The dragon (Beowulf) with a Discussion of the Stories of Offa and Finn", says that "Beowulf"s dragon acts like "the typical dragon of Old English proverbial lore" because he guards treasure. W. P. Ker criticized the inclusion of Beowulf's fight with the dragon and his subsequent death in the poem, writing "It is as if to the end of the "Odyssey" there had been added some later books telling in full of the old age of Odysseus, far from the sea, and his death at the hands of Telegonus". In "", J. R. R. Tolkien noted that the dragon and Grendel are "constantly
The dragon (Beowulf) the beast, the thanes flee in terror, leaving only Wiglaf to battle at Beowulf's side. When the dragon wounds Beowulf fatally, Wiglaf slays it. This depiction indicates the growing importance and stabilization of the modern concept of the dragon within European mythology. "Beowulf" is the first piece of English literature to present a dragonslayer. Although many motifs common to the "Beowulf" dragon existed in the Scandinavian and Germanic literature, the "Beowulf" poet was the first to combine features and present a distinctive fire-breathing dragon. The "Beowulf" dragon was later copied in literature with similar themes such as J. R. R.