Review Guide

 Alliteration- Repetition of consonant sounds t the beginning of words.  “My boss wants to buy my baby!” ~ Rachel from Friends  Epic Hero- Larger-than-life character who represents the ideals of a nation or a race. An epic hero takes part in dangerous adventures and accomplishes great deeds. Many undertake long, difficult journeys and displays great courage and superhuman strength.  Foreshadowing -Hints or clues to indicate events that will occur later in a story.

 Kenning- a metaphorical compound word or phrase substituted for a noun or name (enhances meaning)  “mankind’s enemy” is used for Grendel  “fire-spitting terror” is used for the dragon  “gray-bearded lord of the Geats” is used for Beowulf  Dramatic Irony- The reader or the viewer knows something that a character does not know.  Universal Theme- An underlying message that a writer wants the reader to understand that are found throughout the literature of all time periods.

A brief look into the major characters

 The protagonist of the epic  A Geatish hero who fights the monster Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and a fire- breathing dragon.  He is boastful and his encounters show him to be the strongest, ablest warrior around.  In his youth, he personifies all of the best values of the heroic culture. In his old age, he proves a wise and effective ruler.

 The king of the Danes.  Enjoys military success and prosperity until Grendel terrorizes his realm.  A wise and aged ruler, he 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.

 A young kinsman and thanes of Beowulf  Helps Beowulf fight against the dragon while all of the other warriors run away.  Wiglaf adheres to the heroic code better than Beowulf’s other thanes, thereby proving himself a suitable successor to Beowulf.

 A demon descended from Cain, Grendel preys on Hrothgar’s warriors in the king’s mead-hall called Heorot.  Because his ruthless and miserable existence is part of the retribution exacted by God for Cain’s murder of Abel, Grendel fits solidly within the ethos of vengeance that governs the world of the poem. In other words, by portraying Grendel as Cain, the author emphasizes Grendel’s inherent evil.

 An unnamed swamp-hag  She seems to possess fewer human qualities than Grendel, although her terrorization of Heorot is explained by her desire for vengeance—a human motivation.

 An ancient, powerful serpent  He guards a horde of treasure in a hidden mound.  Beowulf’s fight with the dragon constitutes the third and final part of the epic.

 K ING H ROTHGAR OF D ENMARK, a descendant of the great king Shield Sheafson, enjoys a prosperous and successful reign. He builds a great mead-hall, called Herot, where his warriors can gather to drink, receive gifts from their lord, and listen to stories sung by the scops, or bards. But the jubilant noise from Herot angers Grendel, a horrible demon who lives in the swamplands of Hrothgar’s kingdom.

 Grendel terrorizes the Danes every night, killing them and defeating their efforts to fight back. The Danes suffer many years of fear, danger, and death at the hands of Grendel.  The Danes leave Herot in order to protect themselves.  Even though Grendel (mankind’s enemy~associates Grendel to Satan) lived in Herot, “he never dared to touch king Hrothgar’s glorious throne, protected by God-God, whose love Grendel could not know” (This associates Hrothgar to God)

 A young Geatish warrior named Beowulf hears of Hrothgar’s plight. Inspired by the challenge, Beowulf sails to Denmark with a small company of men, determined to defeat Grendel.  Hrothgar, who had once done a great favor for Beowulf’s father Edgetho, accepts Beowulf’s offer to fight Grendel and holds a feast in the hero’s honor.

 After the feast, Hrothgar and his followers leave Herot, and Beowulf and his warriors spent the night at Herot in the mead hall.  Grendel comes from his marsh to Herot and finds the hall crowded with sleeping warriors and soldiers and watches them as he choose who to eat first.  As the warriors keep an eye on Grendel, he suddenly snatches the first Geat, rips him apart, drinks his blood, and shoves the body parts down his throat.

 Grendel chooses his next victim, and he has chosen Beowulf.  Beowulf leaps up, and, being the epic hero that he is, produces incredible courage and superhuman strength. He faces Grendel without a weapon, grabs Grendel’s claws, and prevents the monster from escaping.  Beowulf’s men jump to join in the fight to defeat the shepherd of evil; however, their swords could not harm Grendel.

 Grendel had “bewitched all men’s weapons, laid spells that blunted every mortal man’s blade.”  Meanwhile, Beowulf is still trying to rip the monster’s claws off, and in the struggle, Beowulf manages to rip off Grendel’s shoulder.  Grendel escapes and goes back to his cave in the marsh to die.  Everyone comes back to Herot and celebrates Beowulf’s success in killing the monster.

 Grendel’s mother finds out about the death of her son and heads out, seeking revenge.  When she arrives at Herot, she takes a single victim - Hrothgar’s closest and dearest friend – back to her marshy lair and kills him.  Deveastated by the loss of his friend, Hrothgar sends for Beowulf and recounts what Grendel’s mother has done. Then Hrothgar describes the dark lake where Grendel’s mother has lived with her son.

 Beowulf accepts Hrothgar’s challenge, and the king and his men accompany the hero to the dreadful lair of Grendel’s mother. Fearlessly, Beowulf prepares to battle the terrible creature.  During the battle, Beowulf finds that Grendel’s mother, like her son, has skin that cannot be pierced by his sword.  Beowulf discovers a sword hanging from her wall that was “hammered by giants, strong and blessed with their magic.”  Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother with the sword by stabbing her in the neck.  As a final revenge against Grendel, he finds the dead monster and chops off his head and took it to Herot.

 With Grendel’s mother destroyed,, peace is restored to the land of the Danes, and Beowulf, laden with Hrothgar’s gifts, returns to the land of his own people, the Geats.  After his uncle and cousin die, Beowulf becomes king of the Geats and rules in peace and prosperity for 50 years.  One day, a fire-breathing dragon that has been guarding a treasure for hundreds of years is disturbed by a thief, who enters the treasure tower and steal a cup.  The dragon begins terrorizing the Geats, and Beowulf, now an old man, takes on the challenge of fighting it.

 Beowulf begins to fight the dragon, and starts to lose.  “Quickly, the dragon came at him, encouraged as Beowulf fell back; its breath flared, and he suffered, wrapped around in swirling flames-a king, before, but now a beaten warrior. None of his comrades came to him, helped him, hi brave and noble followers; they ran for their lives, fled deep in a wood.”  However, Wiglaf, a good soldier, saw how his king was being defeated and decides to help Beowulf.

 Wiglaf joins Beowulf, who again attacks the dragon single-handed; but his sword shatters, and the dragon wounds him in the neck.  Wiglaf then strikes the dragon, and he and Beowulf together finally succeed in killing the beast.  Their triumph is short-lived, however, because Beowulf’s wound proves to be fatal.

 The Geats build a tower as Beowulf’s monument with his ashes in the walls so sailors could find it from far away.  The riches he and Wiglaf had won from the dragon went into the tower as well.  The Geats told stories about Beowulf, proclaiming that no future king will be as brave and heroic.