Beowulf Reading Comprehension Questions
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Pre-reading considerations
1. What is your idea of a hero?
2. What is courage? How would you define it?
3. What qualities do you believe a good leader should possess?
4. What does it mean to be loyal?
5. Why is your reputation important?
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ABOUT BEOWULF
Setting: 6th c. AD in Daneland (modern Denmark), then in Geatland (Norway)
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Style: epic poem, including caesuras, strong 4-beat rhythm, alliteration
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Author: oral tradition at first, established by scops, then 2 priests in the early 11th century wrote the only
surviving manuscript
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Themes: Good vs. evil; the importance of loyalty
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Characters: (These are not in chronological order)
 Higlac—king of the Geats, Beowulf’s kinsman (uncle, probably)
 Herot—mead-hall of the Danes
 Beowulf—Geatish hero
 Hrothgar—wise, good king of the Danes
 Wiglaf—a Swede who changed sides to follow Beowulf; helped Beowulf defeat the Dragon
 Grendel—monster who attacks the Danes for 12 years; descendent from Cain
 Grendel’s Mother—attacks the Danes after Grendel is killed
 Hrunting (The Battle with Grendel’s Mother)—the sword Beowulf takes into the fen-pool; melts
 Nagling (The Battle with the Dragon)—the sword Beowulf takes to the dragon’s lair; also destroyed
 Edgetho—Beowulf’s father, mentioned in kennings like “Edgetho’s son,” referring to Beowulf
 Healfdane—Hrothgar’s father, mentioned in kennings like “Healfdane’s son,” referring to Hrothgar
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 Wealtheow—Hrothgar’s queen
 Geats—Beowulf’s people, from Geatland (modern Norway)
 Danes—Hrothgar’s people, from Daneland (modern Denmark
 Grendel Attacks the Danes
1. What is Herot?
2. Who is Grendel?
3. What does Grendel resent about Hrothgar and his men?
4. What does Grendel do at Herot?
5. How long did Grendel’s wrath reign?
6. Why is Hrothgar’s throne untouched by Grendel?
 The Coming of Beowulf
1. Who is Healfdane’s son? What is this an example of?
2. Why does Beowulf come to Herot?
3. How many men does he bring?
4. Who meets his men on the shore?
5. What does Beowulf’s way of identifying himself suggest about the values of a warrior culture?
6. How does Beowulf convince the man of his heroics?
7. What does Beowulf say has brought him to battle?
8. How does he intend to make it a fair fight?
9. If Beowulf dies, who will he blame?
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The Battle With Grendel
1. What is the foreshadowing in line 310?
2. Where did Beowulf and Grendel battle?
3. What advantage does Beowulf have in the battle?
4. What advantage does Grendel have in battle? (Lines 355-363)
5. How many men are left by the battle’s end?
6. Who is defeated and how?
7. What is left at Herot at the end?
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The Monster’s Lair
1. In the interlude on page 34, who does Grendel’s mother attack?
2. Where do the monsters live?
3. What important about Grendel’s parentage?
4. What do you know about the narrator/speaker from lines 479-484?
5. What can you infer about his audience?
6. How will the victor be rewarded if he succeeds?
7. Why do you think the scops added this passage?
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The Battle With Grendel’s Mother
1. What is the mood of lines 421-423?
2. What poetic device is “greedy she-wolf” an example of?
3. What is important about the details of travels through the lake?
4. What won’t work against Grendel’s mother?
5. What does work against Grendel’s mother?
6. What finally becomes of Grendel?
7. What do the men erroneously assume of Beowulf?
8. What does Beowulf return with
9. Who is finally mentioned at the very end of this section?
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The Battle with the Dragon
1. What happens in the interlude on page 38?
2. How has the setting changed in this segment?
3. How is this battle like the previous two?
4. How is this battle different than the previous two?
5. Who is Beowulf fighting?
6. What does Beowulf’s speech (ln 733-760)
7. Who is Wiglaf?
8. What does Wiglaf say to Beowulf’s men?
9. What does Wiglaf do in the battle?
10. What commentary does the author make about gold in this passage?
11. What is Beowulf’s dying wish?
12. What does Beowulf give Wiglaf?
13. What does the last line of the section indicate about Anglo-Saxon values?
14. In Beowulf’s death scene, what is shown about the importance in warrior culture of the commemoration of
individuals after death?
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15.
The Farewell
1. Describe what the Geats did to Beowulf’s body per his request.
2. What happened to all the gold?
3. How does Beowulf compare to modern heroes?
4. What kind of man did this culture value?
5. Did Beowulf live up to these values?
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