Beowulf

The land of the Scyldings is terrorised by a fierce monster. The Geats come to help.

Who is Beowulf? Learn what he does to help the Geats? Hear the fight in the celebration hall! Follow the monster to his cave. Discover the surprise inside. Notice how scared the other men are. Listen carefully to what happens next.

This is an adventure story. It has monsters and is a bit scary. We love Beowulf because he is a hero.

Download this Beowulf mp3 audio legend now!

Beowulf

A Tales of Time adaptation of the legend.

Our Story starts in Denmark, many, many years ago. The people living there were called Scyldings and the King of the Scyldings was Hrothgar.

King Hrothgar was a dedicated king and was very successful at war. He wanted to reward his people by building a giant hall for parties and celebrations. He called the hall Heorot, and it was the most amazing hall that the Scyldings had ever seen. And they enjoyed using it every week for gatherings.

One night, all the noise and singing coming from the hall woke up a fierce young monster that lived nearby at the bottom of a lake.

The Monster’s name was Grendel.

He was an enormous beast with scales like fish and a head like a lizard. His hands were huge and bore claws which could rip through metal! His strength had never been matched. He claimed the land as his won and despised having to share it with the Scyldings.

He was not pleased to be woken.

So he raced over to the hall, burst through the doors and in his temper, killed thirty men!

King Hrothgar and his people were horrified. But this was not enough for Grendel.  He attacked them night after night for months. The Scyldings were too afraid to use the hall, and besides, they had no more reason to celebrate.

Far away in Sweden lived the Geat people. The Prince of the Geats was Beowulf who was sad to hear of the plight of the poor Scyldings. Many years ago, they had looked  after his father when he was ill. So now that they needed help, Beowulf wanted to repay them.

So he gathered fourteen of his strongest, bravest men and travelled to Denmark in his large ship.

King Hrothgar was so pleased to see him and to have his help that he threw a big party to celebrate. He reopened the hall and filled it with food, drink and friends. And they danced and sang all night.

Beowulf however, was not dancing, he was waiting. He knew that the party would wake the monster and that there would be an attack tonight.

Sure enough, once it was dark, Grendel the monster came crashing through the doors of the hall, sending many of the dancers flying across the room. Beowulf stood up and walked directly towards the monster; who was throwing over tables over and smashing chairs into the walls. His giant arms were swinging about trying to catch at people. Beowulf hit him hard, and then they began to fight. Grendel had never met a man who equalled his strength and he laughed at this fool.

Beowulf was used to fighting monsters and had himself become really, really strong. But this monster was the strongest he had ever fought!

They crashed into walls as they fought with hands, teeth and claws.

Grendel grabbed Beowulf by his long hair and picked him right up in the air! Beowulf swivelled round and managed to twist his body round Grendel's arm. They both came crashing to the ground. The fight continued and was so fast, that nobody really saw what was happening. Until suddenly, a great scream rang through the whole of the Scylding kingdom.

Had Beowulf killed the beast or had the beast killed Beowulf?

Grendel jumped up and, still screaming, limped out of the hall, leaving drips of blood where he went. And crawled across the moor, thick with gathering mist.

A group gathered round a battered Beowulf, who rolled over and showed everyone just how well he had done.

A gasp echoed round the hall. Beowulf had managed to rip one of Grendel's arms right off! The beast was injured and would soon be dead.

 Victory!

Next day, King Hrothgar thanked Beowulf, and there was to be another wonderful party that night before they left.

Free at last from the horrid monster.

This time Beowulf did dance and he did sing and the Scyldings and the Geats had a wonderful time until…

An even bigger, even stronger monster burst through the doors of the hall! It was Grendel’s Mother; angry that her son had been killed.

She pushed people aside, smashed her fists through walls and took her son’s claw off the table; crying and screaming. She was about to run off, when she decided to take a hostage. No! It was King Hrothgar’s close friend and advisor, Aeschere. What should they do? They all round out after the monster, but couldn’t see anything as thick fog was swirling round the Hall and she had disappeared into it, with Aeschere.

Beowulf promised that, as soon as it was light, they would find Aeschere and kill the monster.

When day broke, Beowulf and his thanes wrapped up against the bitter cold of morning and left in the direction of the monster lair.

They took the treacherous pass through the mountains. How does the monster make this journey alone? They headed towards the mist covered lake, where they knew Grendel and his mother must live.

Suddenly a scream rang out and echoed round the mountains. One of Beowulf's men was pointing towards a strange shape on the top of the last hill. It was Aeschere’s head stuck on a pole! The monster had slaughtered him!

This enraged the men. They all drew their swords in anger, yelling for the monster to show itself.

Beowulf stayed calm. He knew the attack was merely revenge. He had killed her son. What would any mother do? Grief-stricken without her son and only companion, he knew she was inviting her own death.

At the side of the lake, the men stopped. All the men except Beowulf. He took off his fur coat and waded into the freezing water. In spite of their anger, the other men could not follow him in fear of Grendel’s mother.

So, alone, Beowulf disappeared into the fog.

His muscles felt like ice as he swam deeper and deeper in the murk of the lake. He found an underwater cave. He swam in and discovered that part of the it was above water. "This must her hiding place", he thought. He caught his breath and walked on.

Then something caught his eye. Through some roughly placed rocks something flashed!

Treasure. So much gold, silver and so many jewels.

He pushed the rocks away with little effort and walked into the chamber.

In front of the treasure was the dead body of Grendel. His mother had placed his severed arm across his chest. Beowulf was not pleased to see his enemy dead, but he knew he had no choice. This was a monster. A monster that attacked his people and his friends.

As he approached, he could hear faint singing. Singing and crying! He froze.

The singing stopped.

All of a sudden, Grendel's mother burst out from behind the treasure, full of rage and grief.

Beowulf grabbed his sword. He swiped at her, even hit her! But it didn’t make a scratch! She lashed out, ripping through Beowulf's top and drawing four lines of blood across his chest. He dropped his sword.

She was so strong. So angry.

Beowulf doubted his own strength. He stepped backwards, reaching out for anything he could find, without taking his eyes off the monster.

She advanced; a maddened look in her eyes.  Beowulf reached the back of the cave, he was trapped! Just as she released a blood-curdling cry and raised her arms ready for her attack. Beowulf’s hand clasped something cold and hard, another sword! It was pure gold and had magical symbols all over it.

He swung it round with all his might....

Meanwhile, Beowulf’s men were slowly leaving the lake.

"He’s not coming back", they thought "how could anyone be underwater that long? Beowulf must be dead".

Just as the last man turned his back, he heard a gasping in the mist. He swung round, sword in hand.

A blurry shadow was walking towards him. As it approached, he realised who it was. Beowulf had made it! He was injured and bleeding, but alive!

"It's over" he said, before collapsing into the arms of his friend.

Upon their return to the hall, there were great cheers and tears of joy from everyone.  The plight of the Scylding kingdom was over. Beowulf had saved them from the monsters and they said their goodbyes.

King Hrothgar hugged Beowulf like he was his own son. The ship was laden with gold and silver from the treasure found in the lake and was ready to go.

The Scyldings sat on the shore, waving and watching, until the last mast was visible over the horizon.

The mist was lifting and the sky looked like it was clearing over the kingdom at last.

Beowulf stood at the stern, letting the wind blow through his hair. He was never proud of any victory, as it always meant death for somebody. He was preparing himself. For upon his return, he was to become King of the Geats.

The End.

©Tales of Time 2008