Name:
Beowulf Reading Guide 2: The Battle With Grendel (4), and The Monster’s Mother (5), and The Final Battle (6)
Readers 26-36
Collections, The Battle with Grendel, Pages 415-419
26. How does Beowulf intend to fight Grendel (italicized text)?
27. Describe’s Grendel approach to Herot (lines 237-240)? How/why is this possible?
28. What role does fate play in this battle (lines 257-259)?
29. How did Grendel fall into Beowulf’s grip? What was Beowulf doing?
30. Why cannot Beowulf’s men help their prince? Explain (lines 320-327).
31. How does Beowulf “defeat” Grendel? How does he display his victory?
32. What (2 things) do the Danes do the morning after the battle?
A. Lines 360-375.
B. Lines 376-396.
Collections, Grendel’s Mother, Pages 419-421
33. Why did Grendel’s Mother emerge (italicized text)?
34. Why did she only take one man (lines 400-413)?
35. Who was he? What did she do to him?
36. What else did she steal from Herot?
37. What will animals do to avoid going into the water leading to the monsters’ lair?
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Collections, The Battle With Grendel’s Mother, pages 421-424
38. What does Hrothgar offer Beowulf for defeating a second monster?
39. What protects Beowulf as he descends into the water and confronts the mother (lines 460-462)?
40. Where does Grendel’s Mother take Beowulf? What two things does this protect him from (lines 468-472)?
41. Why cannot Beowulf injure the mother (lines 478-481)?
42. Beowulf fights Grendel’s mother with what and for what (lines 489-490)
43. What, made by Giants, does Beowulf find?
44. Why is this weapon significant and ironic (reread lines 153-155 if needed)?
45. How does Beowulf kill Grendel’s mother?
46. What final act of revenge does Beowulf perform?
47. What previous story alluded to Beowulf’s great ability to fight sea creatures (SUPPLEMENT)?
48. Why did Hrothgar and his men go back to Herot before Beowulf returned from underwater?
49. What did Beowulf bring back to the surface? What had happened to the sword’s blade?
50. How large is the “terrible trophy” taken to Hrothgar in Herot (lines 591-2)?
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CLOSE READER, Beowulf’s Last Battle, Pages 87-92
51. Why must Beowulf, now King of the Geats, fight a dragon? How long has Beowulf been king (italicized text)?
52. Why cannot Beowulf defeat the dragon with his bare hands (lines 11-17)?
53. If he wins, what does Beowulf want? What flaw does this reveal?
54. What happens to the weapons Beowulf brought to fight the dragon?
Shield (line 62):
Sword (line 66):
55. As he falls, what do Beowulf’s men do?
56. Who is the only warrior to stay with Beowulf? Why (line 91)?
CLOSE READER, The Death of Beowulf, Pages 92-96
57. Ultimately, what happens to the dragon? To Beowulf (italicized text)?
58. Who would have Beowulf liked to leave his armor to?
59. Who has he never harmed or killed (lines 149-150)?
60. What can defeat even the strongest of men (lines 171-173)? This relates to question 53.
61. What are Beowulf’s final two wishes (lines 205-207, 208-214)?
62. What does Beowulf give to Wiglaf? What relationship is unveiled here in lines 219-222?
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63. What do Beowulf’s final words and death foreshadow about the fate of the Geats (lines 219-222)?
Close Reader, Mourning Beowulf, Page 97
64. How do Beowulf’s men honor his body? What do they bury with him (his ashes)?
65. According to the lamentations of the Geats, what kind of king was Beowulf?
Beowulf Discussion Questions
Directions: Find one specific example in the poem that supports your answer to each question. Record the line number,
a quote after your response.
1. Within Beowulf, there are many religious allusions. How does this influence the central theme of good
vs. evil?
Response
Example: Turning back to the pagan Anglo-Saxon
gods did not save the Danes from Grendel’s attacks.
Evil could not defeat evil.
Line Number & Quote
EXAMPLE: Lines 90-93-And sometimes they
sacrificed to the old stone gods,/Made heathen
vows, hoping for hell’s support…
2. In what ways does Beowulf challenge fate? Do you believe he is changing his fate by taking risks?
Response
Line Number & Quote
3. The monsters resist attacks by man-made weapons. What real life dangers could they, the monsters,
symbolize? Please relate one monster’s weapons/characteristics to a potential threat.
Line Number & Quote
Response
4. Using the character Beowulf as a model, what characteristics did the Anglo-Saxons idealize?
Line Number & Quote
Response
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