Storyteller: You have heard how Beowulf defeated Grendel with his bare hands and how the Danes nailed Grendel鈥檚 arm above the door of Heorot. But as they celebrated, the Danes didn鈥檛 know that another monster was making for Heorot. A monster seeking vengeance: Grendel鈥檚 mother.
Grendel鈥檚 mother: Who killed my son? Who killed my son? I will kill the man who killed my son. I will kill them all. See. The lights of Heorot!
FX: Inside Heorot
Hrothgar: Tomorrow Beowulf will return to Geatland with our gratitude and our love. We will sleep well tonight friends, for at last we know that we are safe.
FX: Applause. Cheering
Grendel鈥檚 mother: The lights go out in Heorot. I am ready. Who killed my son?
Storyteller: Grendel鈥檚 mother smashed down the door of Heorot. With one hand she grabbed a Danish thane, with the other she pulled down Grendel鈥檚 severed arm. Then she ran out into the night and was gone.
In the morning Hrothgar inspected the damage.
Hrothgar: I thought all this was finished. What was it? What was it that did this?
Thane: My Lord, Grendel has a mother. They say she lives in a cave under a lake. It was she who came last night.
Hrothgar: And all our thanes are safe?
Thane: No, my Lord. One is missing.
Hrothgar: Who?
Thane: My Lord - I cannot say it.
Horthgar: Say it! Who did she take?
Thane: Ashhere, my Lord.
Storyteller: Ashhere was Hrothgar鈥檚 closest friend. The two were like brothers, so the king鈥檚 eyes filled with tears. He knew that he would never see his friend again.
Hrothgar: Bring me Beowulf. Bring me Beowulf now!
Storyteller: When Beowulf heard about the attack he wasted no time.
Beowulf: My Lord, I will find Grendel鈥檚 mother and defeat her.
Hrothgar: It won鈥檛 be easy; they say she lives in a cave at the bottom of a lake.
Beowulf: My Lord, I will find her. I promise.
Storyteller: That night the Danes and the Geats rode together, searching, hunting. All night they rode and at daybreak they came to a deep lake. By the shore they saw huge footprints, each one splashed with blood.
Hrothgar: Ashhere. My poor friend鈥
Beowulf: Have no doubt, my Lord, I will avenge Ashhere鈥檚 death.
Storyteller: Beowulf put on his helmet and an armoured shirt made by the finest craftsmen in all of Geatland. Hrothgar offered him a sword.
Hrothgar: Beowulf, they say this sword has magical powers. Take it now - it is yours.
Beowulf: Thank you my Lord. With this sword I will kill the monster or die trying. Pray for me.
Storyteller: And with that, Beowulf dived into the lake and swam down into the deep. In a cave at the bottom of the lake, Grendel鈥檚 mother was waiting.
Grendel鈥檚 mother: He is coming. The one. The one who killed my son. I know it. I can feel it. He is swimming towards me. Keep swimming, I am ready for you!
Storyteller: Suddenly, the monster grabbed Beowulf in her vicious claws. Beowulf tried to use his sword but he was trapped in the monster鈥檚 grip. He couldn鈥檛 breathe. He was starting to drown.
Beowulf: [Thoughts] So this is how it ends? Drowned in the grasp of a sea monster.
Storyteller: The monster dragged Beowulf into her cave and suddenly there was air. Beowulf could breathe and the air gave him strength. He wrestled free from the monster鈥檚 grasp but Grendel鈥檚 mother leapt on Beowulf again, slashing at him with a short sword. Now it was Beowulf鈥檚 turn to strike. He swung Hrothgar鈥檚 sword at the monster鈥檚 head -
FX: Grendel鈥檚 mother laughs
Storyteller: - but Grendel鈥檚 mother laughed鈥
Grendel鈥檚 mother: Your sword cannot hurt me. No weapon can break my skin!
Storyteller: Then Beowulf saw a massive sword in the corner of the cave - it looked like it had been made for a giant. It was too huge for any ordinary person to lift, but Beowulf gripped the handle. He swung the sword through the air鈥
FX: Loud swishing
Storyteller: 鈥nd struck at the monster.
FX: A colossal thud. A howl and then silence
Storyteller: Hrothgar and the others waited on the shore of the lake.
Hrothgar: Let us go back to Heorot. Beowulf is dead.
Thane: Don鈥檛 give up hope, my Lord. Let us wait a little longer鈥
Hrothgar: There is nothing to wait for. No one could stay under water for that long! Beowulf has been killed.
Storyteller: Then a sound broke from the surface of the lake, the sound of someone gasping for air.
Hrogath: What is it? I can鈥檛 see鈥
Thane: My Lord, it is鈥eowulf!
Storyteller: Beowulf! Back from the deep. And he had won. The monster was dead.
FX: The cheering of the thanes. Fades to waves and seagulls
Storyteller: That night there were celebrations in Heorot and then the following day Beowulf and his men boarded their ship and said goodbye to Hrothgar and the Danes. And so Beowulf sailed for Geatland, where one day he would be king, and his brave deeds would be told in stories around the fire, on dark winter nights.