Beowulf the Anglo-Saxon Epic
Anglo-Saxon poetry characteristics
Beowulf's Battle with Grendel
Beowulf's Battle with Grendel's Mother
Beowulf's Battle with the Dragon
100
These are banquet halls named ater the alcohol drunk there.
Mead halls
100
This is when appropriate words and or phrases are repeated in Anglo-Saxon poetry.
repetition
100
How long did Grendel attack the Danes in the beginning of the epic?
12 years
100
How does Grendel's mother avenge her son's death?
She kills Hrothgar's closes friend and takes her son's arm
100
How does Beowulf become king of the Geats?
Higlac and Higlac's son dies and Beowulf is the next in line to inherit the throne.
200
Beowulf was written down sometime within this time period.
700AD to 1000AD
200
These people were hired by the court and paid to create poems celebrating the adventures or exploits of a chieftain.
Scops or shops or gleeman or bards
200
"The monster's thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws" means...
Grendel was intelligent
200
What happens to the giant's sword?
The blade melts when Beowulf cuts off Grendel's head with it. Beowulf keeps the handle (hilt).
200
What is an apostrophe in literature?
A poetic device in which a speaker talks to an inanimate object or non-living thing, person or abstraction.
300
We believe this person first wrote the poem down after hearing it.
An Anglo-Saxon poet or monk
300
This is a pause within a line of Anglo-Saxon poetry.
caesura
300
At the end of the battle between Grendel and Beowulf, the poet attributes Grendel's defeat to whom?
God's power
300
What does Beowulf take with him to the surface of the lake?
Grendel's head and the hilt of the giant's sword
300
"Almighty's candle" is what type of Anglo-Saxon poetry characteristic? What does it mean?
kenning, the sun
400
This is what we call the Christian and non-Christian references in the poem that exit together.
Pagan /Christian duality
400
This is the repetition of initial consonant sounds usually used to bind the two halves of a line.
alliteration
400
"lap of their shining ship" is an example of what figure of speech?
personification
400
"Then he saw The mighty water witch, and swung his sword, His ring-marked blade, straight at her head; The iron sang its fierce song, Sang Beowulf's strength. Is an example of personification why?
The iron sword is said to be singing a song. When the sword is swung through the air, it makes a high-pitched singing sound.
400
List at 2 ways the Geats memorialize Beowulf.
1.Burn his body in a funeral fire 2.Old woman sings a song of misery 3.Geats build a tower and seal his ashes in the walls 4.Geats bury the dragon's treasure in the ground near Beowulf's memorial tower 5.Geats ride around the Beowulf's tower telling honorable stories about Beowulf.
500
Beowulf was first written in this language.
Old English
500
These are compound metaphor or metaphorical phrases used instead of a name or a thing. Example-"Shepherd of Evil"
kennings
500
What two things are compared in this simile "ship foamed through the sea like a bird? Explain the comparison.
ship and bird-both skim through their elements gracefully and seemingly without effort.
500
How is Beowulf's method of killing Grendel's mother ironic?
She is killed by her own sword. It is an example of magic killing magic.
500
Why is the slave's theft of the cup an example of situational irony?
The theft resolves the conflict between himself and his master but triggers a far more serious conflict between the dragon and the Geats.
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