<P> This depiction indicates the growing importance and stabilization of the modern concept of the dragon within European mythology . Beowulf is the first piece of English literature to present a dragonslayer . Although many motifs common to the Beowulf dragon existed in the Scandinavian and Germanic literature, the Beowulf poet was the first to combine features and present a distinctive fire - breathing dragon . The Beowulf dragon was later copied in literature with similar themes such as J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit (1937), one of the forerunners of modern high fantasy . </P> <P> The dragon fight, occurring at the end of the poem, is foreshadowed in earlier scenes . The dragon fight symbolizes Beowulf's stand against evil and destruction, and, as the hero, he knows that failure will bring destruction to his people after many years of peace . The dragon himself acts a mock "gold - king," one who sees attacking Beowulf's kingdom as suitable retribution for the theft of just a single cup . The scene is structured in thirds, ending with the deaths of the dragon and Beowulf . </P> <P> After his battles against Grendel's mother and Grendel, Beowulf returns to homeland and becomes king of the Geats . Fifty years pass with Beowulf leading as a wise king, when a local dragon is angered when a slave enters its lair and takes a cup from its treasure . The creature attacks the neighboring towns in revenge . Beowulf and a troop of men ("the Geats") leave to find the dragon's lair . The Geats run away in fear, leaving only Beowulf and his young companion Wiglaf to slay the dragon . Beowulf receives a fatal wound from the dragon, but Wiglaf impales the dragon's belly to reduce the flames, and Beowulf deals the fatal blow . In his death - speech, Beowulf nominates Wiglaf as his heir, and that of the treasure . </P> <P> Beowulf is the oldest extant heroic poem in English literature and the first to present a dragon slayer . The legend of the dragonslayer already existed in Norse sagas such as the tale of Sigurd and Fafnir, and the Beowulf poet incorporates motifs and themes common to dragon - lore in the poem . Beowulf is the earliest surviving piece of Anglo - Saxon literature to feature a dragon, and it is possible that the poet had access to similar stories from Germanic legend . Secular Germanic literature and the literature of Christian hagiography featured dragons and dragon fights . Although the dragons of hagiography were less fierce than the dragon in Beowulf, similarities exist in the stories such as presenting the journey to the dragon's lair, cowering spectators, and the sending of messages relaying the outcome of the fight . </P>

Who leads beowulf to the dragon's lair