Beowulf is one of the oldest long poems in Old English.  It is considered one of the most important works in this literature.  The poem is said to have been composed between 975 and 1025 AD.  No one is certain who the poet was.  Whoever he or she was, they seem to have had quite the penchant for writing long poems.  3,182 alliterative lines testify to this.

The poem centers on Beowulf.  He was a hero of the North Germanic tribesmen known as the Geats who lived in the area that is now within modern Sweden.  This hero comes to help the Danish king, Hrothgar.  It seems that maybe his mead hall served some bad mead.  At any rate, the Heorot mead hall is attacked by a poor misunderstood monstrous giant named Grendel.  Being a momma’s boy, Grendal’s mother then attacks the meadhall.  Beowulf appreciates a good blood feud as much as any brawler but monsters have to die.  And so she does.

Fifty years on, Beowulf has become king of the Geats.  Then in yet another bad choice, enters the dragon.  As a precursor to Sweden becoming the Kingdom of the Angels, Beowulf slays the dragon as well.  Sadly, he is fatally wounded in that battle.  Proving once again that if you play with fired you get burned, his attendants have him cremated for his troubles.  A monument is then erected in his memory.

Well, at least this is pretty much how I recall the story.  Part XXI of it can be read in its text here:

http://www.bartleby.com/49/1/21.html#60

Or, if you prefer to do other things while listening to an epic trio of battles within an epic poem, you can listen to a public domain audiobook version of Beowulf in its entirety here: