Imagine being a super evil monster and then some twenty-year-old guy with an accent shows up and rips off your arm, so you run home to your mom, and then he follows her and slaughters both of you...

This was my second time reading Beowulf, and I have to say, I liked Heaney's version better than Raffel's. In Raffel's translation, you get the same story but Heaney's gives it so much more emotion and I find it it much more impactful.

That being said, the contexts and history behind the manuscript itself might be more interesting than the story.
Duolingo should add an Old English option.