Beowulf Comprehension Questions (Collaboration)

[Prologue: The Rise of the Danish Nation] (Lines 1-85, pp. 33-34)

1. The manner in which he became king was unusual because Shield was an abandoned child whom traveled to Denmark alone and there he was able to change his fate and rule many lands. His funeral consisted of placing his corpse on a fighting ship, piling it up with treasures, and setting him adrift in the sea. Hrothgar is Shield’s grandson.

 [Heorot is attacked] (Lines 86-188, pp. 34-36)

 1. Hrothgar built the beautiful dwelling of Heorot, however the monstrous Grendel attacked it and killed many of his men. His attacks spanned over a period of twelve winters. The Danes could do nothing else but remain in the bloody feud with Grendel, although they attempted to remain hidden. Hrothgar’s council tried to find solutions by looking for warriors and making sacrifices to the old stone gods.

 [The Hero Comes to Heorot] (Lines 189-490, pp. 36-42)

1. Beowulf heads out to Heorot with his men to take on the deed of cleansing it of Grendel. He is confident that with his strength he will accomplish it.

2. The Geats meet a watchman of the seas/beach shore. The watchman stops the Geats and asks what they are doing with the weapons they carry and the armor they have. He asked them specifically what their purpose was landing on Denmark. The Geats say they are not invaders or pirates, but wish to protect the throne of Scylding and defend the throne of Hrothgar from the villainous Grendel.

3. Hrothgar’s herald is named Wulfgar. Wulfgar asks the Geats what their business is and asks them what their names are. Beowulf announces himself as the leader of the Geats seeks an audience with the king of Danes, Hrothgar of the throne. Hrothgar responds by saying yes to the warrior Beowulf to speak. No I am not surprised that Hrothgar knows Beowulf because he knows Beowulf’s father who fought with him before king.

4. Beowulf told Hrothgar that he has defeated giants and other mythical creatures. He said that he will kill Grendel unarmed and unarmored when he comes to the hall at night. Hrothgar fought with his father during a feud with the Geats and Scyldings and were settled by a paying old treasure.

 [Feast at Heorot] (lines 491-661, pp. 42-46)

1. Unferth is jealous of Beowulf due to the kinsmen’s adoration for him. He tells the kinsmen that Beowulf lost a swimming match against Breca (and will lose to Grendel as well). Unferth believes that the swimming match was a waste of time and was a reckless thing to do. Beowulf answers Unferth by telling his side of the story saying that Breca had help, a few monster allies, when he pulled Beowulf under the ocean and then pointedly mocks Unferth. This is relevant to the poem as it enhances the reader’s analysis of Beowulf’s character. The episode shows Beowulf’s boastfulness and arrogance, which is an overall big part of the whole poem. 

2.  Queen Wealhtheow goes around passing drinks and food to the soldiers as a sign of gratefulness and peace.

[The Fight with Grendel] (Lines 662-835, pp. 46-49)

1.  Instead of arming for battle, typical for a heroic poetry battle scene, Beowulf believes he is strong enough to beat Grendel without the use of any weapon. Therefore, Beowulf strips himself of any weapon, using instead his bare hands.

 2. When Grendel enters Heorot, he encounters many men sleeping and imagines the destruction and murder he could cause. However, he also finds an alert and prepared Beowulf. Beowulf fights him without armor or weapons; he simply tightly grasps Grendel, refusing to let him go. Within minutes, Beowulf’s men are attempting to help, but their weapons are harmless to Grendel. Grendel is weak and unable to free himself, but he is able to escape because he loses an arm.

 [Celebration at Heorot] (Lines 836-1250, pp. 49-60)

1. Beowulf is like Sigemund because they both cared and protected their people; ultimately they were both heroes who murdered monsters. On the other hand, Heremod ignored the needs of his people; he did not protect them and actually turned on them.

2. Hrothgar makes a speech praising Beowulf as well as offers him the best riches and to get vengeance for all the Geat soldiers that were murdered. Unferth now says nothing, Beowulf has proven his bravery.

 3. In general, the Danish general is treacherously attacked at Finn’s castle. Hengest succeeds Hnaef as the Danish general and a pact is made between Finn and the Danes after his force is nearly exterminated. Hengest is stuck in the castle during winter and comes up with a way to enact vengeance. He kills Finn and the jewels of Finn are borne away to the Dane’s castle. This suggests that using a bride to heal enmity between tribes is not the smartest thing to do.

4.  Wealhtheow asks Hrothgar not to give Beowulf the throne.

5. Wealhtheow asks Beowulf to help her sons if they are ever in need.

6. The men had all fallen asleep in the beer hall, because they had earlier defeated Grendel and had been drinking and feasting in celebration. This was a mistake, because Grendel’s mother comes back to take her revenge.

 BEOWULF AND GRENDEL'S MOTHER (lines 1251-2199, pp. 60-79)

 [Another Attack] (Lines 1251-1382, pp. 60-62)

 1. Grendel’s mother came to Heorot to take revenge while Grendel came to Heorot to kill without reason.

 2. Grendel’s mother kills Hrothgar’s good friend, Aeschere. Hrothgar promises Beowulf that he will repay him greatly if he is able to kill Grendel’s mother.

3. The literal/dictionary meaning of mere is a “lake, pond, or arm of a sea.” Hrothgar describes a haunted mere where Grendel’s mother lives. He says that no one knows how deep it is and that at night, the water burns in it. He also says that the mere throws dirty water up to the sky in storms.

 [Beowulf Fights Grendel's Mother] (lines 1383-1650, pp. 63-68)

1. Beowulf asks Hrothgar to take care of his men if he doesn’t survive. Hrothgar had also promised gifts to Beowulf, which he requests him to send to his king, Hygelac. He also reveals his heroic personality by his words, “It is always better / to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning.”

 2. When Beowulf first dives in the mere, he at first sinks and takes an entire day to reach the bottom. While fighting with the monster, towards the end of the fight, the water filled with blood and warriors assumed him to be dead.

3.  Beowulf prepared for battle by courageously getting his armor and weapons because he wants to get revenge on those who were killed by Grendel, so he is off to kill his Grendel’s own mother. Beowulf is granted a sword which is named “Hrunting” from Unferth which is passed down and admired as an “old-time heirloom.”

 4. Beowulf dives in the “floor of the sea” to get into the mere and have his battle with Grendel’s mother. Grendel’s mother tries to kill Beowulf in the spot but his armor protects him then she brings him to her underwater lair which marks her “own” territory, so no other creatures will bother her.

5. “Hrunting”, the sword given by Unferth, was completely useless against Grendel’s mother that it broke in the spot during their battle.

6. Beowulf escapes by using his armor; his armor protects him from the knife wound and then he uses his strength to escape from Beowulf’s mother.

7. Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother by cutting the mother’s throat using the sword of Eotens. When she dies, Beowulf decides to bring the mother’s head home in order to take revenge for those who got killed by Grendel. The sword melts down only leaving the hilt because of the mother’s acidic blood.

 8. When Beowulf returns to the surface by swimming, his men are not there waiting for him because they did not expect him to return alive from Grendel’s mother.

 [Further Celebration at Heorot] (Lines 1651-1798, pp. 68-71)

1.  After fighting Grendel’s mother; Beowulf seeks the head of Grendel to give to the king.

 2. He tells Beowulf the story of an ambitious and prideful king named, Hermond. King Heremod ends up dying in misery and alone. He advises Beowulf not to be like that king because the same will happen to him. Hrothgar teaches him what happens to a king when he is overtaken by pride.

3. Beowulf returns to Unferth his sword, Hrunting; that Beowulf used right before his fight with Grendel’s mother.

 [Beowulf Returns Home] (lines 1799-2199, pp. 71-79)

 1. Hrothgar tells Beowulf that he will become an epic king and have a great reign over his kingdom. There is no mention of his demise or any other important details of that sort

2. Hygd reigns as Queen of the Geats. She is an excellent ruler unlike Modthryth who is a lousy and cruel leader

3. Marrying Ingled with Freawaru will hopefully end the vendetta the families are having. He expects the marriage will temporarily end the feud yet will not last very long. Beowulf plans to try this but is rightly worried since the fighting has waged for so long and the pride based members could reignite the flame by killing another. From what we have seen of the hero is this outside of his character since usually he is brave and always seeks the best even in the face of overwhelming odds

 4.  Beowulf arrogantly reports his adventures in a boastful manner at most times Exaggerating much of his adventure.

  5. Beowulf gives the treasure to Hygelac, and in return Hygelac gives Beowulf a powerful sword, land, hides, and a gigantic house.

BEOWULF AND THE DRAGON (Lines 2200-3182, pp. 79-99)

 [The Dragon Wakes] (Lines 2200-2509, pp. 79-86)

 1 Part 2 is fifty years later. Hygelac and Heardred both died, and a dragon is attacking Beowulf’s kingdom.

 2.  The dragon is angry because a man took a cup from his hoard of treasure. The man took the cup to bring back to his lord to make peace because he was fleeing for his life. The treasure was once an old lord’s hoard that he kept with him until he died because all of his kinsmen had perished.

3. The dragon destroyed the homes and land of the Geats that evening.

4. Beowulf thinks his home was burnt because he is war-lord of the Geat kingdom, and he grew up there. He orders a new shield made of iron because his old one was wooden which wouldn’t withstand fire. He fights the battle by himself with a sword and shield and brings eleven men with him. Beowulf will die for he is old and beginning to weaken, and swords won’t do him any good because of his remarkable strength.

 5. Hygelac died in battle in Friesland. When he was killed, Beowulf swam to safety right after Hygelac’s death to return home. When he returned home, Hygd offered Beowulf to take the Hygelac’s throne as his successor. She didn’t think her son was ready to rule due to his inexperience. Beowulf did not accept to become the king of Geatland yet, but he gave support for Hygd’s son. He aided his way to mature as a good successor.

 6. Onela from Sweden voyaged across to meet Heardred, which he was mortally wounded from a sword. This left Beowulf to ascend the throne of Geatland. He planned his revenge by receiving men from Eadgils and eventually killed Onela.

 7. He took “eleven comrades” with him to fight the dragon. Beowulf told his men the stories of his youth and his vow to defeat the dragon while the men accompanied him.

 8. Hygelac’s oldest brother, Herebeald, was killed in an accident by his brother Haethcyn. This caused their father, King Hrethel, to shut down and die of grief. After their father’s death Haethcyn became king and lead the Geat people into a war with the Swedes, but died during the war. His brother Hygelac then proceeded into the throne but after defeating the Swedes in the war died during a raid.  Beowulf soon become kings and rules the land as a wise and noble king.

[Beowulf Attacks the Dragon] (lines 2510-2820, pp. 86-92)

1.  As Beowulf approaches the home of the dragon he gives a speech to his companions about how he feels nothing less because he is using the armor, a shield, and a sword. He tells about how the dragon is far greater than Grendel, he tells them that this fight will be between him and the dragon. The ending result will be whatever fate decides for him.

2. As Beowulf approaches the dragon he yells a loud war cry that shows the dragon his intent. The dragon soon awoke and poured out fire at Beowulf, who stood still with his shield at hand. The shield protected him but the fire began to overwhelm it, he struck out with his trusty sword but as it pierced the beast’s skin it shattered. Now he was stuck with no weapon against the fire breathing beast. All but one of his companions had fled in fear, only Wiglaf stood there seeing his king in danger. He remembers the oath that all the men had taken to help and defend their king and goes to aid of Beowulf.   

  3.  Beowulf and Wiglaf kill the dragon together. Beowulf is mortally wounded when he's hit by the dragon's poisonous breath.

 4.  He asks him to get the treasure the dragon was hiding. At the sight of his treasure, Beowulf practically dies of happiness. But before he dies he tells Wiglaf his final wishes. He wants to be buried with his treasure on a high hill with a tall tower so that everyone will remember Beowulf and his greatness.

 [Beowulf's Funeral] (Lines 2821-3182, pp. 92-99)

 1.  When they return, they find Wiglaf grieving over the dead Beowulf. Wiglaf reminds them of the promise they had made to Beowulf and of their cowardice. Wiglaf expects the Geats to be attacked by enemies once again.

 2.  A battle is coming between the Geats and the Swedes. Ongentheow returned home after killing his target. Eofor captured the man who killed his father. They later fought to the death where Eofor claimed to be the winner. Only warriors who were given gold by Beowulf were allowed to enter the barrow and honor his kingmenship. The final image was the dragon.

 3. Wiglaf tells the crowd that they must not take the gold or they will be cursed if they do unless blessed by heaven to claim it. They must leave their fallen leader to burn next to the fallen enemy, the dragon.

 4. The dragon is pushed off a cliff and falls into the rolling waves of the sea.

 5. During the funeral celebration the entirety of the people mourn for their lost king; a huge memorial that could be seen by all was constructed. This memorial was his tomb, a place where they buried Beowulf and all his worldly treasures. After the funeral celebration,12 warriors, men of Beowulf’s, gather around his tomb to chant, “mourning his loss as a man and as a king.”

 6. In the last three lines of the poem, the twelve Geats describe Beowulf with much love because he has sacrificed his life to protect his people and they addressed him as their “beloved leader”, which is a memorable way to describe a military hero. The Geats also addressed him as a “prince so mild” which is ironic because he holds that courage and rage he expresses when he fights in a battle.