BEOWULF

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 VOCABULARY

• Thane: king’s warrior  • Lair: a secret hiding place 

• Foe: enemy  • Slay: kill by violence 
• Lair • Goblet: a cup made of glass or metal, with a
: a place where you go to hide or to be alone base and a stem but no handle
• Wrestle • Hilt: the handle of a sword or knife, where the 
: to fight someone by holding them and pulling blade is attached
or pushing them
• Barrow. a large pile of earth like a small hill
• Courage  that was put over a grave in ancient times
: the quality of being brave when you are facin
g a difficult or dangerous situation • Pyre
: a high pile of wood on which a dead body is pl
• Feast aced to be burned in a funeral ceremony a fune
a large meal where a lot of people celebrate a ral pyre
special occasion
• Mead-hall
: a large feasting room from ancient Germanic t
ribes 
• Content: happiness 
• To stalk: to roam thro
ugh an area; to follow someone constantly 
• Slaughter: to kill violently or brutally 
The story: people in Beowulf
• The Geats: Beowulf’s clan
• The Danes: people from Denmark
• Beowulf: the hero (Bee-wulf means bee hunter, i.e. a bear)
• Hrogthgar: king of the Danes realm terrorized by a monster
• Heorot: communal meeting place for feasting and drinking
• Unferth: challenges Beowulf's reputation, and gives Beowulf his sword in the second fight
• Grendel: the monster which terrorizes Heorot; no weapons can harm it. Beowulf fights it bare-handed. He defeats it by tearing
off its arm, leaves him mortally wounded before it flees
• Grendel’s mother: the monster who strikes after Beoulf defeats Grendel. She takes Esher to avenge her son. Beowulf fights her
in her lair into the lake and kills her with a magic sword.
• Esher: is taken by Grendel's Mother and killed.
• Hygelac: king of the Geats. Beowulf gains the crown of Geatland after is death and becomes king for 50 years.
• Dragon: the moster in the land of the Geats. A thief rouses the sleeping dragon by taking a goblet. The dragon takes revenge
and destroys Geatland. Beowulf sets off to fight the dragon alone.
• Wiglaf: warrior who helps Beowulf fight the dragon. Only he comes to Beowulf's help and slays the dragon.
Overview and Plot
• OVERVIEW: Watch these 60-SECOND RECAP VIDEOS
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwY1xOxSo50
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgK_sunbD6E&list=PL1C0813B83
74CD537&index=3
• 
• PLOT: Watch these videos for a summary and analysis
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD1-TAnth94
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrm3PJjD7gU
Key ideas
• Beowulf is the oldest surviving Anglo-Saxon epic poem
• Composed between the 8th and 11th centuries
• The author’s identity is unknown
• An epic poem that tells of legendary people and events
• Told by scops to an Anglo-Saxon audience in England and passed on through generations
• It describes a warrior society founded on the loyalty of warriors and thanes towards their
leader or king
• The action takes place in the 5th century in Scandinavia, in a time when warrior tribes
fought against each other, when death was inevitable and what mattered was how you died
• 3 fights: Grendel, Grendel's mother and the dragon
• Themes: the heroic code (courage, pride and glory), good against evil, loyalty, death &
defeat