Beowulf Hrothgar, king of the Danes, whose great hall, Heorot, is plagued by the monster Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel with his bare hands and Grendel's mother with a giant's sword that he found in her lair. Later in his life, Beowulf becomes king of the Geats, and finds his realm terrorized by a dragon, some of whose treasure had been stolen from his hoard in a burial mound. He attacks the dragon with the help of his "thegns" or servants, but they do not succeed. Beowulf decides to follow the dragon to its lair at Earnanæs, but only his young Swedish
Wayland the Smith back on this promise. The saga also tells of the birth of a son, Wideke/Viðga, to Wayland and Nidung's daughter. This son goes on to become one of Thidrek/Didrik's warriors. The Old English poem "Deor", which recounts the famous sufferings of various figures before turning to those of Deor, its author, begins with "Welund": Weland had fashioned the mail shirt worn by Beowulf according to lines 450–455 of the epic poem of the same name: The Franks Casket is one of a number of other Old English references to Wayland, whose story was evidently well known and popular, although no