Finest heroic poem in Old English celebrates the exploits of Beowulf, a young nobleman of southern Sweden. Combines myth, Christian and pagan elements, and history into a powerful narrative. Genealogies.

A simplified and illustrated retelling of the exploits of the Anglo-Saxon warrior, Beowulf, and how he came to defeat the monster Grendel, Grendel's mother, and a dragon that threatened the kingdom.

He comes out of the darkness, moving in on his victims in deadly silence. When he leaves, a trail of blood is all that remains. He is a monster, Grendel, and all who know of him live in fear. Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, knows something must be done to stop Grendel. But who will guard the great hall he has built, where so many men have lost their lives to the monster while keeping watch? Only one man dares to stand up to Grendel's fury --Beowulf.

A New York Times Bestseller. Composed toward the end of the first millennium of our era, Beowulf is the elegiac narrative of the adventures of Beowulf, a Scandinavian hero who saves the Danes from the seemingly invincible monster Grendel and, later, from Grendel's mother. He then returns to his own country and dies in old age in a vivid fight against a dragon. The poem is about encountering the monstrous, defeating it, and then having to live on in the aftermath. In the contours of this story, at once remote and uncannily familiar at the beginning of the twenty-first century, Seamus Heaney finds a resonance that summons power to the poetry from deep beneath its surface.

The Anglo-Saxon poem recounting the story of Beowulf's battle with the monster, Grendel, is retold in the style of modern verse

Beowulf and Grendel A Short Story from the Epic English Poem Beowulf Beowulf is an Old English epic poem. It may be the oldest surviving long poem in Old English and is commonly cited as one of the most important works of Old English literature. A date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars; the only certain dating pertains to the manuscript, which was produced between 975 and 1025. The author was an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet, referred to by scholars as the "Beowulf poet". The poem is set in Scandinavia. Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall in Heorot has been under attack by a monster known as Grendel. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is then also defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland (Gotaland in modern Sweden) and later becomes king of the Geats. After a period of fifty years has passed, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is mortally wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants cremate his body and erect a tower on a headland in his memory.

The EASY READING edition of the epic 3,182 line poem especially retold for children and young adults by Strafford Riggs. If you ever just wanted to know the story of Beowulf without having to plough through the 3,182 lines of the epic poem, then this book is for you, because here it has been retold in the form of an easy reading novel aimed at children and young people. Set in the time when men were knighted for achieving great feats, and great the feats of Beowulf were. Dismissed by the King’s Earls as clumsy, lazy and a sluggard, he was also shunned by his peers for his strength and prowess with the sword and spear. On hearing of the monster Grendel, he announced his intention to sail for the Daneland to prove his worth and prove his accusers wrong. And this he did, killing not only the monster Grendel but also its evil monster-mother. On his return home he was proclaimed the greatest hero of the North by the very same who condemned him. In time he becomes king of Geatsland and an extended period of prosperity follows, ended only by a flame-breathing, steam belching dragon. Once again our hero sallies forth. Once again the dragon is defeated, but this time so is our hero. The Saga of Beowulf was written in Olde England, but set in Scandinavia. It has variously been dated to between the 8th and the early 11th centuries. In its original form it is an epic poem told in historical perspective; a story of epic events and of great people of a heroic past. 33% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to Charities. TAGS: Beowulf, Viking, norse, epic, saga, action, adventure, heroes, Scandinavia, daneland, northern kingdom, grendel. Monster, mother, geatsland, steam belching, dragon, fire breathing, flame breathing, acid belching,

A widely celebrated translator's vivid, accessible, and elegantly concise rendering of an ancient English masterpiece Beowulf tells the story of a Scandinavian hero who defeats three evil creatures--a huge, cannibalistic ogre named Grendel, Grendel's monstrous mother, and a dragon--and then dies, mortally wounded during his last encounter. If the definition of a superhero is "someone who uses his special powers to fight evil," then Beowulf is our first English superhero story, and arguably our best. It is also a deeply pious poem, so bold in its reverence for a virtuous pagan past that it teeters on the edge of heresy. From beginning to end, we feel we are in the hands of a master storyteller. Stephen Mitchell's marvelously clear and vivid rendering re-creates the robust masculine music of the original. It both hews closely to the meaning of the Old English and captures its wild energy and vitality, not just as a deep "work of literature" but also as a rousing entertainment that can still stir our feelings and rivet our attention today, after more than a thousand years. This new translation--spare, sinuous, vigorous in its narration, and translucent in its poetry--makes a masterpiece accessible to everyone.

New York Times bestselling author Maria Dahvana Headley presents a modern retelling of the literary classic Beowulf, set in American suburbia as two mothers—a housewife and a battle-hardened veteran—fight to protect those they love in The Mere Wife. This modern fantasy tale transports you from the ancient mead halls of the Geats to the picket-fenced, meticulously planned community of American suburbia, known as Herot Hall. In the expert hands of Maria Dahvana Headley, this vibrant retelling underscores the timeless struggle between the protected and the outsiders. Enter the confines of Herot Hall, a gated community sequestered from the wild surroundings by sophisticated security systems. Here, life is a series of cocktail hours and playdates for Willa, the charming wife of Herot's heir, and her son Dylan. Meanwhile, deep in a nearby mountain cave lives Dana, a hardened soldier and mother of Gren, a child of mysterious origin. Their worlds collide in a shocking turn of events when Gren breaks into Herot Hall and escapes with Dylan. A brilliant literary novel that effortlessly melds modern literature with ancient mythology, The Mere Wife is a captivating testament to unintended consequences, the brutality of PTSD, and the enduring power of motherhood.