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) trigger a chain of events in "The Hobbit". The "Beowulf" dragon is the earliest example in literature of the typical European dragon and first incidence of a fire-breathing dragon. The "Beowulf" dragon is described with Old English terms such as "draca" (dragon), and "wyrm" (reptile, or serpent), and as a creature with a venomous bite. Also, the "Beowulf" poet created a dragon with specific traits: a nocturnal, treasure-hoarding, inquisitive, vengeful, fire-breathing creature. The fire is likely symbolic of the hellfire of the devil, reminiscent of the monster in the Book of Job. In the Septuagint Bible, Job's monster is characterized