Eric Evensen's The Beast of Wolfe's Bay (Evensen Creative 2013) is an interesting mix of ideas that includes a number of references to Beowulf, starting with a character's use and explanation of the word "Hwaet" the first page. The main story follows two people from the small town of Heorot, one who has a PhD in mythology and folklore and another who is struggling to get a dissertation approved in paleoanthropology. Both of them were drawn back to town to help investigate some recent murders that may or may not have been the work of a Bigfoot.
The author notes at the end of the book that he had started out with the intent of doing a straight Beowulf adaptation, but was also fascinated by the idea of a Sasquatch. He "decided to take a modern approach that changed up a lot of the original dynamics of the Beowulf story, deconstructing them and stripping them of a lot of their more operatic nature." Doing so, Beowulf becomes a nerdy college instructor, Hrothgar is the town Sheriff (Gary Roth), and so on with adaptations of Aeschere, Unferth, while the character Winifred Roth is a combination of several characters from the poem.
The author notes at the end of the book that he had started out with the intent of doing a straight Beowulf adaptation, but was also fascinated by the idea of a Sasquatch. He "decided to take a modern approach that changed up a lot of the original dynamics of the Beowulf story, deconstructing them and stripping them of a lot of their more operatic nature." Doing so, Beowulf becomes a nerdy college instructor, Hrothgar is the town Sheriff (Gary Roth), and so on with adaptations of Aeschere, Unferth, while the character Winifred Roth is a combination of several characters from the poem.