Grendel Attacks the Danes Part 1

Grendel Attacks the Danes Lines 1-14 speak of the warriors singing and praising God for creation. This is an example of allusion. – An allusion is a author’s reference to another ____________, event, _______, place, piece of ____ or music that the reader would be familiar with. – Make a tally mark every time you see an allusion and jot down the line number.

Grendel Attacks the Danes Line ____ references a mead hall, which was like a barracks where the soldiers slept, ate and drank… a lot. In line 20, there is a reference to ______. He is the son of Adam and Even who killed his brother out of jealousy and thus is the world’s first murderer. The bible tells us that he was ________ (out of protection from others). – Gen. 4:1-16

Grendel Attacks the Danes Lines is another blatant example of the unknown poet’s attempts to infuse this story with _______________. – He is attributing all things that go bump in the night, everything that a medieval person would be frightened of, as a descendent of Cain because of his ______________ to God. Line 36 is one of my favorite instances of __________… Grendel being the ultimate creeper!

Grendel Attacks the Danes Line 37 gives us food for thought (haha) about how big Grendel was. Consider how many men he was able to grab easily in one fell swoop. (Cartoon strip for lines 1-50) Lines gives us an idea of how bad things have gotten if the ______are no longer partying it up, but running back home to their wives and mamas.

Grendel Attacks the Danes Line 56 points out how Grendel could have worn them down so completely… how alert could you be after being hunted every time you stopped to ______? Lines are a short ________to those few men who were brave enough to stand up to him. Line 62 tells us how long _________has been tormenting the Danes.

Grendel Attacks the Danes Lines show us how old time _______got from place to place. Lines is a great example of keening. – Keening is a literary term for renaming a _______with a __________________… (kind of like combining a pronoun with an adjective phrase) – Try to keep a list of the many ways Grendel, Beowulf and Grendel’s mother are referred to.

Grendel Attacks the Danes Line 77 – I take back my earlier statement… THIS is the ultimate example of Grendel being a creeper! – When I read that he hunted them from the marshes, always there, __________, ________, I can’t help but hear “I always feel like, somebody’s watching me” play in my head! (Music video/Movie intro) Line 84 tells us that as God’s _______________on earth (stealing the Pope’s job) King _________was protected by God and that’s why Grendel cant’ get him.

Grendel Attacks the Danes In addition to your list of allusion and keening examples, make a list for yourself of the names of the main characters, weapons, and places of the story as they share VERY Germanic spellings and pronunciations.

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