The first major poem in English literature, "Beowulf" tells the story of the life and death of the legendary hero Beowolf in his three great battles with supernatural monsters. Beowulf is an example of the heroic spirit at its finest, the ideal Anglo-Saxon warrior-aristocrat. The epic poem celebrates both his magnificent courage in his battles with Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the Dragon, and his leadership and loyalty in dealing with his fellow men. At the same time, the poem is a deeply felt elegy for the passing of such virtues and is permeated with a tragic sense of man's fate in an uncertain world. The complexity of the anonymous poet's vision and the power of his language make "Beowulf" a unique achievement in Old English.