Epic Poetry
A long narrative poem that tells the story of a hero.
What is an epic poem?
Before Christianity, the Anglo-Saxons were these.
What are pagans?
Grendel is descended from this biblical figure.
Who is Cain?
Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother with this weapon found in her lair.
What is the giant’s sword?
Hrothgar’s mead hall represented this for his people.
What is power and community?
Beowulf becomes king of this group of people.
Who are the Geats?
This acronym represents the traits of an archetypical hero.
What is EPIC?
Anglo-Saxons loved using alliteration, kennings, and caesuras because their stories were told this way.
What is orally/verbally?
Grendel hates the sound of men doing this in Heorot.
What is singing?
The mood of the lake where Grendel’s mother lives is described as this.
What is ominous and dark?
Beowulf says even kings must bow to this.
What is fate?
Beowulf wishes he could fight the dragon like he fought this earlier monster.
Who is Grendel (with bare hands)?
This trait is shown when Beowulf travels across the sea to help Hrothgar.
What is going on a quest?
This Anglo-Saxon building was the heart of the community.
What is the mead hall (Heorot)?
The tone toward Grendel in “spawned in that slime…punished forever” is best described as this.
What is negative and cautionary?
The fight with Grendel’s mother is different from the fight with Grendel because here Beowulf uses these.
What are weapons?
The Beowulf story is unique because it blends these two belief systems.
What are Christianity and paganism?
The word “dragon” comes from Greek meaning “to watch,” because the dragon does this.
What is guard treasure?
Beowulf reveals his confidence in defeating Grendel because he has this protecting him.
What is God?
Woe-walker, Mankind’s-enemy, and Shepherd of evil are examples of this device describing Grendel.
What are kennings?
When first encountering Beowulf, Grendel tries to do this instead of fight bravely.
What is flee?
The dragon in Beowulf is awakened because someone does this.
What is steal its treasure?
Wiglaf scolds the Geats for failing to uphold these two Anglo-Saxon values.
What are courage and loyalty to their king?
When Beowulf thanks God for the treasure before dying, it shows a mix of these two traditions.
What are Christian and pagan?
Beowulf refuses to use these in his battle with Grendel so the fight will be fair.
What are weapons?
Wiglaf represents these cultural values when he helps Beowulf.
What are courage and loyalty to the king?
Grendel’s torn-off arm is displayed here as a trophy.
What is the mead hall?
In his last battle, most of Beowulf’s warriors do this instead of helping him.
What is run away?
A universal theme in Beowulf is that evil will try to do this to the values of the time.
What is destroy them?
Beowulf wants to be remembered for this.
What is self-importance and glory?