The Dragon

There really is no description for the dragon other than he is a Dragon. The reason the Dragon attacks the village is because a slave steals a cup from the Dragon's lair. When the Dragon finds out that the cup is missing he gets mad and starts burning everything in sight. Beowulf goes in to battle with the Dragon alone he does not want help from any of his knights. During the battle Wiglaf sees Beowulf is getting beaten he helps Beowulf and they both slay the Dragon but Beowulf is mortally wounded and dies. In the movie the dragon is Beowulf's son that he had with Grendel's Mother. The book and movie are the same when Beowulf goes in to battle with the Dragon.

 

Grendel's Mother

Grendel's mother motivation to attack Heorot Hall is to avenge her sons death. In Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf the only description of Grendel's mother we get is that she fights like an amazon warrior, they engage in a battle and even though Grendel's Mother has the advantage because they are fighting in her home he still defeats her and beheads her. In the movie she appears to be made out of gold, she seduces him and they do not engage in a fight.

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Grendel

Grendel is described by Seamus Haney as a human like being but larger there really is not a good description on how he looks until they rip his arm off then we can infer that he is like a lizard type character,"Every nail, claw-scale and spur, every spike and welt on the hand of that heathen brute was like a barbed steel. Everybody said there was no honed iron hard enough to pierce him through, no time proofed blade that could cut his brutal blood caked claw", line 983-989 page 61. In the movie by Robert Zemeckis he is portrayed as a zombie like character. He is actually the son of King Hrothgar and you can infer that the motive that he attacked the hall is because King Hrothgar did not want him and did not want anything to do with him.

Beowulf Monsters

I chose this because i think it is interesting how they describe the monsters in the story. Everybody has they're own interpretation on how the monsters look. The monsters play a vital role in the story of Beowulf. For instance there is a deeper meaning behind all of the monsters, Grendel may represent the evil in Scandinavian society of murdering others. The dragon may represent sin, a representation of malice that must be defeated in order to show how good the hero is.  Each of the monsters were tere for a reason and that reason was the faults if kings in terms of the movie. King Hrothgar brought the curse upon himself and his people. Beowulf cursed himself through his weakness and craving for glory, fame, and lust.