The title is a joke, of course. However, if there really had been a Beowulf who performed the exploits recorded in the epic that bears his name, he would be saddened at the way a recent movie has vilified his good name. Admittedly, the movie has a clever plot, but I decidedly prefer the epic.
The movie portrays Beowulf as a lecher and a liar. He loses a swimming race because he is seduced by some beautiful water creature. When later discussing the matter, he claims that he lost because it was necessary to perform some heroics. Needless to say, the epic does not attribute these sordid qualities to the character of its hero.
The first part of the epic takes place in Denmark. Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, builds a great hall named Heorot, where he is accustomed to feast with his warriors. Their festive joy is dampened by Grendel, who enters Heorot after the feasting has terminated, and kills 30 of Hrothgar’s warriors. Grendel depredations continue for 12 years. (Hrothgar is the father of Grendel in the movie, but not in the epic.)
Beowulf, the nephew of Hygelac, the king of a people called the Geats, comes with 14 followers to help Hrothgar. A man named Unferth doubts his valor and taunts him for losing a swimming contest to a man named Breca. Beowulf effectively refutes his taunts. Wealththeow, the queen, comes and serves the customary alcoholic drink. She respectfully serves her husband first and then the others. (In contrast to the movie, there is no hint of any estrangement between Hrothgar and his queen in the epic. In addition, Hrothgar and his queen have been blessed with two sons. In the movie, they are childless.)
After everyone except Beowulf had fallen asleep, Grendel enters. He manages to eat one warrior before Beowulf mortally wounds him by wrenching off his arm.
Everyone believes that the problem is solved, and the Danes enthusiastically express their appreciation. However, the death of Grendel has angered her mother, and she kills Ǽschere, one of Hrothgar’s liegemen. Beowulf, who is still Hrothgar’s guest, pursues Grendel’s mother to her abode deep beneath the water. As the two fight, Beowulf notices a giant sword nearby, and uses it to decapitate the monster. When Beowulf no longer needs the sword, it disintegrates.
Beowulf returns to the surface of the waters. He eventually returns home and tells his uncle Hygelac what happened. Much later, Beowulf becomes king of the Geats and reigns for 50 years. (In the movie, Grendel’s mother seduces Beowulf. Beowulf does not kill her, but claims that he has when he returns to the Danes and his companions. Hrothgar, who was also seduced on a previous occasion, commits suicide. Beowulf becomes king of the Danes and marries the queen. None of this happens in the epic, of course.)
At the end of his fifty year reign, a fire-breathing dragon wreaks havoc on the land of the Geats. To save his people, he pursues the dragon into his den. He kills the dragon, but is mortally wounded, and soon dies. (In the movie, the fight with the Dragon takes place in Denmark, where he has become king. The dragon turns out to be the fruit of Beowulf’s liaison with Grendel’s mother. Do you not agree that Beowulf has good reason to turn over in his grave?)
Reference
“Beowulf”; Lesslie Hall, translator
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16328/16328-h/16328-h.htm