What is the outcome of beowulf's battle with grendel?

Beowulf exemplifies the traits of the perfect hero. The poem explores his heroism in two separate phases-youth and age-and through three separate and increasingly difficult conflicts-with Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon. Although we can view these three encounters as expressions of the heroic code, there is perhaps a clearer division between Beowulf’s youthful heroism as an unfettered warrior and his mature heroism as a reliable king. These two phases of his life, separated by fifty years, correspond to two different models of virtue, and much of the moral reflection in the story centers on differentiating these two models and on showing how Beowulf makes the transition from one to the oth