Beowulf - Characters and Events
This Geatish warrior travels to Denmark to help Hrothgar.
Beowulf
Beowulf defeats Grendel by doing this to him.
Tears off his arm
This setting repeatedly causes the seafarer cold, loneliness, and suffering.
the sea
This poetic device repeats beginning consonant sounds in nearby words.
alliteration
In Beowulf, Wiglaf’s decision to remain and help Beowulf demonstrates this important Anglo-Saxon value.
loyalty
This is the name of Hrothgar’s great mead hall.
Heorot
Ordinary weapons cannot harm Grendel because Grendel has done this.
Placed a spell on the weapons
The wanderer has lost his community and this important leader.
His lord
Descriptions of freezing waves, ruined walls, and roaring monsters are examples of this sensory device.
imagery
The contrast between Heorot and Grendel emphasizes the conflict between community and this condition.
destructive isolation
Beowulf displays this trophy after defeating Grendel.
Grendel’s arm
Beowulf uses this weapon to defeat Grendel’s mother after Hrunting fails.
Giant-made sword
The seafarer suffers at sea but continues to experience this feeling toward it.
longing / a call to return
In “The Seafarer,” the description “how the sea took me, swept me back and forth” repeats this initial consonant sound and demonstrates this poetic device.
alliteration
First-person point of view gives the grief in both elegies this emotional quality.
personal and immediate
Beowulf fights Grendel’s mother in this dangerous location.
Her underwater lair
Beowulf’s decision to fight Grendel without weapons reveals his courage as well as this possible flaw.
Pride or excessive confidence
This cold, damaged setting reflects the wanderer’s grief and isolation.
A ruined landscape or ruined hall
In “The Wanderer,” descriptions of frost-covered walls, ruined halls, and storms beating against stone create this type of imagery and reinforce the speaker’s loneliness.
cold, desolate visual imagery
Across all three works, these values give meaning to life in a world marked by loss and death.
loyalty, worthy action, memory, wisdom, and spiritual hope
This loyal warrior is the only one who remains to help Beowulf fight the dragon.
Wiglaf
Beowulf’s final battle demonstrates self-sacrifice but may also show his failure to do this as king.
Protect his kingdom’s future or secure a successor
Both poems emphasize that earthly security and human achievement have this quality.
temporary / fleeting happiness
The alliteration and strong pauses of the poems contribute primarily to this quality.
Tone / mood
The combination of heroic warrior values and Christian reflection reveals the influence of these two traditions.
Pagan traditions and Christian beliefs