Characters
Beowulf and The 14 Soldiers
The main hero of the story. He answers King Hrothgar's call for a hero even though he really never asked for one. Beowulf sets across a sea with his handpicked crew of 14 soldiers which are coldly received, until they tell the Danes and Hrothgar of what they which to do, kill Grendel. They march proudly and confidently through Danish lands trying to find Grendel and slay the beast. There time eventually comes when Grendel attacks the Danish capitol, armed only with his, Beowulf's, fists he tears one of Grendel's arm off as a trophy Beowulf's victory and leaves Grendel to a slow death. When Grendel's mother hears what Beowulf did to her son, she goes into a rage, but Beowulf has a plan for her too. He finds where "Mom" resides and without the help of his followers he swims the depths of a lake where Grendel's Mom hides and through a epic battle that no one thought he would survive, rises from the depths and shocks all. From there on the Danes thank him for his time and then becomes the king of the Geats, and successfully rules for 50 years until a dragon appears. To keep up his moral obligations and fueled by some greed he goes after the dragon with some trusted men. Even though he wins with some help, he dies a hero's death by the breath of his enemy, a dragon.
King Hrothgar and the Danes
The king of the Danes he is the victim of Grendel. His kingdom was a proud and great one full of many warriors but was not prepared for Grendel's rage. He tried to fight him but during the night Grendel attacked his villages and slaughtered almost everyone. For 12 winters he stood still doing nothing but running and hiding know that his soldiers could not fight the beast. That was until a band of warriors from the Geats across the sea came to his aid to kill Grendel, they succeeded in short.
Wiglaf
One of Beowulf's loyal followers to the end he was the last soldier to fight with Beowulf. At the end of the story a dragon threatens Beowulf's kingdom, so he is taken with a few other select soldiers to fight the dragon and claim the treasure that hides within the dragons lair. From the beginning of the battle it was a hard fight with faith not on Beowulf's side, most of the soldiers were either killed or ran away from the seemingly losing battle. But Wiglaf stayed by Beowulf's side and in turn the dying king made Wiglaf the new king.
Grendel
The first enemy of Beowulf he is a fierce fighter and feared by all. From birth he was cursed as demon spawn by God and was not respected or praised by anyone, this fills his rage and his target is the Danes. On his many attacks on the Danes he often just came in during the night and killed as many people as he could find, any resistance that was put up against him was swiftly crushed. So the Danes either went into hiding or just simply ran away from him. The source of his rage is still really unknown so the Danes just assumed he was insane. For many years he was tormenting the Danes, until a band of warriors led by Beowulf we set on killing him. They clashed and in turn Grendel was killed in a very gruesome way of having his arm ripped from his body and then bleeding out.
Grendel's Mom
To say she was angry would be an understatement as she was furious over her sons death and seeked revenge, but death came to her as well. She dwells in a swamp where no animals live and no plants survive, but this does not deter Beowulf from attempting to kill her at the bottom of the swamp lake. When he arrives he is greeted by only violence and decomposing flesh from previous "meals", she is swift to try to kill Beowulf. In a epic battle where she was winning Beowulf took a swing at her with his sword but did surprisingly no damage to her, so he was tossed around pretty much as her play thing. That was until he spotted a sword hanging on the wall, blessed and forged by giants it was effective enough to kill her. With some swift blows and God on his side he vanquishes her and the Danes problems in a matter of minutes.
The Dragon
Seen as threat by the public and Beowulf it has to be slain. Through a reign of 50 most likely peaceful years this dragon comes along, threatening the kingdom Beowulf and some select warriors come to fight it. Many came before to slay this dragon as seen by all of the battle gear and what not scattered through out the dragons layer. This would be Beowulf's hardest opponent and with its defeat comes the dragons treasure, all the more reason to fight and win. But the dragon is defeated and Beowulf although triumphant pays with his life, but the kings dieing words make Wiglaf the new King and all spoils go to him and the people.