Characters
Themes, Memes, and Schemes
Literary Devices of Mass Destruction
Monster Mash
Potent Quotables
100
The protagonist of the epic, this person is a Geatish hero who fights the monster Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and a fire-breathing dragon. This individual boasts and his encounters reveal him to be the strongest, ablest warrior around. In youth, this person personifies all of the best values of the heroic culture. In old age, this person proves a wise and effective ruler.
Who is Beowulf?
100
Fighting without armor (strength), boasting, and drinking are all examples of important ______________ values.
What is Anglo-Saxon, Viking, or Pagan
100
"Dragging the dead men home to his den," "Fitted and furnished," and "Showed sea-cliffs shining" are all examples of this literary device.
What is alliteration?
100
A demon descended from Cain, this monster preys on Hrothgar’s warriors in the king’s mead-hall, Heorot. This character is known to "lend a hand" to Beowulf.
Who is Grendel?
100
"Nor have I ever seen,/ Out of all the men on earth, one greater/ Than has come with you..."
Who is Beowulf?
200
The king of the Danes whom enjoys military success and prosperity until Grendel terrorizes his realm. A wise and aged ruler, this individual represents a different kind of leadership from that exhibited by the youthful warrior Beowulf. He is a father figure to Beowulf and a model for the kind of king that Beowulf becomes.
Who is Hrothgar?
200
Giving glory to God, purity, and the genealogies of the monsters all show the _______________ influences on Beowulf.
What is Christian?
200
Light-of-battle=Sword Fighting-gear, battle-gear=armor Battle-sweat=blood are all examples of this literary device.
What is a kenning?
200
An ancient, powerful serpent, this character guards a horde of treasure in a hidden mound. Beowulf’s fight with the monster constitutes the third and final part of the epic.
What is the dragon?
200
"Twelve winters of grief for Hrothgar, king/ Of the Danes, sorrow heaped at his door/ By hell-forged hands, His misery leaped/ The seas, was told and sung in all/ Men's ears." What is this quote talking about?
What is the amount of time Grendel has been terrorizing Heorot?
300
A Danish warrior who is jealous of Beowulf, this character is unable and/or unwilling to fight Grendel, thus proving himself inferior to Beowulf. He brings up Beowulf's only defeat: a swimming match.
Who is Unferth?
300
The concern with family history that is so prominent because of the poem’s emphasis on kinship bonds. Characters take pride in ancestors who have acted valiantly, and they attempt to live up to the same standards as those ancestors.
What is the importance of lineage and establishing an identity?
300
The pause used within a poem, this is used for emphasis and catching one's breath.
What is a Caesura?
300
An unnamed swamp-hag, this character seems to possess fewer human qualities than her son, although her terrorization of Heorot is explained by her desire for vengeance—a human motivation.
Who is Grendel's Mother?
300
"Beowulf, you've come to us in friendship, and because/ Of the reception your father found at court./ Edgetho had begun a bitter feud,/ Killing Hathlaf, a Wulfing warrior: /Your father's countrymen were afraid of war,/ If he returned to his home, and they turned him away." This quote exemplifies this theme in our epic.
What is lineage/family heritage?
400
A young kinsman and retainer of Beowulf who helps him in the fight against the dragon while all of the other warriors run away. This character adheres to the heroic code better than Beowulf’s other retainers, thereby proving himself a suitable successor to Beowulf.
Who is Wiglaf?
400
The greatest mead-hall in all of the land that is terrorized by Grendel.
What is Heorot?
400
A warning or indication of a future event in a story or writing, this device is used in Beowulf when discussing fate.
What is foreshadowing?
400
Take a deep breath! The battle with Grendel's mother takes place in this setting, further proving Beowulf's awesomeness.
What is underwater?
400
"The old man's mouth was silent, spoke/ No more, had said as much as it could;/ He would sleep in the fire, soon. His soul/ Left his flesh, flew to glory." Wiglaf says Beowulf will sleep in the fire soon; isn't that a bad thing?
What is because he will be burned in a funeral pyre?
500
Beowulf’s father and Hrothgar’s friend, this character is dead by the time the story begins, but he lives on through the noble reputation that he made for himself during his life and in his dutiful son’s remembrances. Beowulf is often referred to ____________'s brave son.
Who is Ecgtheow?
500
Strength, power, and braggadocio versus integrity, wisdom, and honor.
What are the important values and differences between a good warrior and a good king.
500
Beowulf's trusty sword, symbolizing mortal strength and how it often is not enough, which breaks during Beowulf's fight with Grendel's Mother.
What is Hrunting?
500
This is how the dragon SPECIFICALLY defeats our beloved protagonist.
What is biting him in the neck and poisoning him?
500
"He has done his worst but the wound will end him. He is hasped and hooped and hirpling with pain,limping and looped in it." This quote is full of this literary device.
What is alliteration?
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