Beowulf Study Guide
Pronunciation:
1. Accent is always on the first syllable
2. Make the “h” before “r” and “n” a strongly breathed sound
3. “ch” sounds like the “ch” in Bach or loch
4. “aya” and “ayo” are single syllables that sound like the vowel sounds in “yeah” or “hail”
Part 1: Chapters 1-7 (pages 1-52)
Chapter
1
Vocabulary:
sheaf
tributes
stride
litter
Characters/People/Places to Know:
Danes
Odin
Scyld Scefing
2
masons
fen
Swedes
Onela
3
avenged
Healfdene
Hrothgar
Heorogar
Halga
Heorot
Grendel
Wealhtheow
Unferth
Ecglaf
half day nuh
hroth gar
hair uh gar
Hygelac
Beowulf
Geats
hee yuh lahk
bay wolf
4
cultivating
integrity
indomitable
shingle
5
insinuated
uncouth
sustenance
6
malignant
retched
mucid
relinquish
7
timorous
askance
prosperity
impudent
Pronunciation:
shild shay ving
hair ut
walch thayo
edge gloff
Part 2: Chapters 8-12 (pages 53-81)
Chapter
8
Vocabulary:
loathsome
imperishable
illumination
spoor
9
desolate
subtle
incensed
10
obsequious
succumbed
fetid
corroding
incantation
hilt
clammy
11
subsided
disconsolately
vigorously
bough
venture
pine
12
Characters/People/Places to Know:
Grendel’s mother
Aeschere
Pronunciation:
ash hair uh
Part 3: Chapters 13-16 (pages 82-103)
Chapter
13
Vocabulary:
faltering
pyre
tussle
virtue
asylum
feud
tawny
14
strewn
15
pestilence
strife
flabbergasted
16
quench
flog
scythe
essence
deftly
Characters/People/Places to Know:
Queen Hygd
Hardred
Ohthere
Onela
Eanmund
Eadgils
Weohstan
Wiglaf
Pronunciation:
queen heed
ocht hair uh
ayan mund
ayad gils (hard “g”)
wecht stahn
wee lahf