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Beowulf Summary: Three Fights, Counted Line by Line
Beowulf summary in J. Lesslie Hall's verse translation: Grendel, his mother and the dragon counted in lines, the gifts ledger and the funeral. Full spoilers.
Anglo-Saxon epic poem (verse translation)
Beowulf
by Anonymous (translated by J. Lesslie Hall)
A warrior kills Grendel and Grendel's mother in Denmark, then rules at home for fifty years and dies killing a dragon, in J. Lesslie Hall's verse translation.
★★★★☆ 4 / 5
A hero's whole life in three fights, but the fights are only about 12 percent of the lines: the rest is feasts, gifts, feuds, speeches and a funeral. Hall's old-fashioned verse takes patience, and the notes are skippable. Four out of five (draft).
Beowulf: summary
Every guide comes as a video and a full written article. Pick the one you need: the review is spoiler-free, the ending explained is not.
What is Beowulf about?
Beowulf is an epic poem about a warrior of the Geats who kills the monster Grendel, Grendel’s mother and, as an old king, a dragon. We read J. Lesslie Hall’s verse translation, whose title page dates it 1892 and which is free as Project Gutenberg ebook #16328. Hall’s text has 43 numbered sections and, by our count, 3,112 lines.
Below you’ll find a full summary with the three fights counted in lines, a ledger of the gifts the poem keeps track of, and the funeral that ends it. Spoilers throughout.
Read it if
- You want the original of every monster-slayer story, free to read
- You like epic poems with big set pieces: the fight in the pool and the dragon
- You are curious about kingship, gift-giving and loyalty, not only fights
Skip it if
- You want a fast modern pace: speeches and old feuds fill many sections
- Archaic words and alliterative verse put you off
- You want prose: this translation is verse
Beowulf review scorecard
Action
4
Pace
3
Characters
3.5
Readability
3
Atmosphere
4.5
Average3.6 / 5
Beowulf: questions people ask
Is Beowulf worth reading?
A hero's whole life in three fights, but the fights are only about 12 percent of the lines: the rest is feasts, gifts, feuds, speeches and a funeral. Hall's old-fashioned verse takes patience, and the notes are skippable. Four out of five (draft). Read it if: you want the original of every monster-slayer story, free to read; you like epic poems with big set pieces: the fight in the pool and the dragon; you are curious about kingship, gift-giving and loyalty, not only fights. Skip it if: you want a fast modern pace: speeches and old feuds fill many sections; archaic words and alliterative verse put you off; you want prose: this translation is verse.
Is there a summary of Beowulf?
Beowulf summary in J. Lesslie Hall's verse translation: Grendel, his mother and the dragon counted in lines, the gifts ledger and the funeral. Full spoilers. Summary: Beowulf →
What is Beowulf about?
Beowulf, a warrior of the Geats, sails to Denmark and kills the monster Grendel in King Hrothgar's hall, Heorot. He then kills Grendel's mother in her home under a haunted pool. Fifty years later, as king of the Geats, he kills a dragon and dies of the wound.
How many sections does Beowulf have in Hall's translation?
Forty-three, numbered with Roman numerals. By our count, the poem itself is 3,112 lines of Hall's verse, about 26,000 words, out of a Gutenberg text of about 39,000 words, license excluded, that also holds his introduction, notes and glossary.
How much of Beowulf is the three fights?
By our count, the Grendel fight is 109 lines, the fight with Grendel's mother is 97 lines and the dragon fight is 161 lines. That is 367 of 3,112 lines, about 12 percent. We drew those borders ourselves, from the monster's arrival to its death.
Which translation does this summary use?
J. Lesslie Hall's verse translation, whose title page names him as professor of English and history at the College of William and Mary and dates the book 1892. It is free as Project Gutenberg ebook 16328. Hall's lines are his own, so line numbers differ in other translations.
How does Beowulf die?
He kills the dragon with the help of Wiglaf, the one companion who stays, but the dragon's bite poisons him. In section 38 he asks for a mound on Whale's-Ness, gives Wiglaf his ring, helmet, collar and mail, and dies.
What weapons fail in Beowulf?
Hrunting, lent by Unferth, will not bite Grendel's mother in section 23. The giant sword that kills her melts in section 24, leaving only the hilt. Naegling, Beowulf's old sword, shatters on the dragon in section 36.
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