BEOWULF REVIEW

BEOWULF IS A CHAMPION WHO FIGHTS 3 MONSTERS

• Beowulf goes to Denmark and fights Grendel

• Beowulf fights Grendel’s mom

• Back home as king of the Geats, Beowulf fights a Dragon

GRENDEL

• Is a monster descended from Cain (of Cain and Abel fame)

• Has been attacking Herot, a mead-hall where the Danes live, each night for 12 years

• The Danes have trouble fighting him because he attack when it’s dark

• He fights without weapons or armor, but is protected from swords because of a spell he has placed on them

• Lives in a lake in a swamp, and the songs and joy of the nearby Danes fuels his rage. The angrier he gets, the stronger he gets.

• Beowulf, unarmed, wrestles with Grendel in Herot, and rips Grendel’s shoulder off.

• Grendel goes back to his swamp to die.

GRENDEL’S MOM

• Seeking revenge for her son’s death, she attacks Herot and kidnaps the best friend of Hrothgar, the Danish King.

• Beowulf tracks her back to her underwater lair.

• Beowulf wears his chain-mail armor and brings his sword, Hrunting, for this encounter.

• His sword is useless, but his chain-mail saves his life.

• He finds a giant’s sword and uses it to cut off Grendel’s Mom’s head.

• He finds Grendel’s corpse, decapitates it, and takes Grendel’s head back to Herot as a gift.

DRAGON!

• After he fights in Denmark, Beowulf sails home to Geatland, where he serves loyally under his king Higlac and Higlac’s son.

• Beowulf ascends to the throne and rules the Geats in peace and prosperity for 50 years.

• Then someone steals a cup from a dragon.

• Dragon’s mad.

• Beowulf faces the dragon alone, but his shield melts and his sword breaks, and the dragon cuts his neck. Dang.

• Wiglaf, a young warrior, shows bravery in the face of death and kills dragon with Beowulf.

BEOWULF DIES!

• Says that Wiglaf should succeed him as king, since Wigs was the only guy brave enough to stand beside Beowulf and fight the dragon.

• Wants a tower erected in his honor.

KENNINGS!

• Two or more words which, when put together, serve as a symbol or metaphor for another word.

• Similar to epithets, they give a description of noun they replace

• They were used for variety, entertainment, and to keep the beat and rhythm.

• Sometimes they are obvious, some are more obscure

EXAMPLES OF KENNINGS

• Candle of heaven – Sun

• Peace-weaver – women

• Light of battle – sword

• Ring-marked blade - sword

ALLITERATION

• The repetition of initial consonant sounds.

• Also used for entertainment, variety and to keep the beat and rhythm

Example from Beowulf:

Many a mead-hall Scyld, son of Sceaf,

Snatched from the forces of savage foes,

From a friendless foundling, feeble and wretched,

He grew to a terror as time brought change.

THEME VS. MAIN IDEA

• Theme is a universal truth, or a lesson that can extends beyond the story. Lesson Learned

• Main idea is what the story or selection is about. Plot

EXAMPLE OF THEME VS. MAIN IDEA

In the Little Engine that Could:

The main idea is that a train is having difficulties getting over a mountain. This isn’t very applicable to everyday life.

The theme is that if you fail, you should keep trying until you succeed.

This can be applied to MANY facets of life.