Page 1
Name:___________________
Date_______________
lines 836-851, 915-989,1215-1250
1. Describe the place where Grendel lives, where he fled to after being wounded. 836851
2. What unusual step does Hrothgar take to honor Beowulf? 915-989
3. What was everyone in the hall staring at?
4. What two giflts does Wealhtheow give Beowulf?
5. Whom does she ask Beowulf to treat well?
6. What is foreshadowed in this section? 1215-1250
lines 1251-1631
1. Find a kenning for Grendel's mother.
2. Whom did she seize?
3. What else did she snatch from Heorot?
4. What "uncanny" thing happens at the mere?
5. Beowulf says it's better to do what than to mourn?
Page 2
6. What did the Danes find at the foot of the cliff?
15. What does Unferth give Beowulf? Why?
16. Describe the battle between Beowulf and Grendel’s mother.
lines 1632-1998
1. What’s it like when he brings in Grendel’s head?
2. What does he tell Hrothgar?
3. What does he give Hrothgar?
4. What was inscribed on the hilt of the sword?
5. What does Hrothgar say to Beowulf?
6. Why does Hrothgar mention Heremod?
7. From 1724-1737, Hrothgar describes what happens when a king is given success by
God. In line 1743, he says, "A killer stalks him. . . " This is not literally a killer. What
does this 'killer' represent?
8. What advice does Hrothgar give Beowulf right after this speech?
9. What happens next?
Page 3
10. What does Unferth say?
11. How long had Hrothgar ruled his kingdom?
12. How was Hrothgar similar to the king he describes in the lines above?
13. What happens when Beowulf sails back home?
14. How is he greeted?
15. What is the point of the story of Queen Modthryth—what’s the lesson we’re
supposed to learn?
lines 2177-2323
In this section, Beowulf is back in the land of the Geats, with his uncle and king,
Hygelac.
1. What do we learn in the beginning of this section about the way Beowulf's peers had
thought of him?
2. How long did Beowulf rule as king?
3. How was the dragon angered?
4. How had all the treasure gotten there in the first place?
5. How long has the dragon guarded the treasure?
Page 4
6. What retaliatory actions did the dragon take?
lines 2323-2424
1. What did Beowulf order to be made?
2. Give an example of Wyrd: list line numbers.
3. Give an epithet used for Beowulf.
4. Give a kenning used for the dragon (from this passage).
5. We learn about how Hygelac had died. Why did Beowulf survive that battle?
6. Why didn't Beowulf accept Hygelac's wife's offer of the throne?
7. How many men did Beowulf take to investigate the dragon?
8. Whom did he "press gang" into joining him and his men?
9. Show an example of ironic understatement on p. 163.
lines 2510-2601, 2620-2808
1. What did Beowulf's men do when the dragon attacked?
Page 5
2. Who returns to help Beowulf?
3. What is Naegling and what happened to it?
4. How did the dragon injure Beowulf?
5. How did the son of Weohstan attack?
6. Who delivered the final blow?
7. What does Beowulf wish he had done when he thinks back on his life?
8. What does he ask Wiglaf to bring him?
9. What was the source of light in the barrow?
10. What does Beowulf order his men to do?
Page 6
Name:___________________
Date_______________
lines 2809-3182
1. How is Beowulf killed?
2. Summarize Beowulf’s last words to Wiglaf.
3. What does Wiglaf say to the rest of Beowulf’s followers? What is his prediction for
Geatland?
4 Examine the last lines 3178-3182. Considering the entire poem, does it end on an
overriding note of optimism or pessimism? How could the last lines contain both?
Page 7
Beowulf Background and concepts
Oral literature
•handed down by word of mouth
•memorized by bard/holy man, in general
•oral literature had the authority of age, even divine authority
•Anglo-Saxons had scop who sang and played harp
•cobbles together different stories; sometimes puts new names on old stories
Old English
•highly inflected language
•Old English poetry is very visual
Anglo-Saxon social structure
•post-Roman world was dangerous—Dark Ages—vast darkness interrupted by
occasional safe havens
•king or chieftain led band of followers, comitatus: pledged not to leave battlefield
before king
•king rewarded followers with booty, often worn on the body in torques
•successful king celebrates with warriors in a mead-hall
Religion
•pagan Norse religion: worship of Wodin, Thor, Tyr, and Freya
•no real afterlife, except Valhalla preparation for Ragnarok (Valkyries)
•belief in unavoidable fate: Wyrd
•note that pagans value being sung about and gold, which testifies to a hero's
accomplishments; however, the epic ultimately shows the futility of all heroic efforts
•Christianity (clumsily) woven into text, probably by monk scribes—all Old
Testament
•understand how Beowulf mixes and joins Christian and pagan values
The hero
•like heroes of pagan epic, hero wishes to be remembered for glorious deeds (no
heaven)
•life on earth is short; grab for gold and glory
•makes a gielp, a drunken boast that he must fulfill
The epic
•a long narrative poem
•told in elevated style
Page 8
•dealing with the adventures of a hero
•embodying the values of a nation
Poetic characteristics
•alliteration
•four major stresses per line
•line broken into 2 half-lines by a caesura
•epithets
•visual images
•kennings: visual compound metaphors
•litotes: ironic understatement
•Repetition and variation
•parataxis: from Greek for 'act of placing side by side'. It is used to describe
a technique in poetry in which two images or fragments, usually starkly dissimilar
images or fragments, are juxtaposed without a clear connection. Readers are then
left to make their own connections implied by the paratactic syntax.
•highly inflected nature of Old English allows for prominence of rhythm
and alliteration