I was reading about Beowulf and Wiglaf's battle with the dragon and got to wondering if the audience of Beowulf would consider such creatures to be real. I've never really been clear on the degree to which medieval europeans considered dragons to be real creatures that you might stumble upon while out cutting wood or something. Could anyone comment?
Yes I believe so. At least in Scandinavia there were many stories of dragons and lindorms in local folklore, including brave men who fought them. The term "drake" was used for snakelike beings with a mane up to the 19th century. So Beowulf was not alone, but in the same and probably long tradition. Remember that he actually encountered not one but two beings of this type, of which the first one was shot with an arrow.