Beowulf is a brave legendary warrior who travels to Denmark alongside his band of soldiers, which include his best friend, Wiglaf, in answer 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, who attacks Hrothgar's mead hall, Heorot, whenever the Danes hold a celebration there, and he was forced to close the hall. Upon arriving, Beowulf immediately becomes attracted to Hrothgar's wife, Queen Wealtheow who takes interest in him.
Beowulf and his men celebrate in Heorot, in order to lure Grendel out. When the beast does attack, Beowulf attacks 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. As thanks for freeing his kingdom from the monster that plagued them for years, Hrothgar gives Beowulf his golden drinking horn, which represents the time Hrothgar slew the mighty dragon Fafnir.
Inside his cave, the dying Grendel tells his mother what was done to him, and by whom, and she swears revenge, travelling to Heorot in the night and slaughtering Beowulf's men while they were sleeping after the celebration. The next day, Beowulf and Wiglaf, who was spared from the slaughter as they were not present at the mead hall, acknowledge what happened to the soldiers, and they go to Grendel's cave seeking to slay his mother as well. Only 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 and was Grendel's father. After unexpectedly naming Beowulf his successor as king, much to the dismay of his royal advisor, Unferth), who was hoping to take the heir, Hrothgar commits suicide.
Years later, an elderly Beowulf is married to Wealtheow, who refuses to give him an heir since he had previously slept with the water demon. As a result, Beowulf takes a mistress, Ursula. One day, Unferth's slave Cain finds the golden drinking horn in a swamp near Grendel's cave and, not realizing why it is there, 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 (which is "The Sins of the Fathers", revealing that the dragon is actually Beowulf's son born to Grendel's mother). Removing the horn has reneged on the agreement between Beowulf and Grendel's mother, who has now sent their son, the dragon, to destroy his kingdom.
Beowulf and Wiglaf once more venture into Grendel's cave and confront the dragon, which attacks Beowulf's castle and attempts to kill Wealtheow and Ursula. Beowulf goes to great lengths to stop the monster, going as far as 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 its true form, the humanoid body of his son, before it is washed out to sea. Beowulf then shares words with Wiglaf and tries to tell him the truth, but dies before he can finish. Wiglaf dismisses his words as mere disillusions-although it seems clear from the earlier conversation with Beowulf outside the dragon's cave, where Wiglaf refuses to listen to Beowulf's confession, that Wiglaf is all too aware of the truth. Shortly thereafter, Wiglaf, the new king, gives Beowulf a Norse funeral and watches on the shore as the hero's body is taken by the sea, only to then witness Grendel's mother give a final kiss to Beowulf. Now it is impossible to pretend not to know the truth. At this moment it appears that Grendel's mother attempts to seduce him. Wiglaf steps out into the water, clearly tempted, but showing reluctance to follow her, as the scene blacks out.
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