Red bandReady now · Open and print today

Beowulf

From Hero-Myths & Legends of the British Race, retold by M. I. Ebbutt

This retelling comes from M. I. Ebbutt's early twentieth-century collection of British and Northern European heroic legends. Beowulf, the oldest surviving epic in Old English, was composed between the eighth and eleventh centuries and tells the story of a Geatish warrior who crosses the sea to help the Danish king Hrothgar defeat the monster Grendel. The poem explores themes of heroism, reputation, loyalty and the tension between youthful promise and the judgement of others. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. The work is worth a senior reader's time because it introduces the foundational hero of English literature and shows how reputation is earned through action, not appearance.

Band

Red · Complex language and analysisTypical starting range: ages 15–17

Length

long · about 1260 words in 4 sections · 2 pictures

Source

Hero-Myths & Legends of the British Race, M. I. Ebbutt

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (10 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Teacher’s Edition (members)

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.

Report a concern about this reader · What’s in a HummingRead reader