"the fight is not yours.." Beowulf does not want any men dying trying to kill this dragon. Its his fight and he doesn't want more loss of life, like what happened with Grendel. Possibly Beowulf loves his country more than initially thought.

"failed when he unsheathed" Yet again, Beowulf's sword failed him. He was trying to kill the dragon but the sword would not cut through his scales. Possibly a sign that Beowulf is forced by God to use only his bare hands as weapons.

"would keep its edge..." Wiglaf's sword would be able to cut the dragon, reinforcing the idea that Beowulf has been forced to use his bare hands. This and the text after, tells that the dragon doesnt have protection from swords, so Beowulf's sword should have cut it.

"so his ghastly dam struck back." Beowulf didn't understand the reason for Grendel's mom's attack. He took it for face value that she was just as evil as her son, but in reality she only wanted her sons arm back and wyrgyld. Had she been a man, what happened might've been acceptable.

"He had been poorly regarded by the Geats for a long time." Beowulf apparently wasn't liked for some reason. There was possibly something dishonorable he had done such as being greedy. This might be a foreshadow of things to come. maybe he wont be liked in the future as a king.

"that drove him into rage." The dragon was peaceful and only slept, but here when someone takes his treasure he gets mad. This says maybe the dragon isn't God coming for punishment for the death of Grendel and his mother. The dragon is just a signal of when it's Beowulf's time to die. It could be a symbol of death. It was doing nothing until It became time for Beowulf to die.

"After many trials, he ws destined to face the end of his days.." Beowulf knew he was going to die, but he didn't want his death to be of old age while he was on the throne. He wanted an honorable death. Perhaps a flaw or maybe not.

"He had scant regard for the dragoon as a threat,...." Beowulf was ready to die. He had lived a long life and done many great things. Beowulf was happy with his life. He was ready to pass on the throne.

"But he soon found his battle-torch extinguished." The sword given to Beowulf by Unferth was a failure. Rather than help him it got him in much more trouble, fighting a beast with no weapons. This might suggest that Unferth wanted Beowulf to die, because he was jealous or wanted revenge for being embarrassed.
"Only Beowulf could wield in battle" Beowulf might've been fated to win this battle. If it had been any other warrior, they would not have been able to lift the sword.
"its blade had melted" Grendel's mother is truly evil and her blood melted an ancient very powerful sword. The sword might've been there just for that battle and after it had been won the sword disappeared.
"marked him from the very start for a happy life" Beowulf is marked for a happy life. But he needs to be careful because this other king had gone crazy and was a horrible king who killed his subjects and was dishonorable. Possibly a foreshadow to what will happen to Beowulf or that god is not happy about the death of Grendel and his mother.
A need for rest came over the brave shield bearing Geat." Beowulf is not a god or invincible. The battle wore him out so he is human just a much more powerful one.

"each one of them still trusted the other." says that maybe other parts of the family had reasons to distrust each other. Possibly one of the family killed another or was dishonorable in battle. Although the uncle and the nephew get along maybe there was another nephew who had caused problems.

"the threat looming over the thanes as the night approached." Foreshadow for a new danger and a new test for Beowulf. Grendels mother. They had gotten overconfident and many of the people at the party payed for it with their lives.

"She had been forced down after Cain had killed his father's son..." Grendels mother might have been Cain's lover or relative. This sounds like she was alive during that time.

"were grabbed from the bench, many a broad shield lifted and braced.." Grendel's mother appears to be very clever by taking the weapons before she attacks. She will probably be a much tougher enemy than her son.

"I count myself as dangerous any day as Grendel." Beowulf sounds very sure of himself in this sentence. It hints at his skill as a fighter and his strength. In my opinion he probably underestimated Grendel.

"None of them expected he would ever see his homeland again..." The warriors alongside Beowulf didn't seem to trust him very much. Also apparently none of them trusted in their own fighting abilities. It makes me think that possibly Beowulf isnt quite the fighter he sounded like, or the warriors don't know him that well.

"Spurned and joyless, he journeyed on ahead and arrived at the bawn." Grendel had just passed a large pile of gold and didnt care. Grendel obviously has no desire for anything other than destruction.

"in a handgrip harder than anything he had ever encountered in any man on the face of the earth." When Grendel tries to grab Beowulf he is shocked and scared. Beowulf is much stronger than him and he wants to escape. But, because of beowulf's strength he can't get away. This says Beowulf is stronger than any man and sounds like he might not be a normal human. Possibly a semi god or a hero.

"his bodily powers failed him." Grendel, who normally had no problem killing men, was now getting destroyed. He was used to having his way and not worrying about injury, but here was someone ripping him apart.

Literary Elements

Metaphor- A Metaphor is a figure of speech concisely comparing two things, saying that one is the other.
Example- Juliet is the sun.
Explanation- The metaphor is used to describe Juliet, and how important she is to Romeo. Like the sun, if she was gone Romeo could not survive. The use of this device creates a better sense of how much Romeo truly cares about his lover. If it had just said i love Juliet, the text would have been boring and wouldn't have drawn the reader in so well.

Beowulf Criticism

In the Essay by J.R.R. Tolkien, he explains why the story is not just a historical document but a work of art too. He starts by attacking previous critics like, Beowolfania. He says they think that Beowulf is a story full of empty meaning and just rambles on and on. J.R.R. thinks the writing that says that is actually guilty of the same thing, long pointless ramblings. He thinks that critics and scholars should look at the poem as a great work of art, a poem that is unmatched in quality by anything. The stance that scholars took on Beowulf before didn't allow them to get the full meaning of the story. they were too focused on the historical facts in the story.
The critics looked at the story originally and decided that it was a relatively weak fantasy story, a fairy tale. They were a dime a dozen in the medievel times. Hero kills monster, monster kills hero, the end. But beowulf has much more than your average fairy tale, it has some of the best writing ever to be produced, even today there is no match to the poem.
Had Tolkien not taken this stance on the story, it might not have been studied by schools. Scholars would continue to take it as a historical document that provides insight into the medievel mind and nothing more.