“Beowulf” in summary
In Denmark, once ruled the king of the glorious kind of Skilding named Hrodgar. He was particularly fortunate in wars with neighbors and, having accumulated great wealth, decided to perpetuate the memory of himself and his government. He decided to build a magnificent banquet hall for the royal squad. Hrodgar did not spare neither the strength nor the means to build, and the most skillful masters built a hall for him, which was not equal in the whole world. As soon as the decoration of the marvelous hall was completed, Hrodgar began to feast in it with his warriors, and the whole neighborhood was announced with a ring of expensive cups and songs of royal singers. But the merry festivities of the glorious Khrodgar did not last long, the foamy beer and golden honey for a short time poured down the river, the merry songs did not last long… The noise of King Hrodgar’s feast reached the den of the terrible huge monster Grendel, who lived nearby in fetid swamps. Grendel hated people,
The rumor about
Beowulf and his squad, forming spears in a corner, folding shields and swords, in one helmet and armor follow Wulfgar; only two warriors remain to guard the weapon. Beowulf greets Hrodgar with a bow and says that here, they say, I am the nephew of the King of the Hegelak Gates, having heard about the calamities that the Danes suffer from the terrible Grendel, he came to fight with the monster. But, deciding on this feat, Beowulf asks the king, that only he and his comrades are allowed to go to the monster; In the case of the death of Beowulf – that his armor was sent to King Higelak. Hrodgar thanks Beowulf for his willingness to help and tells him in detail how Grendel climbed into his room and how many heroes he ruined. Then the king invites Beowulf and his companions to a common feast and proposes to refresh themselves with honey.
Seeing how honorably Hrodgar accepts outsiders, many Danes begin to look at them with envy and displeasure. One of them, named Unfert, dares to even turn to Beowulf with bold speeches. He recalls the reckless competition between Beowulf and Breka, their attempt to overcome the waves of the terrible sea. Then Breck won the match, which is why it is terrible for the life of Beowulf, if he remains at night in the hall. Amazed by the wisdom of all those present, Beowulf responds to Unfert’s unreasonable words. He explains that the voyage was conceived only to protect the sea routes from monsters, and there was really no competition. In turn, wanting to experience the bravery of Unfert, Beowulf suggests that he himself stay for the night in the hall and keep the defenses from Grendel. Unfert pauses and does not dare to bully anymore,
The feast continued for a long time, but King Hrodgar reminded that the guests were going to have a night battle, and everyone stood up, bidding farewell to the brave souls. Parting, Hrodgar promised Beowulf that if he rescued the Danes from grave misfortune, he could demand everything he wanted, and any desire will be immediately fulfilled. When the people of Hrodgar left, Beowulf orders to lock the doors with strong bolts. Getting ready for bed, he takes off his armor and remains completely unarmed, because he knows that in the battle with Grendel no weapon will help and one should rely only on his own strength. Beowulf falls asleep. Exactly at midnight the monstrous Grendel creeps up to the hall, instantly knocks out heavy bolts and eagerly throws himself at the sleeping Gauts. Here he grabbed one of them, tore the body of the unfortunate man and swallowed the prey in huge chunks. Having dealt with the first, Grendel is ready to devour another warrior. But then a powerful hand grabs him by the paw, so much so that a crunch of bones is heard. Frantic with fear, Grendel wants to run, but there it was, the mighty Beowulf jumps from the bench and, without releasing the paw of the monster, rushes at him. A terrible battle begins. Everything around is cracking and crumbling, waking up warriors in horror. But Beowulf takes the upper hand, he grabs Grendel’s paw firmly, preventing him from wriggling out. Finally, the cartilage and veins in the shoulder of the monster do not stand and are torn, the monster’s paw remains in Beowulf’s hand, and Grendel escapes from the hall and runs, bleeding to death, to his bogs. A terrible battle begins. Everything around is cracking and crumbling, waking up warriors in horror. But Beowulf takes the upper hand, he grabs Grendel’s paw firmly, preventing him from wriggling out. Finally, the cartilage and veins in the shoulder of the monster do not stand and are torn, the monster’s paw remains in Beowulf’s hand, and Grendel escapes from the hall and runs, bleeding to death, to his bogs. A terrible battle begins. Everything around is cracking and crumbling, waking up warriors in horror. But Beowulf takes the upper hand, he grabs Grendel’s paw firmly, preventing him from wriggling out. Finally, the cartilage and veins in the shoulder of the monster do not stand and are torn, the paw of the monster remains in Beowulf’s hand, and Grendel escapes from the hall and runs, bleeding to death to his swamps.
In the morning, jubilation has no end. All the Danish warriors, led by the unfert, are silent respectfully, while Beowulf calmly talks about the night battle. All the tables are turned upside down, the walls are splashed with the blood of a monster, and on the floor lies his terrible paw. Grateful King Hrodgar, a connoisseur of ancient tales, adds a song to the memory of this battle. And the feast begins with a mountain. The king and the queen bring Beowulf rich gifts – gold, precious weapons and horses. Thrashing songs, beer and honey are pouring down the river. Finally, having celebrated the victory, everyone quietly settles for the night in the marvelous hall. And again trouble came. The monstrous mother of Grendel is at midnight revenge for her son. She bursts into the hall, all the sleepers jump from their seats, frightened even before they even get dressed. But Grendel’s mother is frightened by so many people, and grabbing only one warrior, rushes away. In the morning, there is no limit to grief-it turns out that the favorite counselor of Hrodgar Esquire perished. The king promises to reward Beowulf generously, tearfully pleading with him to chase the monster to the marshes, to which no one has dared to go before. And now the squad headed by Hrodgar and Beowulf goes to the dolorous swamp.
Having dismounted, they are selected to the edge of the swamp where the bloody trail is most clearly visible. Nearby, on the shore, lies the head of poor Eskera. The water is teeming with sea monsters, one of them overtakes the arrow of Beowulf. Turning to Hrodgar, Beowulf asks, if destined to die, to send all the gifts to King Higelak. Then, taking the ancient famous sword, the hero jumps into the pool and the waves hide it. The whole day down Beowulf, and sea monsters can not harm him, because it is impenetrable armor. At last the bogatyr reaches the bottom, and immediately Grendel’s mother attacks him. Beowulf beats her with a sword, but thick scales are not inferior to ordinary steel. The monster jumps on Beowulf, crushing it with all its weight, and it would be bad for the knight, do not remember it in time for a huge ancient sword, forged by giants. Cleverly emerging from under the monster, he grabs a sword and chops Grendel’s mother around the neck with all his strength. One stroke decided the matter, the monster falls dead at the feet of Beowulf. As a trophy, Beowulf takes the monster’s head with him, he wants to take the ancient sword, but only one hilt remains from the sword, for it melted, as soon as the battle ended.
Beowulf’s friends have already despaired of seeing him alive, but then he emerges from the bloody waves. The guests at the table of King Hrodgar sat unceremoniously and cheerfully that evening, feasted far after midnight and went to bed, nothing now without fear. The next day, the gouts began to gather home. Generously endowing everyone, King Hrodgar heartily said goodbye to them. Upon the return of Beowulf, honor and respect were waited everywhere, songs were written about his feat, cups rang in his honor. King Higelak bestowed upon him the best of his swords, lands and castle in a lifetime possession.
Many years have passed since that time. King Higelak with his son fell in battle, and on the throne had to sit Beowulf. He wisely and ruled his country, suddenly – a new disaster. In his possession a winged serpent settled, which at night killed people and burned houses. Once a man, pursued by enemies, buried a huge treasure. The dragon found a cave with treasures and protected them for three hundred years. One day an unfortunate exile accidentally wandered into the cave, but from all the treasures he took only a small cup to propitiate his inexorable lord. The serpent noticed the loss, but he did not find the kidnapper and began to take revenge on all people, devastating the possessions of Beowulf. Having heard about this, Beowulf decides to crack down on the dragon and protect his country. He is already middle-aged and feels that the end is near, but still goes to the snake, ordering him to forge a large shield to defend himself against the dragon flame. In the conductors was taken that same ill-fated wanderer.
Going to the cave, Beowulf and his team see a huge fire stream, which is impossible to cross. Then Beowulf starts loudly calling out the dragon, so that he gets out. Hearing human voices, the dragon crawls out, spewing streams of terrible heat. The sight of him is so terrible that the soldiers flee, leaving their master to the will of fate, and only the faithful Viglaf remains with the king, trying in vain to keep his panties. Viglaf draws a sword and joins Beowulf, beating with the dragon. The mighty hand of Beowulf, even in old age, is too heavy for a sword, from a blow to the head of a dragon, the sword of the sword goes to pieces. And while Beowulf tries to get a spare sword, the snake inflicts a mortal wound on him. Gathering strength, Beowulf again rushes to the dragon and with the help of Viglaff strikes him. With difficulty leaning against the rock, knowing that he is dying, Beowulf asks Wiglaff to take out the treasures taken from the snake, so that he can admire them before he dies. When Viglaf returns, Beowulf has already fallen into oblivion. With difficulty opening his eyes, he looks around the treasure.
The last command of Beowulf was this: that they buried it on the seashore and poured a large mound above it, visible from afar to seafarers. Beowulf bequeathed his armor to Viglaf and died. Viglaf summoned the warriors who were chilling, chastised them. By all rules, they laid the body of Beowulf on a funeral pyre, and then erected a majestic mound on the seashore. And the sailors, from afar, directing their ships to this hill, say to each other: “Above the surf is the grave of Beowulf.” Honor and glory to him! “
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