as outcasts. For the killing of Abel the Eternal Lord had exacted a price: Cain got no good from committing that murder because the Almighty made him anathema and out of the curse of his exile there sprang ogres and elves and evil phantoms and the giants too who strove with God time and again until He gave them their reward."
             This passage is giving the background on Grendel. There are several things that are significant in this passage. One it lays down the pretence of one of the themes, good versus evil. Another significance is it shows the author is biased. It shows this in the wording of the passage in how he describes Grendel. Objectivity is one of the things that must be satisfied to call a work an epic. Therefore, Beowulf does not meet all the criteria to bed considered a "perfect" epic.
             "What kind of men are you who arrive rigged out for combat in your coats of mail, sailing here over the sea-lanes in your steep-hulled boat? I have been stationed as lookout on this coast for a long time. My job is to watch the waves for raiders, any danger to the Danish shore. Never before has a force under arms disembarked so openly-not bothering to ask if the sentries allowed them safe passage or the clan had consented. Nor have I seen a mightier man-at-arms on this earth than the one standing here: unless I am mistaken, he is truly noble. This is no more hanger-on in a hero's armor. So now, before you fare inland as interlopers, I have to be informed about who you are and where you hail from. Outsiders from across the water, I say it again: ...