Anonymous 
Beowulf 

Set in sixth-century Scandinavia, this epic poem recounts a hero’s battles against horrific monsters. Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, finds his domain threatened by the beast Grendel. Miraculously, a hero from the Geats seafaring tribe, Beowulf, arrives and slaughters Grendel, saving the Danes. Yet nearly as soon as Grendel is slain, Beowulf must face another foe: Grendel’s mother. This millennium-old work of literature tells of Beowulf’s fierce fights during his fifty-year rule over his people—as well as his ultimate battle against a fire-breathing dragon who has wreaked chaos and destruction upon the Geats. This famous and powerful scene was the first appearance of a dragon-slayer in English literature.