Personal Narrative Essay: The Epic Of Beowulf

The splash of someone jumping into my lake suddenly disturbed the otherwise peaceful, green water. The cool liquid that surrounded me stirred as the shockwave of the impact pushed the water around. I looked up towards the surface of the lake and saw Beowulf, the monster that murdered my son, sinking through the water. The heavy, gray armor he wore was rapidly pulling him down closer towards me. As he continued to sink, I remembered what he did to my Grendel. Not only had Beowulf killed my poor son, but he also cut off Grendel’s arm and hung it up for everyone to see. I felt the hot anger rising up in me and by the time Beowulf had sunken to where I sat on the lake floor, my blood was boiling.

I lunged at him, my sharp claws going straight to his chest, but the chain armor he wore held strong and I left only white scratches. I pried

and tore at the armor but my claws were too thick to make it through the small holes. The sound of my claws against the metal screeched like nails on a chalkboard, drawing an audience of the other creatures that lived in the lake. I grabbed Beowulf in my claws and carried him away as he struggled in vain. Adrenaline and rage were building inside of me. I was eager to fight. Up ahead, through the clear water I saw our destination, an old battle-hall. The architecture was worn down and crumbling from being under the water for so many years, but the impressive arches still stood proud and as we entered the door, a brilliant light began to shine, lighting up everything in the hall.
As soon as I dropped the strong warrior he was after me with sword in hand. A determined look on his face told me he thought he would beat me, but I was going to avenge my son if it was the last thing I did. His silver blade cut through the water, hitting up against me. The blade felt cool and sharp, but left no marks on my tough, gray skin. I recoiled, taking a few steps back and jumping at him again, this time using my pointy teeth to bite holes into his helmet. My mouth was immediately filled with a metallic taste and I could feel the headgear giving in as my teeth tore large, gaping holes into it. I felt his body tense with anger, and when he grabbed me with his calloused hands I saw a fiery look in his bright eyes.
He swung me through the water and into the hard ground but I couldn’t let him have the upper hand.

My counterattack swung him around and I pinned him down to the dirt by his chest. This was it, this was where he would meet his end. I grabbed my dagger, raised it high above my head, and brought it down with enough force to kill any man, but all that happened was a quiet ‘chink’ as the blade struck his armor. I looked at the blade, surprise and anger swelling up inside of me. It was rusty and blunt, there was no way this would hurt the soldier who was strong enough to kill my precious son.

While I was distracted with my dagger, Beowulf had been scanning the massive room we were in and spotted the sword on the wall. He ran over to it and picked it up. The weapon was massive and heavy, forged by giants to be used by a huge beast like me, not a pathetic human like Beowulf. The blade glistened as he pulled it out of its sheath and swung it my way. All of a sudden, my body was filled with red hot pain. The clear water around us turned to a murky red. The smell and taste of iron overwhelmed me, and suddenly, I realized it was coming from

me.
Copious amounts of blood were spilling from my neck, and I saw my body lying in front of me, no longer attached to my head. A million thoughts raced through my mind in my last seconds, vivid memories of long ago, watching my son toddle around the lake as a child, to foggy memories of now, of Beowulf glaring at me with those determined eyes. The red was almost blinding me by now and I was filled with sorrow. The last thing I saw was Beowulf cheering, proud and mighty, as he slaughtered another monster. Because to him that’s all we were, monsters. Instead of avenging my beloved son, I would meet the same fate as him. I looked around the lake one last time, and as my vision faded to black, the beautiful lake that had been my home for so long, became my watery grave.