Lines 1-85

The poem has three main climaxes, each of them a fight between Beowulf and a monster. However, it begins by introducing the Danes of Zealand, also called the Shieldings; several generations quickly pass, and Hrothgar is introduced. He has had much military success, and amassed enough wealth to build a large and impressive mead-hall, which was named Heorot (hart).
 

Lines 86-125

We learn that this hall, though beautiful, has sat empty and unused for 12 years because of repeated attacks by an evil creature, Grendel, who, attracted by the sounds of celebration from the hall, attacked the Hrothgar’s thanes out of spite and envy.  It is suggested that Grendel is a descendant of Cain and is doomed to repeat Cain’s primal sin: murder.
 

Lines 126-174

His attacks are especially frightening because he comes when the thanes are asleep and invades the hall that is supposed to be their place of comfort and security.  They are also especially terrible because they cannot be avenged by the payment of wergild to the victims’ families.  Grendel establishes a reign of terror so that for 12 winters Heorot lies unused and empty; society is paralysed.  Hrothgar seems unable to act; certainly he cannot fight against Grendel.
 

Lines 175-188

The Christian scribe who is recording this tale hints that one reason Hrothgar cannot escape the curse of Grendel is because he prays to pagan gods and not the Christian one.
 

Lines 189-388

A thane (Beowulf) of a nearby king, Hygelac, hears of this, and quickly crosses the sea with a company of men; fifteen in all they sail across to the lands of Hrothgar.  On landing, Beowulf must announce himself three times: to the watchman at the coast (260), to Wulfgar, Hrothgar’s herald (342), and finally, to Hrothgar himself, who knew Beowulf’s father and knew the boy Beowulf as well.  He has heard since then that Beowulf has “the strength of thirty” in his grip,  and hopes that Beowulf will deliver them from their curse.
 

Lines 389-610

They are formally welcomed and feasted by Hrothgar.  Several pages pass in welcoming speeches and a celebration, but one discordant note mars the mood: Beowulf is insulted by a warrior named Unferth, who implies that Beowulf is not as tough as he claims to be.  Unferth has heard that Beowulf lost a swimming race with another Geat named Breca.  Beowulf patiently explains that, although he may not have reached the opposite shore before Breca, he did survive an attack by sea-monsters and killed them all before coming ashore.  This event both foreshadows Beowulf’s later fight with Grendel’s mother, and also offers the important lesson: “Often, for undaunted courage,/fate spares the man it has already marked” (572-3).  Beowulf also mentions that Unferth killed his own brother, further discrediting his attacker, and also alluding to the Cain story again.
 

Lines 610-670

Wealhtheow, Hrothgar’s queen, makes an appearance to demonstrate the role of women in the system of comitatus — to embody the values of hospitality and respect for honor by serving her husband and guests gracefully.  Hrothgar, his queen, and his men then retire, leaving Beowulf and his thanes to sleep in Heorot.
 

Lines 671-702

Before he and his companions settle down in Heorot to see what will happen, Beowulf takes off his armor and lays aside his sword, proudly determined to fight with Grendel on equal terms. 
      

Lines 703-744

Grendel sneaks into the hall, where Beowulf watches over his sleeping men.  He sees Grendel enter, but waits to see what he will do.  Grendel, in hunger and spite, grabs one of Beowulf's men, dismembers him and eats him.
 

Lines 744-835

At that point, Beowulf seizes Grendel’s hand, and, simply by refusing to let go (his name does not mean Son-of-Bear for nothing), forces Grendel (after a titanic struggle) to wrench off his entire arm to escape.  The next morning they follow the blood as far as the Lake of the Water-monsters into which he has disappeared.
 

Lines 836-1007

The result is, naturally, great rejoicing.  The warriors pass the time waiting for Heorot to be prepared for a celebratory feast by racing horses and telling stories of similar tales of glory (printed in italics in your text).  Heorot, we learn, was badly damaged in Grendel’s struggle to escape; the Christian scribe takes this opportunity to remind us that death is inevitable for all, heroes and monsters alike.
 

Lines 1008-1158

The warriors enter Heorot triumphally and are given many gifts of gold.  Beowulf is given a legendary sword named Hrunting.  During this the scop sings, as we saw above; but the fragment of story that is quoted is hardly suitable for a banquet.  It evokes part of the popular tales about Finn the Frisian, and tells of how a quarrel at a banquet while Danes were visiting Finn led to great slaughter; this in turn led to further revenge killings: "Then the hall ran red/with the blood of enemies/Finn was cut down,/The queen brought away....".
 

Lines 1158-1278

After more fine speeches and another appearance by Wealhtheow, the benches are removed and the hall, now apparently safe, becomes a community bedroom. The next section of the poem is introduced as we meet Grendel’s mother, who mourns her lost son bitterly (somewhat like Hildeburh in the previous story) and is bent on revenge.
      

Lines 1279-1441

She enters Heorot, where the thanes, believing themselves safe at last, sleep off their celebration.  She grabs a Dane, and runs off with him and with the arm of Grendel that was hanging in the hall.  Beowulf is not sleeping in Heorot, so nobody can stop her.  The next morning, Hrothgar mourns the loss of his dearest retainer (Aeschere) and remembers (too late) that he had earlier heard there were two monsters, not just one.  Beowulf offers to destroy her, so they set off in quest of her lair, which is under a cold, black lake whose waters are “bloodshot” and “infested/With all kinds of reptiles.”

Lines 1441-1528

Beowulf, wearing his chainmail and holding his new sword, Hrunting, dives into the water to fight the water-spirit that Grendel's mother apparently is.  This combat is clearly fantastic, since it occurs inside a house deep beneath the lake, a familiar motif in folk-literature. For hours they fight, but she is invulnerable to ordinary swords – the noble Hrunting breaks like a toy against her hide.

Lines 1529-1590

Beowulf grapples with Grendel’s mother, and at last sees among the stolen treasure littering her den "an invincible  sword wrought by the giants."  With this he kills her.  In the house Beowulf finds Grendel's dead body; he cuts off the head.

Lines 1591-1798

Meanwhile his friends have given up all hope, and sit staring at the water while the Danes go back home. Suddenly Beowulf appears, with Grendel's head. There is more rejoicing in Heorot, and Hrothgar makes a long speech about an earlier warrior named Heremod, on the theme of glory, or fame, and the dangers of pride, creating a mood of elegy within the feast.

Lines 1799-1962

The night that follows is untroubled, and the Geats are able to return home after securing a promise from Hrothgar of alliance between his Danes and Beowulf’s people, the Geats.  They are welcomed by Hygelac and his good queen, Hygd, who is contrasted with a queen of legend, Thryth, who started out treacherous but later reformed (1931-1954).

Lines 1963-2183

At a homecoming feast, Beowulf reports to his king, Hygelac, on all that he has seen, including the doubtful friendship between Danes and Geats, and offers to his king the gifts he has received.  Beowulf’s story is punctuated with many digressions about legendary kings and warriors.  Beowulf is acclaimed the greatest warrior by his fellow thanes.

Lines 2183-2199

We are told briefly that Beowulf had once been despised by his countrymen, but we aren’t told why.  Hygelac gives Beowulf his battle-sword, which implies that Beowulf has become Hygelac’s champion.

Lines 2200-2246

After Hygelac’s death in battle (and his son’s), Beowulf is acclaimed King of the Geats.  The poem then leaps ahead and begins a new story when Beowulf has been king for fifty years. A new enemy is introduced quite casually: A dragon has begun to harass the Geats, apparently because a criminal on the run came in by chance and stole a golden cup. This caused the sleeping dragon to awake and begin to terrorize the neighborhood.

Lines 2246-2269

There is a digression: a lament by a lone survivor of the war-band that originally owned the treasure, who evokes his situation in a famous example of the Anglo-Saxon ubi sunt theme.  He mourns the lost joys of worldly pleasures such as drinking in the mead-hall with friends, hearing music, and riding horses, before he consigns the now-useless treasure (because there are no warriors left to enjoy it) to the ground. 

Lines 2270-2396

The treasure this man entrusted to the ground was found by the smooth hateful dragon who flies at night wrapped in flame and it is this dragon that is now terrorizing Beowulf's kingdom.  Beowulf (50 years older), hearing of the dragon’s wrath, of course decides to face it alone, and we are reminded of his many brave exploits first as Hygelac’s thane and then as king himself. 

Lines 2397-2509

Beowulf journeys to the dragon’s cave with 11 thanes.  Unfortunately, they must use the thane who started the dragon’s maraudings as their guide, making their number an unlucky 13 (although some readers believe the Christian scribe inserted this number to refer to the number of men at the Last Supper – Christ and his 12 apostles, the 13^th man being Judas).  Brought to the place, Beowulf feels a strong sense of foreboding.  He speaks a long review of his adventures before setting out alone to fight the dragon.

Lines 2510-2601

The scene is a typical heroic conflict. Beowulf, fully armed, stands alone before the gate to the tomb and shouts a challenge. The dragon comes coiling out and Beowulf strikes a blow, but his sword fails him; the dragon is only wounded. The fire of the dragon's breath overpowers Beowulf, while his thanes sneak away to the woods to save their own lives.  Only one, Wiglaf, a kinsman of Beowulf’s, comes out to help his king.

Lines 2602-2723

There is a description of the origin of Wiglaf’s weapons, and of his thoughts, before he reaches Beowulf's side. Again Beowulf strikes with his sword, and this time it breaks.  The dragon seizes Beowulf by the neck, but Wiglaf is able to drive his sword into it, and Beowulf has time to use his dagger to finish off the beast — but too late: the dragon’s venom is killing him.

Lines 2724-2844

Beowulf sends Wiglaf into the cave, to bring out the treasures so he can see them before he dies. This is done, and Beowulf thanks "the everlasting Lord of all,/The King of Glory" for allowing him to see the treasure before he dies.  He gives his golden collar, helmet and armor to Wiglaf, the last of the Waegmundings (Beowulf’s clan), giving directions for his memorial barrow (tomb).  He dies, and the poet gives a short elegy on the combined fates of the warrior and his foe.

Lines 2845-3136

Lines 3137-end

There the body is burned on a great pyre with the portion of the dragon’s treasure that Wiglaf was able to bring to Beowulf, the ashes are covered with a mound, and the final poetic memorial is given, which defines Beowulf as the ideal Anglo-Saxon warrior and king.

Grendel

Grendel’s Mom

Dragon

Symbolism of threat

Attacks ideal of comitatus

Attacks natural order of things

Attacks Beowulf’s nation

Beowulf’s Weapon

Bare hands

Mail shirt, 2 swords (Hrunting and the magic one underwater)

2 swords (Naegling and Wiglaf’s), full armor, shield and knife

Setting

Heorot

Underwater lair

Underground barrow

Difficulty

only has to hold on, receives no injury

Must swim one day, then wrestle; receives one blow, must strike her twice

Burned by fire, bitten by dragon; must use Wiglaf’s shield, also cannot strike killing blow until Wiglaf incapacitates dragon

Monster’s motivation

Envy

Revenge

Anger over stolen goods

Beowulf’s motivation

Fame

Fame/Revenge

To protect his people

Immediate Outcome

Grendel dies

She-monster dies

Dragon and Beowulf die

Significance

Hrothgar’s kingship is restored

Beowulf’s kingship is assured

Beowulf’s kingdom is destroyed