What else could he be? If gaming in 15mm, try using a resplendently outfitted 25mm figure.

Wiglaf (Hero) 1 * 4AP

This is the chap who helped Beowulf against the dragon. A well dressed and heroic figure.

Beowulf's Retinue (Blades) 3 * 2AP

There are 12 of these mentioned in the poem. As each is obviously so much better than an ordinary man, I like the idea of having 12 figures to represent them, even though one of them should technically be Wiglaf. They were heroic enough in Denmark against Grendel, even though their swords could not hurt him. I think the running away is probably best thought of as a bad dice roll against the dragon. It feels "dramatically" correct to me to have them as Blades as a hero needs a good retinue. Maybe, they could be Spears to make them a little more vulnerable. Difficult to know what else to do with them. In the early part of the poem they are brave, heroic and splendid. In the later part of the poem they are cowardly and go and hide in the woods. I did feel that the army needed to represent the whole poem and so chose elements from throughout.

Thief (Sneaker) 1 * 3AP

Peasant with a gold cup from the dragon's horde in his hand. He woke the dragon that ravaged Beowulf's kingdom.

Dashing chaps on horses (Riders) 1 * 2AP

Completely gratuitously included because of the description of the young warriors racing their horses home after following the trail of Grendel's blood to his lair.

"Spear Hedge" (Horde) 5 * 1AP

Spear carriers. Preferably represented by two ranks of spearmen. Taken from the poetic description of a battle line. These guys are here to get slaughtered by the monsters so that Beowulf has an excuse to go out and be heroic.

Stronghold Heorot; a particularly splendid mead-hall.

Grendel's Mother (Hero General) 1 * 4AP

She is as strong as Beowulf and gives tit for tat in their fight, almost beating him.

Grendel (Behemoth) 1 * 4AP

Big, strong and ugly. Only a mother could love him. He is not quite as strong as Beowulf, only having the strength of thirty men.

Dragon (Dragon) 1 * 4AP

A large fire-breathing dragon, over fifty feet long. This thing was woken by the thief stealing from his treasure and was the bane of Beowulf. In line 2315 of Beowulf the dragon is described as "lyftfloga" which literally means "flier in the air" so I would argue that Dragon is the correct rating. It basically does all the things required of a standard fantasy dragon: flying, breathing fire, sleeping on a nest of treasure and killing indiscriminately when upset. I would also argue this point on the basis that a Behemoth is technically weaker than a hero, hence my rating for Grendel, while the dragon of the tale is stronger than Beowulf alone and should therefore be a creature of commensurate power in the game. Dramatically, dragon is probably the required rating by this standard too, particularly since the dragon only appears at the end of the poem, and it seems appropriate to have an element that could well do the same.

Sea Serpents (Water Lurker) 1 * 1AP

The water of Grendel's lair was filled with these beasties as was the sea that Beowulf swam through in his bet with Breca.

Bog Dweller (Land Lurker) 1 * 1AP

Not really mentioned, but it seemed fitting.

Other descendants of Cain:

Horde 6 * 1AP

A motley collection of monsters hinted at in the poem.

Warband 2 * 2AP

Slightly bigger and stronger monsters not specifically mentioned.

Stronghold: A boggy lake whose waters boil with sea monsters OR a barrow with the Dragon's treasure inside.

The human figures are easy to sort out, as is the dragon and the sea serpent. Grendel and his mother should probably giants or ogres, the uglier the better. The other monsters are not described in the poem, so just find some ugly critters, folkloric-type hobgoblins or the like. An element of bats might not be inappropriate for the Bad Guys too.

I thought it might be quite fun to include the "Beasts of Battle" in the Good Guys army, but I ran out of points. It would comprise:

1 element each of Eagles (fliers), Ravens (fliers) and Wolves (beasts).

Hrothgar or maybe Hygelac could replace Beowulf as the general for the good guys. Hygelac is described as going on campaign more actively than Hrothgar. Both would be Blade elements and could replace Beowulf's retinue for those that are uncomfortable with them as Blades due to their later cowardice. Of course, there is no reason I can think of not to include both Hygelac and Hrothgar.

I suppose that the general for the bad guys could be one of the Warband elements. That ought to sort things out a bit.