Introduction to Beowulf

• Beowulf begins with a quick backstory of Shield Sheafson, his rise to power, and his funeral, and goes through the lineage leading to Hrothgar, who is the current king and the builder of the great mead-hall Heorot. 
• A powerful demon named Grendel is introduced. Because of the noise in the mead-hall, Grendel was annoyed by it and goes to investigate. He finds people sleeping and begins creating havoc and killing people. He goes on to do this until the mead-hall Heorot is deserted. The king Hrothgar feels defeated and upset because he is powerless to stop Grendel and has lost his mead-hall to the demon. 
• Beowulf hears about the demon Grendel and decides to help Hrothgar. So he and his men sail across the sea in order to meet with Hrothgar. Once they arrive they are greeted and questioned by the people there before they get a chance to meet with Hrothgar. Once Beowulf and his men get a chance to talk to Hrothgar, Beowulf tells him how he wishes to help him defeat Grendel. Hrothgar agrees to let Beowulf help him defeat Grendel. 
• Beowulf and his men stay in the mead-hall Heorot and have a feast. Beowulf gets antagonized by Unferth. Beowulf tells him about the time he swam in armor and fought countless sea creatures while competing with Breca in a swimming match. Once the story telling and feasting was over, Hrothgar entrusted the mead-hall to Beowulf and set off. 
• Beowulf insisted on fighting Grendel unarmed, since it would be the fair thing to do against the unarmed Grendel. Later in the night Grendel burst into the mead-hall and killed one of the guards and ate him up. As he was about to attack Beowulf as he lay in bed, Beowulf suddenly got him in a armlock. Grendel tried desperately to escape, and as he tried to get free from Beowulf, the struggle shook the mead-hall to the core. The rest of the guards in the mead-hall tried to attack Grendel while he was locked in the grip of Beowulf, but it was to no avail. Finally the demon's arm popped off and, fatally wounded, escaped the mead-hall. 
• After confirming that Grendel was dead, Hrothgar praised Beowulf and awarded him treasure, and thanes sang and recited the triumphs of Beowulf, and they had a celebration at Heorot. 
• Grendel's mother, wanting revenge for the death of her son, attacked Heorot later that night. She took one of the retainers in the mead-hall and abducted him. Beowulf wasn't in the mead-hall because he was given another place to stay, but after having heard of the attack, he goes in search of this new terror. 
• Beowulf goes out in search of the demon's lair. Once they find the spot where the demon dwells, Beowulf suits up in his armor and dived into the lake where the demon lay in wait. The demon grabbed Beowulf and dragged him to the depths of the lake and into her lair. Once Beowulf was able to see the demon, he struck at her with his sword. The sword was not able to cut her however. Beowulf then had to grapple with Grendel's mother since he couldn't use his sword on her. During the fight, Grendel's mother almost killed Beowulf with a knife, but his armor, luckily, deflected the attack. Beowulf was able to spot an ancient sword in Grendel's mother's lair that he felt would be able to cut through her. He picked up the sword and swung it at her, lopping her head off with it. Beowulf explores her lair and finds Grendel's corpse and cuts it's head off. Beowulf takes the head and the hilt of the sword that he used to cut Grendel's head off, since the blade melted due to Grendel's blood, back to Hrothgar. 

A quote that I found interesting was when Beowulf was preparing to fight Grendel he says:

When it comes to fighting, I count myself
as dangerous any day as Grendel.
So it won't be a cutting edge I'll wield
to mow him down, easily as I might.
He has no idea of the arts of war,
of shield or sword-play, although he does possess
a wild strength. No weapons, therefore,
for either this night: unarmed he shall face me
if face me he dares. And may the Divine Lord
in His wisdom grant the glory of victory
to whichever side He sees fit.

I feel that this quote reveals how Beowulf is as a person. It shows that he is very honorable, that even when fighting a demon, he wants to have a fair fight. It also shows his pride and his confidence in his own fighting prowess. Also, it shows his belief in fate and the Lord. 

Finally, here are some illustrations I found that may help to envision Beowulf: http://www.enotes.com/beowulf/pictures