Grade 10 Honors
Mr. Esner
 Oldest
recorded English
myth.
 First recorded in the 8th
century, is set in the 7th
century, but is thought to
be much older.
 Told by scops, or AngloSaxon poets.
 Highlights a transition
from Celtic/Norse pagan
religious beliefs to the
growing monotheistic
beliefs of Christianity.
 Good
vs. Evil
 Hero vs. Villain
 Light vs. Dark
 Pagan vs. Christian
 Old vs. New
 The Hero’s Quest. The role and growth of the
hero.
 The Comitatus or bond between warriors and
kings.
 Role of fate and the ability to overcome it.
Scop: An Anglo-Saxon poet
 Epic: An extended narrative poem in elevated or
dignified language, celebrating the feats of
a legendary or traditional hero.
 Alliteration: Repetition of consonant sounds.
 Kenning: A figurative, usually compound
expression used in place of a name or
noun, especially in Old English and Old
Norse poetry; for example, storm of
swords is a kenning for battle.
 Caesura: A pause in a line of verse dictated by
sense or natural speech rhythm
rather than by metrics.
 Monomyth: Joseph Campbell’s model for the
hero’s quest present in every culture.

 Beowulf
 Hrothgar
 Unferth
 Higlac
 Wiglaf
 Grendel
 Grendel’s
Mother
 The Dragon
 Herot
is built by the wealthy and
powerful king of the Danes,
Hrothgar.
 The is much celebration that creates
a disturbing noise to Grendel.
 Grendel comes in the night
murdering thirty men.
 Grendel continues his reign of terror
for twelve years
 Word
of Herot’s plight reaches Beowulf in
Geatland (Southern Sweden).
 Beowulf, desirous of fame, asks his king,
Higlac, to take a party of Geatish warriors
(Thanes) to aid the Danes.
 Beowulf and his men set out for Herot and
the Danish shore.
 Unferth,
an aid to king Hrothgar, doubts the
ability of Beowulf to rid the Danes of their
monster.
 He recalls a swimming match with Brecca
that Beowulf was unable to win.
 Beowulf responds in his famous boast that he
did not win because he was too busy killing
sea monsters.
 He also notes that Unferth is in no position to
speak given his murderous past. Oh snap!
Because Grendel does not use them, Beowulf
chooses to fight without a sword or armor.
 Grendel comes to Herot in the night expecting
another feast of Danish warriors but is startled to
find sleeping Geats.
 Something grabs hold of his arm and for the first
time Grendel is afraid.
 After a struggle, Grendel escapes but not before
Beowulf tears off his arm.
 The arm is tacked to the wall in Herot as a trophy
and all celebrate the destruction of the monster.

Grendel’s Mother, upset by the murder of her
son, comes to Herot in the night to have her
revenge and retrieve her son’s arm.
 Beowulf and his men follow her trail back to her
underwater layer.
 Beowulf dives in and after hours of swimming
finds her underwater cave.
 The two characters fight and Beowulf is nearly
defeated.
 After his sword breaks he finds a large sword
made by giants which he uses to decapitate the
monster.
 He takes the head of Grendel as a trophy.

Beowulf returns to Geatland with a wealth of
treasure given in thanks by Hrothgar.
 Higlac dies in battle some time later and Beowulf is
elevated to King.
 Beowulf reigns as king for fifty years.
 Then some dummy finding a cave full of treasure,
which is guarded by a dragon, steals a piece of gold.
 This enrages the dragon which begins to terrorize
the Geats.
 Beowulf, now an old man, is called back to action.

 Beowulf,
attempting to fight the dragon
alone, finds the for the first time fate is
against him. Shield melts, sword breaks,
etc.
 Beowulf suffers a wound to the neck
from the poisonous tusk of the dragon.
 Wiglaf, alone, comes to the aid of
Beowulf citing all the greatness and
glory that Beowulf has bestowed on
their people.
 The two fight together and with the aid
of Wiglaf, Beowulf is able to defeat the
dragon by cutting it in half.
 Before
dying Beowulf makes to requests.
 The first is that Wiglaf retrieve the dragon’s
treasure.
 The second is that a tower be built in his
honor on the coast so that all sailors can be
reminded of him.
 Beowulf is burned on a funeral pyre as his
people lament his passing.
 A tower is built in his honor by the sea for
passing sailors to acknowledge.