Grendel wages war, that is terrorizes Heorot and its inhabitants, because he is a carnivorous, devilish creature that is committed to disturbing the king's peace and prosperity of the realm. The Dragon, on the other hand, wages war simply because a slave stole a cup from the treasure he had guarded for ages. So, his motivation is retribution. Grendel is a subverted human, the descendant of Cain, so he challenges the king and his subjects. The Dragon is something less particular, a kind of irrational force that subverts the order itself. He strikes Beowulf's kingdom. The clash of the two of them will end with both being dead, and the conflict unresolved.
