"Beowulf" is an epic poem that was written in Old English more than 1,000 years ago. It tells the story of a hero, Beowulf, who battles a monster, Grendel, as well as Grendel's mother and a dragon. The story says the battles took place in what is now Denmark and Sweden.

In Door County, "Beowulf" provides an opportunity for students at two schools — Washington Island School and Sevastopol High School — to get together every two years at Rock Island State Park to recreate the story.

Putting together a collaboration like this is almost like preparing for an epic event.

English teachers Leila Nehlsen of Washington Island and Linda Thompson and Heather Spetz of Sevastopol spearheaded the project. Others — like Jeff Cornell, who runs the Karfi ferry to Rock Island; Kirby Foss, who administers the park on Rock Island; Katie McGrane, who directs the Island Rec Center where visiting Sevastopol students spent the night; and Hoyt Purinton of the Washington Island Ferry Line, who this year also provided Cherry Train transportation — are played important parts, too.

The Beowulf collaboration is at least a decade old. This year, it began on Sept. 23, when the first Sevastopol students arrived, and it ended on the morning of Sept. 25, when Island students packed up their camping gear and returned from Rock Island.

It takes place every other year, because the small size of the Washington Island School means that junior and senior students are combined into one class that studies "Beowulf" once every two years.

The small size of the school also permits every Island high school student to take the Karfi to Rock Island to watch the performance.

The Thursday morning performances included a choral reading of a segment from "Beowulf."

Nick Knudsen, a junior, played Beowulf, who defeated the monster Grendel, played by Chris Swanson, also a junior. Swanson battled Beowulf while looking out of the mouth of a papier-mâché head he was wearing.

Swanson reused the same head that was used two years ago, but he enlarged the monster's horns and repainted the mask. "I worked with Mr. Hokkanen, the art teacher," said Swanson. "I got credit in English, and I also got credit as an art project. Grendel's papier-mâché arm also got ripped off."

All juniors and seniors wrote ballads about one of their ancestors, and every Island student completed a personal project.

For example, junior Con McDonald wrote original music for his ballad and sang it. Nathan Andersen, a senior, made a metal sword. Zach Young made a wood mead cup decorated with antlers.

Students also built a 4-foot model of a Viking ship they plan to launch and then set afire in the waters off Washington Island.

Alyssa Mann, a senior, and Maren Schutz, a junior, filmed the performance. In the same spirit as the unknown authors of the original "Beowulf" epic, Mann and Schutz will edit and burn their film onto DVDs that will be a modern record of the epic poem.

Contact Mary Marik at (920) 847-2742 or mary.marik@gmail.com.