_____Beowulf 

is a legendary Geatish warrior who travels to Denmark with his band of soldiers, including his best
friend, Wiglaf. They travel in response to the call of King Hrothgar, who needs a hero to slay a monster
called Grendel, a hideously disfigured troll-like creature with superhuman strength. Grendel attacks Hrothgar's mead
hall, Heorot, whenever the Danes hold a celebration there, and Hrothgar was forced to close the hall.
_____Upon arriving, Beowulf immediately becomes attracted to Hrothgar's wife, Queen Wealtheow, who does not
love her husband and reciprocates Beowulf's interest.
_____Beowulf and his men celebrate in Heorot to lure Grendel out. When the beast does attack, Beowulf engages
him unarmed and naked, determining that since Grendel seems to be immune to mortal weapons and carries no
weapons of his own, armour and a sword would be pointless in the fight. _____Watching his reactions during the
melee, Beowulf discovers that Grendel has hypersensitive hearing, which is why he interrupts Hrothgar's
celebrations – the noise they make is physically painful to him. After his eardrum is ruptured by Beowulf, he
attempts to escape.
_____Beowulf manages to restrain Grendel and severs his arm using the door. In thanks for freeing his kingdom
from the monster, Hrothgar gives Beowulf his golden drinking horn, which commemorates Hrothgar's victory over
the mighty dragon Fafnir.
_____Returning to his cave, the dying Grendel tells his mother what was done to him and by whom, and she swears
revenge. She travels to Heorot in the night and slaughters Beowulf's men while they were sleeping.
_____Hrothgar tells both Beowulf and Wiglaf, who had been sleeping outside the hall during the attack, that it was
the work of Grendel's mother, the last of the Water Demons, who was thought by Hrothgar to have left the land.
_____Beowulf and Wiglaf travel to the cave of Grendel's mother to slay her. Beowulf enters the cave where he
encounters Grendel's mother, who takes the form of a beautiful woman. She offers to make him the greatest king
who ever lived if he will agree to give her a son to replace Grendel and let her keep the golden drinking horn.
_____Beowulf gives in to her advances and returns, claiming to have killed her. Hrothgar, however, realizes the
truth. He tells Beowulf indirectly that, much like Beowulf, he was also seduced by Grendel's mother; Grendel was
the result of their tryst.
_____Hrothgar names Beowulf his successor as king, much to the dismay of his royal advisor, Unferth, who was
hoping to take the throne. Hrothgar then commits suicide by jumping from the castle parapet onto the beach below.
A wave momentarily engulfs Hrothgar's body, there is a golden flash underwater, and the body is gone.
_____Years later, the elderly Beowulf is married to Wealtheow. She refuses to give him an heir because of his tryst
with the water demon. Beowulf takes a mistress, Ursula. One day, Unferth's slave Cain finds the golden drinking
horn in a swamp near Grendel's cave and brings it back to the kingdom.
_____That night, a nearby village is destroyed by a dragon, which leaves Unferth alive in order to deliver a message
to King Beowulf: the dragon is Beowulf's son born to Grendel's mother. Removing the horn has voided the
agreement between Beowulf and Grendel's mother, who has now sent their son, the dragon, to destroy his kingdom.
_____Beowulf and Wiglaf go to the cave once again and Beowulf goes into the cave alone. When Grendel's mother
appears, Beowulf gives her the golden horn to convince her to stop the attack. Grendel's mother considers it too late
for any kind of agreement. She releases the dragon to attack Beowulf's kingdom again.
_____ Beowulf goes to great lengths to stop the monster, even severing his own arm, and ultimately kills the dragon
by ripping its heart out. The dragon's fall mortally wounds Beowulf, but he lives long enough to watch the carcass of
the dragon transform into the humanoid body of his son before it is washed out to sea.
_____Beowulf insists on speaking the truth about his affair with Grendel's mother but Wiglaf insists on keeping
Beowulf's legacy intact. As the new king, Wiglaf gives Beowulf a Norse funeral and watches as Grendel's mother
appears and gives Beowulf a final kiss before his ship sinks into the sea. Wiglaf sees the golden horn in the sand
while Grendel's mother floats in the sea, looking at him seductively. The movie ends ambiguously with Wiglaf
holding the horn and staring back at her.