Beowulf Book

I've read at least four versions of Beowulf in my life (not counting John Gardner's Grendel, which is more like fanfiction) but I think that Rebsamen's translation is my favorite (I'm not sure if this "updated" verse translation is the same as the one I read. The cover is different.) He keeps both the alliterative kennings and the breaks in the middle of each line, which gives it the flavor of something recited in an ancient hall.
I just finished reading it aloud as a bedtime story to my son Daniel (who is 13 now.) I read him the good parts version-- starting with Beowulf's arrival in Heorot, the story of how he fought sea monsters, the arrival of Grendel in the night, the fight with Grendel and Grendel's mother, and then the final battle with the dragon. I left out any politics and geneology.
I was struck by how dragonlike the dragon was. You get a lot of dragons in various cultures, but they're all partly how we tend to imagine a dragon, and partly strange. It's probably mostly the influence of Smaug and The Faerie Queen, but my idea of a dragon breathes fire, flies, has a coiling tail and nearly impenetrable armor, jealously guards a hoard of gold in a hollow hill, and is a creature of pure fury. All of that is true about this dragon. Beowulf as an old man fights it, using an iron shield because wood would burn away. He breaks his sword Naegling with his incredible strength on the bones of its neck and is wounded, and then the beast is slain by his young right-hand man. Beowulf perishes from his wounds, but not before holding the treasure which will sustain his people. It's the perfect dragonslaying tale. It's just powerful to read, especially aloud.
I also noticed this time a brief reference to the parable of life being like a sparrow flying through a warm hall-- what comes before or after we can only guess.