Finished: Beowulf (translated by Hieatt) I decided to go ahead and read Beowulf, the narrative story, not the poem. I glanced at the poem in both Old English and translated to modern English and I'm not ready to tackle that yet, lol. Anyway, it was interesting to read the narrative first to get a handle on the characters and the action. In the book I just read, The Mere Wife, that is based on Beowulf, the boy, Gren, is no monster at all, and far more sympathetic than Beowulf's evil monster, the Grendel, who was supposedly an ancestor of Cain's, who had been banished to hell along with all his descendants for killing his brother. And, in The Mere Wife, it never even dawned on me that Ben Wolfe was supposed to be Beowulf, duh. I guess because I assumed Beowulf was a hero with a true heart. Ben Wolfe was a hero after his own purposes. He'd actually been cowardly and shied away from the battle when he fought in the military, hiding in alleyways, and now he was basically just going after the "monsters" to elevate himself in the eyes of Willa and the town. Beowulf in Beowulf is much more courageous and pure of heart. He apparently fights with God on his side. Beowulf does go to the rescue of the Danes who are being mercilessly attacked by Grendel. He takes Grendel down with his bare hands, and then has to deal with Grendel's monster mother who rises from the murky, fiery mere to avenge her son. Beowful also disposes of the mother. It's not until fifty years later, after he has fought many valiant battles and patiently waited to be king of the Geats rather than taking a thrown from his kinsmen, that he is felled by the fiery dragon that plagues the countryside. Once again, though, he goes in valiantly to brave the dragon, and with the help of only one of his men who doesn't run away, he manages to slay the dragon before perishing of his burns. So, now that I know the story and characters, I may tackle the translated poem at some point. :-)